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Cse In News

From 58% to 17% market share: Why Indians don’t like diesel cars anymore

When diesel was Rs 20-25/litre cheaper than petrol in 2012-13, cars running on it accounted for 58% of the market. Now, people buy less polluting options, and experts welcome it. New Delhi: Less than a decade ago, there were as many diesel cars on Indian roads as petrol cars. In fact according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), diesel passenger vehicles (PVs) had a 58 per cent market share in the fiscal 2012-13, the highest proportion ever. The cheaper cost of diesel compared to petrol made consumers disregard the fact that the former causes more pollution than the latter. At the time, on average, diesel used to cost about Rs 20-25 less per litre than petrol. But now, with that difference down to Rs 7-9 per litre, according to an analysis of government data, the market share of diesel PVs has dropped to just 17 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2021, SIAM data shows. This has had an unintended but desirable consequence — that consumers are opting for cleaner options like petrol, compressed natural gas (CNG), and electric and hybrid cars. The fall of diesel PVs’ market share occurred after the Narendra Modi government deregulated fuel prices and ended subsidies, soon after coming to power in 2014. The move was contrary to policy making through the previous two decades, as the government sought to prompt consumers to shift to cleaner alternatives and to reduce its own financial burden. The impact of those policy calls is now visible. According to experts, as India moves to a better emission standards regime over the next few years, this trend is here to stay. Policy battle against diesel India has fought a long battle against diesel vehicles, which started about three decades ago. In the 1990s, following years of industrialisation, national capital Delhi had become one of the most polluted cities in the world. The situation was so grave that a doctor could judge a person as a dweller of the city just by looking at their “blackish lungs”, environmental advocacy magazine Down To Earth reported in 1996. In the middle of that decade, following a PIL by environmental activist M.C. Mehta, the Supreme Court took drastic steps to curb pollution, and the axe fell on public transportation running on diesel first. Following the SC order issued on 28 July 1998, all Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses that were running on diesel were converted to CNG. By December 2002, diesel buses had disappeared from the city. Autorickshaws too had been upgraded to CNG. In 2016, the top court announced that only CNG taxis would run in Delhi, making an exception for diesel taxis running with an All India permit. Deregulation and its impact Until 2014, diesel was subsidised for several reasons — it was used by farmers to run tubewells, by industries to run machines, and freight and heavy commercial vehicles for transport. The benefit of the subsidies was also enjoyed by private vehicle owners, who, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, formed about 13.1 per cent of the total diesel consumers by 2012-13. However, after the Modi government came to power, it ended subsidies and left the pricing of fuel to the markets. This proved to be a major jolt to diesel prices, which have been racing up and are now within touching distance of petrol. Diesel prices in Mumbai crossed the Rs 100 per litre mark Saturday, touching Rs 100.66 Sunday, while petrol was at Rs 110.12. The life of diesel cars on Indian roads was also curtailed in 2015 by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which barred diesel cars older than 10 years from plying in the national capital. The latest National Scrapping Policy launched this year also aims to eliminate old and unfit vehicles from plying on India’s roads. With effect from 2020, all new cars also had to comply with Bharat Stage VI emission standards, increasing the gap between the production cost of diesel and petrol cars, disturbing the economics for the makers. India’s biggest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, quit diesel manufacturing in 2020-21. Most companies in India have stopped releasing smaller diesel cars.

Jagran Explainer: What is 'parali' and why its burning leads to air pollution in Delhi-NCR in winters

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had put a ban on the burning of stubble as it causes damage to the environment. NGT in its 2018 ruling ordered to impose a fine of Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 for stubble burning. With winters approaching, the issue of smog choking the national capital has risen once again. Every year the landscape of Delhi and other northern regions of the country like Harayana and Punjab turn apocalyptic due to the practice of stubble burning- which is also called 'parali' in Hindi. The burning of stubble or parali has been identified as one of the major reasons behind the environmental hazards in these areas. That is why the National Green Tribunal has put a ban on the burning of stubble. However, farmers continue to do so to clear their fields for the next sowing season. Here's everything you need to know about what is parali and why its burning is harmful and what are the alternatives: What is stubble or parali? Stubble or parali is the remaining part that is left over after harvesting the crop. When the paddy crops fully ripen, only the upper portion is harvested and the lower portion is left behind. This leftover part of the crop has no utility for the farmers. That is why farmers burn this dry stubble around October-November- which is the onset of winters- to clear the field for the next sowing season. Why is stubble burning harmful? The burning of stubble or parali releases gases like Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide which results in severe air pollution. It also has an adverse effect on human health. For example, the burning of stubble can cause health problems like skin and eye irritation, severe neurological cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchitis, lung capacity loss, emphysema, cancer, etc. Apart from the health hazards, stubble burning also affects the soil quality of the fields. It destroys the important nutrients in the soil. Therefore, it is not beneficiary for the farmers as well. What is National Green Tribunal's ruling on this? The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had put a ban on the burning of stubble as it causes damage to the environment. NGT in its 2018 ruling ordered to impose a fine of Rs 2,500 if the straw is burnt on 2 to 5 acres of land and a fine of Rs 5,000 if stubble is burnt on an area of more than 5 acres. The Tribunal has also suggested giving incentives to those farmers who do not burn stubble. The court has suggested providing CRM (Crop Residue Management) machines to farmers so that the crop residue can be converted into organic fertilizer by setting up decentralized composting. What are the alternatives? According to Anumita Roychowdhury, head of Clean Air Programme at the Centre for Science and Environment, there are three main solutions to stubble burning: in-situ treatment of stubble, ex-situ treatment, and changing cropping pattern. The last one is the deeper and more fundamental solution. For in-situ management, the government is currently giving equipment to farmers to mix the stubble back into the soil.

Sharing the pain at Glasgow

Sanjeev Ahluwalia Ahead of the upcoming COP26 Summit, India needs to redefine its transition path for achieving net zero emissions, and reconsider its dependency on coal In the run up to the COP26 Summit in Glasgow on 31st October, enthusiasm bubbles over. This is as it should be. Preserving the world as we know it requires cutting back on the 34 giga tons (2018) of annual CO2 emissions, 37 percent of which is by the 16 percent of the global population in high-income economies. To be sure, income inequality is near universal. Empowered elites, beneficiaries of the “dual economy” syndrome, particularly in developing economies, enjoy “rich world” lifestyles and cannot evade their responsibilities. Pervasive inequality is the rationale for “common” global responsibilities for reversing climate change. But the aspect of “differentiated” responsibilities is just as important, for two reasons. First, it supports differentiating between the higher institutional and fiscal capacity in the rich world to change patterns of fossil energy consumption via technology versus low capacity in the developing world. Second, it reflects “climate justice”, by urging those who have benefited from the near exhaustion of the carbon emissions envelope, to reverse emissions and grow the available emissions envelop. The salience of “differentiated responsibilities” was visible in Kyoto, 1997. But by Paris 2015, it had morphed into a “free for all” in which we all agreed to go our own ways, with the relatively light, individual responsibility of diligently sharing publicly what we were doing to green our economies—a bit like how divorcing partners treat their past responsibilities. Over the past six years, the United Nations (UN) system, green activists, concerned citizens, and select industry groups kept alive the need to take more substantive action—an imperative confirmed by the working group for the sixth IPCC Report. Preparing for Glasgow—the 26th Conference of Parties—the UN advocates that all countries commit to reducing global emissions to 45 percent below 2010 level by 2030, to meet the requirements for limiting temperature rise to 1.5oC and to work towards net zero emissions by 2050. Preparing for Glasgow—the 26th Conference of Parties—the UN advocates that all countries commit to reducing global emissions to 45 percent below 2010 level by 2030, to meet the requirements for limiting temperature rise to 1.5oC and to work towards net zero emissions by 2050. Three issues confront India at Glasgow. First, should we announce a net zero target date and, if yes, what should it be? Second, should we commit to a defined transition path to reach net zero? Third, and related to the second, should we announce a date for peaking of emissions— code for abandoning coal as our primary energy source and our most abundant domestic fossil energy source? Quo Vadis Net Zero China and Indonesia have set the pace for the developing world by committing to net zero by 2060. India should use this date as a marker for its own commitment. With less than one-third of China’s per capita emissions (2019), India is surely justified in looking beyond 2060. There is a 20-year lag between Chinese economic growth and ours. India’s per capita GDP of US $1,961 (constant 2010 $) in 2020 was achieved by China in 2001. China’s spectacular double digit growth rates over lengthy periods are based on its unique “characteristics” that privilege economic growth over equity, human rights or rule of law, which runs against-the-grain for democracies, including India. Our highest annual average growth over a period of two decades was at 6.5 percent (constant terms) during 1993-2012. This was after a liberalised, open economy architecture was inaugurated. It will take us till 2040, even at an accelerated growth rate of 8 percent per year, to get to China’s per capita GDP of US $8,405 (constant 2010) in 2020. Subsequently, applying the four-decade long transition period adopted by China, we could notionally target net zero by 2080. Indian exceptionalism The question can well be asked if Indonesia—a large, lower middle-income country with a population of 273 million and per capita CO2 emissions that is 19 percent higher than India in 2018—can target 2060 for net zero, why not India? Indonesia’s dependence on coal for electricity generation at 30 percent is similar to 28 percent for India and 20 percent for China. However, there are three reasons why India is different. First, Indonesia’s per capita GDP (2010 constant) at US $4,312 in 2020, is more than twice of India’s and is nearly half of China’s. Development needs weigh less heavily on them than on India. Second, neither Indonesia nor China are solely reliant on coal as the primary, domestic fossil energy resource. Unlike India, both Indonesia and China have significant domestic reserves of oil—2.5X and 5.6X respectively on per capita basis versus India, and similarly of gas—at 4.7X and 6.1X respectively, of India. Are well-meaning, long-terms targets, like net zero, useful? Long-term planning horizons consistent with technological obsolescence rarely go beyond 20 years. In new renewables, obsolescence strikes even earlier, in five to ten years, as older capital assets become cost uncompetitive. India’s veteran climate activist, Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment, advocates a decision horizon of not more than 10 years, to focus attention at Glasgow on an implementable strategy to reduce emissions in the medium term and firm up short-term plans for green investment, supported by cheap finance for the long-term transition. An equitable transition How best can the common responsibility, defined in the sixth IPCC report as reducing CO2 emissions by 45 percent over 2010 levels by 2030, be shared differentially across countries? A good way to think of “responsibilities” is to group countries by income, which is a proxy for fiscal and technological capacity, to fix the problem. Per capita emission of CO2 is a good metric for measuring achievement of reduction targets—since emissions relate closely to Anthropocene (human) activity. Refer to Table 1 below. Interestingly, low-income countries—with population share of 8 percent (2019) and per capita income of US $821 (Atlas Method)—reduced their share of CO2 emissions by 25 percent over 2010-2018 as larger countries exited this group. Over 1998-2018, their emissions increased by 7 percent. High-income countries— with population share of 16 percent and per capita income of US $46,036—reduced emissions over 2010-2018 by 5 percent and over 1998-2018 by 2 percent. Emissions grew in upper- and lower-middle income countries over both time periods but differentially—less in upper-middle and more in lower-middle economies. The counter factual lesson derived from this differential experience is that economic growth is good for reducing emissions possibly, because it enhances domestic capacity to access better technology and heightens citizen expectations. Emissions grew in upper- and lower-middle income countries over both time periods but differentially—less in upper-middle and more in lower-middle economies. The counter factual lesson derived from this differential experience is that economic growth is good for reducing emissions possibly, because it enhances domestic capacity to access better technology and heightens citizen expectations. This was the logic behind the unredeemed pledge at Paris to transfer US $100 billion per year to developing economies for abating climate impact. Higher conditional transfers directly help the recipients. But by enhancing the poor world’s domestic fiscal ability to mitigate climate impact, they reduce the mitigation burden on donors. Table 1 shows why low- or lower-middle-income countries like India, are unable to contribute immediately to emissions reduction. The economic burden is growth retarding, even if distributed per their share in global GDP. Consequently, reduction targets would be double, or more, of the targeted 45 percent for the richest countries. An alternative is to agree a common cap on per capita emissions with differential target dates and disincentives, as a self-regulating, dynamic mechanism to invest in green growth. India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to reduce energy intensity of the economy by 33 to 35 percent over 2005 levels by 2030 is derived from acceptable constraints for green, future growth. It should be tweaked to reflect the new base of 2010. The coal conundrum Limiting future CO2 emissions in India—principally netting out the gross emissions from a quadrupling of GDP by 2040—will depend on substituting coal for meeting incremental electricity demand. Till 2040, the options are natural gas or nuclear power. Both have varying security and cost-related consequence. Hydrogen, blended with natural gas, is an option post 2040, once Green H2 becomes commercially viable. India is not alone in this conundrum. It ranks third after China and the US as users of coal for electricity generation. Indonesia is the tenth largest (See Table 2 below). On a per capita basis, coal generation capacity in China, United States, South Africa, and South Korea is more than 4X; Germany 3X; Japan 2X and Poland 5X of India. Coal continues to be widely used and not just in the poor world. For India, given its dependence on coal for electricity generation, emissions will continue to increase at least till 2040-2050, after which a three-decade long trend of declining emissions can start ending with net zero emissions by 2080. At Glasgow An asymmetric schedule for reducing CO2 emissions, makes for a fair transition strategy across income groups of economies. Recent technology in fuels (Green H2), carbon capture and storage, gigawatt scale battery storage to overcome the intermittency constraint in wind and solar power and supply ancillary services to the grid, metallurgical innovations to improve the efficiency of production, and use of commercial energy—all need open-source, collaborative, research and development across country silos and between financiers, buyers, and sellers. For India, the Quad opens new venues to deepen climate-related technological networks. Glasgow should focus on agreeing on mechanisms for equitable, quantifiable, differentiated responsibility for reducing emissions, whilst promoting faster economic growth in the bottom five income deciles—technology and the scale effects of global supply chains are already doing the rest.

नजरिया : भारत को अपने विकास की कहानी दोबारा लिखने की जरूरत

वैश्विक राजनीति में अर्थतंत्र और पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र का टकराव। इस कहानी का आधार हो सबकी जरूरत, न कि केवल कुछ ही लोगों की। उसमें पर्यावरण संरक्षण की बात हो, क्योंकि यही जीवन के अस्तित्व का आधार है। इसमें चयन के विकल्प की गुंजाइश न हो, यह आवश्यक है। अब वक्त भी बदल गया है और विश्व भी। सुनीता नारायण (सतत विकास की हरित अवधारणा की पैरोकार, सीएसई की महानिदेशक) करीब 30 साल पहले जब भारत ने आर्थिक सुधारों की घोषणा की थी तो यह भली-भांति जानता था कि आर्थिक विकास का पर्यावरण पर प्रतिकूल असर पड़ेगा। विकास के लिए प्राकृतिक संसाधनों का दोहन बढ़ेगा और जल व वायु प्रदूषित होंगे। यह तथ्य इसलिए भी विदित था क्योंकि उदारवाद और मुक्त व्यापार के जरिए आर्थिक विकास की विचारधारा लाने वाले विश्व के संपन्न राष्ट्रों को समझ आ गया था कि उनकी समृद्धि का एक ही रास्ता है कि वे सर्वाधिक प्रदूषणकारी व श्रम आधारित उद्योगों को नए उभरते देशों को निर्यात कर दें। देश के पर्यावरण को पहला झटका तब लगा जब 1990 के दशक के मध्य में दिल्ली की हवा खराब हो गई, उसमें कालिख छा गई। इसका कारण था मोटरीकरण को बढ़ावा।</p> अगले दो दशक में हमारी धरती, जल, वायु और भोजन, सब कुछ विषाक्त हो गया। तब जाकर हमें अहसास हुआ कि इससे हमारी सेहत को कितना नुकसान पहुंचा है। यह आर्थिक विकास का दुखद पहलू था। इसीलिए विकास और पर्यावरण के बीच संतुलन बिठाने का मुद्दा बार-बार उठता रहता है। यह संकल्प हर बार त्रुटिपूर्ण रह जाता है क्योंकि निर्णय लेने वाले सार्वजनिक संस्थान लगातार कमजोर और अक्षम होते जा रहे हैं।</p> इन तीस सालों में हमने यह भी सीखा है कि विकास तभी स्थायी रूप से जारी रह सकता है, जब तक कि इसकी लागत वहन की जा सके और सारे घटक शामिल हों। हम जानते हैं कि सबको स्वच्छता के साधन वहन की जाने वाली कीमतों पर मुहैया कराए बिना नदियों को साफ रखना मुश्किल है। नीला आसमान और सहज सांस लेना तभी संभव है जब हम आने-जाने के लिए खुद चलें, न कि वाहनों का इस्तेमाल करें।</p> पेड़ों और पानी जैसे प्राकृतिक संसाधनों में निवेश कर ही हम ऐसा लचीलापन पा सकेंगे जो जलवायु जोखिमों से भरे इस विश्व में जरूरी है। भारत को अपने विकास की कहानी दोबारा लिखने की जरूरत है। इस कहानी का आधार हो सबकी जरूरत, न कि केवल कुछ ही लोगों की। उसमें पर्यावरण संरक्षण की बात हो, क्योंकि यही जीवन के अस्तित्व का आधार है। इसमें चयन के विकल्प की गुंजाइश न हो, यह आवश्यक है। अब वक्त भी बदल गया है और विश्व भी। दुनिया मुक्त व्यापार और उदारीकरण से मुंह फेर संरक्षणवादी हो चली है। मुक्त वैश्विक व्यापार के वादे ने वैश्विक समीकरण बदल दिए हैं।</p> चीन के उत्थान का श्रेय विश्व व्यापार संगठन (डब्ल्यूटीओ) में इसके प्रवेश को दिया जा सकता है। विश्व व्यापार संगठन में प्रवेश पाने के बाद चीन ने अप्रत्याशित तरक्की की है। इसके बाद ही चीन ने व्यापार में बाकी देशों को पछाड़ दिया। सफलता के लिए उसके पास तुरुप का पत्ता ('ट्रम्प' कार्ड) रहा - सस्ता श्रम, सस्ता ऋण और इस दौरान बिना किसी पाबंदी को मानते हुए पर्यावरण सुरक्षा के कोई मानदंड न अपनाना। इस होड़ में चीन ने बाकी सभी देशों को पछाड़ दिया है। विश्व व्यापार को जिन पश्चिमी अर्थव्यवस्थाओं ने पहले आगे बढ़ाया, वे अब इस पर संयम बरतना चाहते हैं।</p> इसे और अधिक स्पष्ट रूप से समझते हैं। विश्व पर प्रभुत्व की लड़ाई में आज चीन अमरीका के सामने खड़ा है। इससे भारत सहित बाकी विश्व में पर्यावरण सुरक्षा और जलवायु परिवर्तन जैसी जटिलताएं उत्पन्न होंगी। बिना इधर-उधर की बात किए सही मुद्दे पर आते हैं। स्पष्ट तथ्य यह है कि आज ऐसा देश विश्व नेता है, जिसके आर्थिक विकास का मॉडल अलग ही है। इसका संविधान एक ही बात कहता है - हर वह काम करो, जो भी किया जाना है। इसके स्वच्छन्द राष्ट्राध्यक्ष का राष्ट्रीय एजेंडा यही है। इसका मकसद है निर्माण, व्यापार और वैश्विक वाणिज्य के जरिए विश्व में आर्थिक ताकत का लोहा मनवाना। अगर इसका मतलब है ज्यादा ग्रीनहाउस गैसों का उत्सर्जन और ज्यादा प्रदूषण, तो यह खेल अभी लंबा चलेगा।</p> कहने की जरूरत नहीं कि चीन पश्चिमी देशों का खेल खेलना नहीं सीखा, बल्कि बखूबी सीख गया है। स्वच्छ बिजली और ऊर्जा नवीनीकरण पर यह सही आवाज उठाता है। साथ ही इसने ऐसे कार्य किए हैं जिससे उद्योगों के ग्रीनहाउस गैसों के उत्सर्जन कम किए जा सकें। जैसे सौर ऊर्जा के उपयोग से लेकर इलेक्ट्रिक वाहन बनाना आदि। इसने 2060 तक शून्य उत्सर्जन का लक्ष्य रखा है। साथ ही अपनी अर्थव्यवस्था के लिए यह कोयले पर ही भरोसा करता आया है और इसी का उपयोग करना जारी रखे हुए है। निस्संदेह अब यह देश इतना ताकतवर हो गया है कि इसके लिए यह कहना भी मुश्किल है कि यह दुनिया को बरगला रहा है।</p> परन्तु बात सिर्फ चीन की नहीं है और न ही पर्यावरण के प्रति उसके रवैये और जलवायु परिवर्तन से निपटने के उसके तौर-तरीकों की। असल बात है - चीन और अमरीका के बीच प्रतिस्पर्धा की। इसके चलते दुनिया के देश आपस में होड़ करेंगे और दोनों में से किसी एक की तरफदारी करेंगे। समस्या यह है कि सभी पक्ष जानते हैं कि प्रभुत्व की लड़ाई जीतने के लिए आर्थिक ताकत अत्यधिक महत्त्वपूर्ण है। ज्यादा निर्माण, ज्यादा उत्पादन होने से उपभोग बढ़ेगा, व्यापार व वाणिज्य भी बढ़ेगा। पुरानी परम्परा जारी रखने का यह नया पैमाना होगा। इस प्रकार सुरक्षित जल, स्वच्छता और निकासी का 'ब्राउन एजेंडा' वापस लाया जा सकेगा। आज भारत ही नहीं, समूचा विश्व जलवायु परिवर्तन और पारिस्थितिकीय सुरक्षा की बात कर रहा है। पिछले तीस वर्षों से विश्व पर्यावरण और जलवायु परिवर्तन विषय पर लगातार थोथी बातें करके ऊब गया है।</p> बीते तीस वर्षों को छोड़, आने वाले तीस वर्षों की बात की जाए तो अब शाब्दिक चतुराई नहीं चलेगी, प्रकृति के साथ उत्पात मचा है। इसे रोकने के उपाय करना वक्त के साथ दौड़ लगाने जैसा है और वक्त हमारे साथ नहीं है।</p>

‘The way net zero target is being formulated is unfair’

Sunita Narain, an expert on climate negotiations who has been tracking the talks since 1992 and director general of Centre for Science and Environment, said developed countries are trying to dilute the principle of equity by pushing developing countries like India to announce a target of net zero emissions by 2050. With less than a month left until the Glasgow climate change conference (COP 26), there is debate on what India’s stand should be at the climate negotiations. Sunita Narain, an expert on climate negotiations who has been tracking the talks since 1992 and director general of Centre for Science and Environment, said developed countries are trying to dilute the principle of equity by pushing developing countries like India to announce a target of net zero emissions by 2050. Whereas the rich countries, with far greater historical responsibility, should deliver on a net zero target way earlier at least by 2030 allowing carbon space for poor countries to grow. India should speak up against this, she said in an interview to HT. Edited Excerpts: What are your expectations from COP 26 in Glasgow? My expectation is that COP 26 will be bold, courageous, and just. I am using those words very carefully because this COP is happening at a time when we know two things. One, we know the threat of climate change is real and we are seeing its impacts not only in the developing but also in the rich world. We know that we are only at the beginning of devastation. Currently, global temperature rise has only been around 1.09 degree C since 1870 onwards, but all indications are that temperatures will continue to rise. As will be the kind of devastation we are beginning to see from wildfires, cyclones to extreme rain events. Interdependence is critical. When the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed in 1992 and it was agreed that there would be a principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) built into the convention, I don’t think countries of the north understood the importance of it. They did it because it was needed to bring the developing world on board. It was a concession that was made. Today when the world meets at Glasgow and what Covid-19 has sharpened further is that we live in an interdependent world. It requires cooperation from all. If the rich polluted in the past, the poor will pollute in future. There is only one fixed planetary space because climate change is about the amount of emissions we pump into the atmosphere. We are talking about a budget. When COP meets, it is important that we keep these two in mind. If it’s ambitious without being fair, it will not succeed and vice versa. What will be the key issues at COP 26? There are two levels of issues at COP now: those outside the COP and those inside the paperwork. Those outside shape public discourse. First is net zero. It’s not in the COP papers but it is an issue out there. CSE’s (Centre for Science and Environment) position has been that the way net zero target is being formulated is intrinsically unfair. Because the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) is very clear. It says the world must reach net zero in 2050 and the world should cut emissions by half by 2030. This means the rich world cutting emissions to half by 2030 so that the world can be net zero by 2050. But by putting out this grand goal of net zero by 2050, the rich world is only appropriating more carbon space. It again smacks of efforts to erase, dilute the principle of climate justice and equity which we have seen during past COPs. Net zero is one in which there will be a lot of pressure on a country like India to give its commitment. My own view is that we should be very clear that net zero is very important. The world should move to net zero by 2050, which means the rich world should move to net zero in 2030 and then the entire world moves to net zero by 2050. The other formulation is what the Chinese have put out is you move to net zero in 2050 and we do it in 2060. In which case a country like India would move to net zero in 2070 and most of Africa would move in 2080. That would mean the world would be even more unsafe in terms of temperature rise and emissions. We need to put this on the table and explain to citizens the context of the north. In the negotiations, there is a divide between the north and the south. The way the global media reports, it is clear that it sticks to this divide. The voice of southern media needs to be loud and perspectives of our governments need to be understood. Will there be pressure to phase out coal? Coal is a very polluting substance. We need to do electrification of our economy from gas, renewable or cleaner coal power plants. We want to move coal from small boilers and industries. That’s our national perspective and should drive internal policy. As far as coal globally is concerned, let’s be very clear that we do want the northern countries to get out of fossil fuels. Now with winter approaching, we are beginning to see many of the coal plants coming back into operation because gas prices have gone up. They (developed countries) need to walk the talk. The rich need to close all their coal plants and then start talking to rest of the world. China has issued a grand statement saying they will not fund coal-based power plants in Africa but they have not talked about closing down their own. China is one country that will occupy 30% of the carbon budget between 2020 and 2030. Remember that we have a limited carbon budget now. China needs to be de-hyphenated from India. China cannot anymore be a member of the G 77 and take cover under the developing countries. There is no comparison of India and China and that should be recognised at the COP. What will be the official issues at COP 26? They will be looking at plans for 2030 and how countries will meet them. China has not given any targets. It has given an emissions intensity target. The US has given a 50% reduction and EU, UK etc have committed to reduce but they need to explain how they are actually going to do it. Or are they linking it to the next thing on the agenda which is the market-based mechanism. Given the fact that the Paris Agreement says that every country will have to take emission reduction targets, the fact is that a market-based mechanism of carbon credits cannot be based on poor countries selling off the cheapest option to the richest countries. If at all the market-based mechanism should be transformational. It should have the most expensive options in the emerging countries to be paid for through the market mechanism. But the developed world is still looking for a cheap option. That’s got to be contested. Finance will be a big issue. The $100 billion fund (developed countries promised to mobilise $100 billion a year by 2020 for developing countries) is not adding up and is imaginary which is why it needs to be discussed. If you look at NDCs of most countries in Africa, they are conditional to finance and technology transfer. Finance will be very critical. Loss and damage (compensation for disasters and loss) issue will also be important. There has been an effort in the past to dilute principles of liability and paying up for damage. What should be India’s stand at COP 26? India’s stand has to be twofold: very strong in terms of putting out the issues of equity and justice at the global level. By focusing on equitable allocation of available carbon space, India will be working towards an effective agreement. India is not being a denier or naysayer. In fact, it has been asking for equity. In the past, the entire effort from 1992 all the way up to Paris was to erase, negate and dilute the principle of equity. Finally, in Paris they (developed countries) managed to erase the concept of historical responsibility from the text. But it will not go away. There is a huge inequitable distribution of carbon space. India will collaborate if there is a principle of fairness. Second thing is to be a climate leader to say that we understand the impact of climate change and the need to build a resilient economy. However, for us, climate change action is about building a low carbon growth economy, which is good for us. The primary driver of a low carbon economy is our internal compulsions of pollution, circular economy, mobility and thermal comfort for all. We will continue to act because it is in our best interest.

An Evidence-based Inquiry into the Endosulfan Tragedy in Kasaragod, Kerala

A review of the literature on the toxicology of endosulfan and assessment of the various pesticide-regulating agencies worldwide, as well as a statistical analysis of the medical camp data and primary data of the 2015 Kerala Disability Census, is carried out to elucidate possible evidence for higher prevalence of disabilities and disorders in the endosulfan-sprayed areas in Kasaragod, Kerala. The enquiry does not indicate a higher prevalence of the health problems in the endosulfan-sprayed areas in Kasaragod, compared to the unsprayed areas in the place and elsewhere in Kerala. It is known that aerial spraying of endosulfan in the cashew estates of Kasaragod, Kerala, over a period of 20 years, caused severe health hazards and deaths. Many consider the endosulfan tragedy as equivalent to the Bhopal gas tragedy. The Calicut Medical College and the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Ahmedabad have conducted epidemiological studies in the affected area and the results are available in the public domain. The Kerala State Department of Health and Family Welfare classified 6,728 persons with different types of diseases as “endosulfan generated,” and 779 deaths were recorded as due to endosulfan poisoning (GoK 2019). The 6,728 persons who are included in the endosulfan victims’ list are being provided with a monthly pension, lump sum financial assistance to the tune of `2 lakh to `5 lakh, free ration, financial aid for all medical treatments, moratorium on loan repayments, free houses, etc. Hitherto, `281 crore has been spent for the welfare and rehabilitation of the victims of the endosulfan tragedy by the Government of Kerala (GoK), in addition to `220 crore by the National Bank for Agriculture Rural and Development (NABARD). The rehabilitation package ordered by the Supreme Court will be implemented at an additional cost of `220 crore. However, a large section of the media, public and the intellectuals believe that the pesticide might afflict future generations and the compensation offered is insufficient, and hence, they support strikes for higher compensation by the victims’ groups. One of the reasons that this pesticide molecule was declared as a persistent organic pollutant (POP) by the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) in Stockholm in April 2011 was the campaign by the various stakeholders against the backdrop of the health issues seen in Kasaragod. Many non-governmental organisations, such as the Pesticide Action Network, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in New Delhi, and Thanal (2009) in Thiruvananthapuram played a crucial role in the anti-endosulfan campaign globally. The Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP 2008) reported the health and environmental effects in Kasaragod, stating: he village of Kasaragod in Kerala, India, experienced sustained exposure to endosulfan as a result of 20 years of aerial spraying of a nearby cashew nut plantation. Endosulfan was the only pesticide used. Twelve streams used by the villagers originated in the plantation and were subsequently found to have contaminated sediment and water throughout the year (outside the spray season), as a result of endosulfan’s persistence in soil and the soil being carried to the streams by storm runoff. Residues were still detected in the water and pond sediments 1.5 years after spraying ceased. One sample contained endosulfan at 391 times the maximum permissible level. The villagers were also directly exposed to spray drift. Numerous congenital, reproductive, long term neurological and other symptoms were experienced. One hundred and ninety seven cases were documented from just 123 households. Chronic morbidity was 70% higher than the norm.

Industry and a livable planet: Paris Climate Agreement | United Nations

United Nations published this video item, entitled “Industry and a livable planet: Paris Climate Agreement | United Nations” – below is their description. Here’s our dilemma: we need industry to make the things we need, like cars, buses, tractors and computers. But we also need a clean, livable planet. Leading Indian environmentalist Sunita Narain says we can have both, by using the right sources of energy and cutting back on waste. This is the fifth in the UN’s video explainer series Within Our Grasp.

COVID-19 added over $290 billion to the global cost of TB deaths: study

South Asia incurred the highest losses due to TB deaths in 2020 Disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic added $290.3 billion (Rs 21.4 lakh crore) to the global cost of tuberculosis (TB) deaths, found a new study. The economic loss due to these deaths was $17·5 trillion in 2020, with south Asia incurring the highest share ($7.1 trillion), according to the report published in the Lancet journal. Most of the overall cost of TB is borne by south Asia and east Asia and Pacific regions, the researchers claimed. The researchers calculated the full-income losses and mean life expectancy losses per person, at birth and at age 35 years, from 2020 to 2050 in 120 countries. The United Nations has set a target of 90 per cent reduction in TB deaths from 2015 levels by 2030. As many as 23.8 million tuberculosis deaths and $13·1 trillion in economic losses can be avoided if this Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is met, found the study. As many as 18·1 million tuberculosis deaths and $10.2 trillion economic losses can be avoided if the SDG is achieved by 2045, the report showed. Mean life expectancy losses per person, both at birth and at age 35 are the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study. In 2018, the 1.4 million deaths due to all forms of tuberculosis in 120 countries resulted in $580.1 billion in full-income losses. The highest losses ($200.8 billion) were concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2019, about 10 million people developed TB and 1.4 million died, according to the World Health Organization’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2020. Inaction will result in an annual cost of $3 trillion and 5.7 million tuberculosis deaths, the study found. The cost of inaction is the highest in South Asia, including or excluding people living with HIV. The cost of inaction for people living with HIV ($427 billion) is the highest in sub-Saharan Africa and nearly six times that of the next highest region, East Asia and Pacific ($74.2 billion). The analysis was done keeping in mind three scenarios: First, a steady 2 per cent annual decrease in deaths, referred to as the business-as-usual scenario, if the SDG is met by 2030 and by 2045, continuing in the same trajectory till 2050. In the business-as-usual scenario, if tuberculosis deaths continue to decline at 2 per cent annually until 2050, 31.8 million deaths can occur from 2020–2050, the researchers estimated. This is the first study to estimate full-income losses due to tuberculosis mortality in 120 countries and to extend these estimates to assess the economic consequences of not meeting the SDG tuberculosis mortality target by 2030, the researchers claimed.

Panellists: Forge a bond with rivers, curb overexploitation of groundwater

Lucknow: If we want to save and rejuvenate rivers, it is important that we develop a sense of ownership of rivers and stop overexploitation of groundwater. We will have to come out of the notion of ‘jal aseemit hai’ (water is unlimited) if we want potable water in future. These views were expressed by scientists, hydrologists and stakeholders at the ‘Make UP A Water Positive State’ initiative. Experts said that conservation of wetlands and real-time monitoring of water supply in the state is the need of the hour. “It’s important to build a sense of ownership and pride for rivers among the people. Namami Gange campaign is based on four pillars – ‘nirmal Ganga’ (unpolluted Ganga) wherein the focus is on solid waste management and rural sanitization, ‘aviral Ganga’ where work is carried out on ecology and flow, ‘jan Ganga’ under which people’s connection is established with the river, and ‘gyan Ganga’ which works towards research, policy and knowledge management,” said executive director (projects), National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) Ashok Kumar Singh. “Under Namami Gange, we have achieved success in rejuvenating the river by working on these four pillars. The common perception that we have unlimited availability of water needs to be changed. People must understand that we have limited water resources and that too are polluted,” said director, UP State Groundwater Board, VK Upadhyay. He said every three years, the UP groundwater department conducts an assessment of groundwater in 10 cities which have a population of more than 10 lakh. The assessment of Aligarh, Moradabad, Bareilly, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad, Agra, Meerut, Lucknow and Kanpur revealed that groundwater situation in these cities is alarming. Director, Rivers, Wetlands & Water Policy, WWF India, Suresh Babu, emphasized on the importance of wetland conservation. “We have roped in Wetland Mitras, student volunteers who have done a wonderful job by conducting surveys and making a checklist. Water budgeting (measuring the quantity of water entering and leaving a system) and minimizing the loss of wetlands can make us water sufficient,” he said. Programme officer, Centre for Science & Environment (CSE), Dhruv Pasricha said urbanization was inevitable and urban built-up area had increased drastically in UP leading to an increase in water demand across sectors. “This has resulted in stretches of rivers with non-existent flow, overexploited aquifers, urban lakes and ponds which are being encroached upon. This has left an alarming impact on both quantity and quality of water. There is a need to protect local water bodies for supplementary resources, and stormwater management in public places should be promoted,” he added. Team leader, WASH, Tata Trust, Pankaj Papnoi said monitoring of water consumption could help in improving the water management system. “Real time monitoring can be effectively done by using advanced technologies like the Internet of Things (IOTs),” he added.

Delhi’s air most polluted from November 1 to 15: 5-year study

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air is most polluted from November 1 to 15, according to an analysis of the PM 2.5 levels of the past five years by the capital’s environment department. Track the pollution level in your city The average PM 2.5 value is 285 micrograms per cubic metre during this period. Officials said this is the only period that has been put in the ‘severe’ range (when the PM 2.5 concentration is more than 250 micrograms per cubic metre). “The period witnesses severe pollution mainly due to a rise in stubble burning and Diwali celebrations,” according to an official of Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). Dec 16 to 31 is second most polluted fortnight in winter The second most polluted fortnight of this season is December 16 to 31 with an average PM 2.5 level of 218 micrograms per cubic metre, according to this report. “Meteorological conditions are one of the most important factors through the entire winter season but the average PM2.5 crosses the 200-mark in the second half of December because of farm fires, festivals and marriage season,” said the official. Delhi’s air quality remains in the ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ categories during the beginning (October 1-15) and end (February 16-28) of the winter season. However, it remains in the ‘very poor’ category in the other fortnights. The air quality is considered ‘moderate’ to ‘very poor’ when PM 2.5 is between 61 and 120 micrograms per cubic metre. It is considered to be ‘very poor’ when the PM 2.5 level is between 121 and 250 micrograms per cubic metres. “Based on this analysis, all the agencies will intensify their actions to control pollution. We have come up with the Delhi Winter Action Plan, listing 10 points to tackle this,” said a senior official of the environment department. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, said, “Smog episodes intensify in two distinct phases during winter — early November and end December— January. Low temperature, inversion, calm wind and atmospheric changes trap air and pollution. The pollution concentration starts to build up from mid-October. Farm fires, Diwali firecrackers and an increase in traffic intensity around festivals contribute to the November smog. In subsequent phases, more intense winter conditions create opportunities for more severe smog episodes.” She said the winter conditions cannot change but the authorities can bring down the pollution levels. “If the authorities take round-the-year action with a systemic approach, develop infrastructure and implement strategies, overall pollution can be reduced and the levels sustained. However, during extreme pollution episodes, immediate emergency measures are needed to ensure that pollution levels do not worsen,” she said.

Punjab, Haryana farmers have begun burning crop stubble, show NASA satellite images

Stubble burning is a major contributor to air pollution in northern India, many cities in which are ranked among the world’s most polluted Air pollution concerns have resurfaced in northern India, which typically is smothered by a blanket of smog that throws life out of gear in the winter, as farmers resume burning crop residue after harvesting the crop in Punjab and Haryana. Satellite images from the US space agency Nasa show that farmers have already begun burning crop stubble in parts of the two northern states that’s blamed for the winter-time phenomenon that holds up flights and trains and reduces road traffic to a crawl. Data from the agency's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), a key instrument on board the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite, shows a gradual jump in detection of fires in farmlands in recent weeks. “Most of the fires are in and around Amritsar in Punjab as of now. This year due to consistent cloud/rain the overall fire season is delayed,” Pawan Gupta, senior scientist, Earth Sciences at the USRA Science and Technology Institute (STI) told Moneycontrol by email. STI/USRA works closely with the Nasa Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA. From 1 September 1 to October 3, Punjab recorded about 268 fire events and Haryana about 47. As many as 65 fires were spotted in Punjab on 29 September while 12 fire incidents were recorded in Haryana on the same day. This is the highest number for a day in September in both states. “The consistent cloud cover also limits satellite capabilities to detect small fires and thus, we may not be detecting all the fires in the region,” Gupta said. The numbers may appear small, but experts said satellite-derived fire event data over the last few years indicates a recurring pattern of early burning of crop residue. In September 2020, for example, Punjab reported 1,370 fires and Haryana 245, according to Nasa. “The fires we spotted in the last few days follow the trend observed in corresponding periods over the last five years,” said LS Kurinji, programme associate at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a New Delhi-based policy research institute. Smothering Delhi-NCR In October-November every year, farmers in Punjab and Haryana, together the breadbasket of India, clear thee stubble from their fields by burning the stubble because it is the cheapest method for them to make the soil fit for replanting. It is a major contributor to air pollution in northern India, many cities in which are ranked among the world’s most polluted. On an average peak day, the number of fires touches 4,000. “We cannot compare this year’s numbers with last year when COVID-19 had led to labour scarcity,” she said. In November last year, the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution rose by 42 percent in a day, the maximum so far that season. In 2019, stubble burning accounted for at least 44 percent of air pollution in The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) said fires in Punjab rose to 76,590 in 2020 from 52,991 a year ago. It said that in Haryana fires reduced by 25 percent to 5,000 from 6,652 over the same period. On 4 October, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal released a 10-point winter action plan said that he said will help combat air pollution in Delhi. He said Delhi's air quality will start deteriorating in a few days because of stubble burning for which his government has prepared a decomposer with the help of Pusa Institute of Technology which, once sprayed on crop residue, will eliminate the need to burn it. Funds galore, plans afoot The stubble burning in northern India has long been a major cause of air pollution in the region. The Union government has spent over Rs 2,245 crore to address this issue in the last four years. In 2020, stubble burning in Punjab increased by 44.5 percent despite getting 46 percent of the total funds from the central government for checking crop farm fires, the Centre told the Supreme Court in February this year. Union agriculture secretary Sanjay Agarwal said on September 13 that funds to the tune of Rs 491 crore have been released to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh ahead of harvesting of kharif crops for tackling the stubble burning in the 2021-22 financial year. Of this, Rs 235 crore had been released to Punjab, Rs 141 crore to Haryana and Rs 115 crore to Uttar Pradesh. In the last four years, a total of Rs 1,050.68 crore has been released to Punjab, Rs 640.9 crore to Haryana, Rs 489.08 crore to Uttar Pradesh and Rs 4.52 crore to Delhi as part of a central scheme on promotion of agri-mechanisation for the management of crop residue in these states. Last week, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said that Punjab, Delhi and NCR states have prepared detailed action plans for the prevention and control of stubble burning, according to a report in Indian Express The governments will adopt a management plan for crop residue management under which 1,43,801 machines are already available, and another 56,513 are being procured. Politics and Pollution The solutions have not stuck, so far, and the court orders like bans and heavy fines often remain unenforced. In November 2019, Supreme Court Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta while calling Delhi “worse than hell” and said toxic fumes over the city from stubble in the two neighbouring states were “reminiscent of an internal war”. What complicates matters is that farmers are a crucial vote bank. The authorities this year are unlikely to punish the farmers who burn the crop residue in the election season. On 25 August, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government announced it would drop legal proceedings against farmers accused of burning crop waste. A similar demand of withdrawing cases against farmers involved in stubble burning has emerged in Punjab from Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), one of the Opposition parties in Punjab, the state going to polls in a few months. Both states go to polls early next year. Paddy-Wheat Cycle Farmers in Punjab and Haryana burn stubble as there is a short window between harvesting of summer-sown paddy and sowing of wheat. Growers cite the high cost of manual or mechanical management of straw as a reason behind their preference to burn stubble. Experts said more systemic solutions should be implemented at a scale including steps to ensure that all farmers have affordable access to equipment that help to mix the stubble with soil. “We have to change the cropping pattern to reduce acreage under paddy besides scaling up options of recycling stubble for producing other products so that farmers can earn from stubble sale,” Anumita Roy Chowdhury, of the Centre of Science and Environment, told Money Control. Union environment minister Bhupendra Yadav, however, said winters this year would be better in terms of air quality because steps have been taken in advance. “From July to September, six advisories and 40 directions have been issued on air quality. We are taking active steps to reduce stubble burning through strict monitoring, using alternate methods etc,” Yadav said recently in a report in Business Standard. Many experts link the pollution in Delhi-NCR to the paddy-wheat cropping system which they suggest should change for a long time change. And till that happens, North India is likely to continue the struggle to breathe in winters

उम्र घटाता वायु प्रदूषण

नियाभर में वायु प्रदूषण के खतरे तेजी से बढ़ रहे हैं। वायु प्रदूषण लोगों के स्वास्थ्य को बुरी तरह से प्रभावित कर रहा है, यहां तक कि लोगों की आयु घटने का भी एक बड़ा कारण बनकर उभर रहा है। हाल ही में बेल्जियम में हुए एक अध्ययन में शोधकर्ता इस निष्कर्ष पर पहुंचे हैं कि सामान्य वायु प्रदूषकों से भी हृदय रोगों का खतरा बढ़ जाता है। प्रमुख शोधकर्ता सैन मैटेओ फाउंडेशन के डॉ. फ्रांसेस्का आर जेंटाइल के अनुसार सात सामान्य प्रदूषकों का अध्ययन करने पर पाया गया कि इनके कारण हृदय गति रुकने का खतरा बढ़ा। इस अध्ययन में रोजमर्रा के प्रदूषकों की सांद्रता तथा अस्पताल के बाहर देखे गए कार्डियाक अरेस्ट के मामलों के बीच संबंधों की पहचान की गई। दरअसल वायु प्रदूषण का प्रभाव मानव शरीर पर निरंतर घातक होता जा रहा है। वर्ष 1990 तक जहां 60 फीसदी बीमारियों की हिस्सेदारी संक्रामक रोग, मातृ तथा नवजात रोग या पोषण की कमी से होने वाले रोगों की होती थी, वहीं अब हृदय तथा सांस की गंभीर बीमारियों के अलावा भी बहुत सी बीमारियां वायु प्रदूषण के कारण ही पनपती हैं। सिर के बालों से लेकर पैरों के नाखून तक अब वायु प्रदूषण की जद में होते हैं। भारत में वायु प्रदूषण की स्थिति लगातार भयावह हो रही है। नेशनल हैल्थ प्रोफाइल 2018 की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार देश में होने वाली संक्रामक बीमारियों में सांस संबंधी बीमारियों का प्रतिशत करीब 69 फीसदी है और देशभर में 23 फीसदी से भी ज्यादा मौतें अब वायु प्रदूषण के कारण ही होती हैं। विभिन्न रिपोर्टों में यह तथ्य भी सामने आया है कि भारत में लोगों पर पीएम 2.5 का औसत प्रकोप 90 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति क्यूबिक मीटर है। पिछले दो दशकों में देशभर में वायु में प्रदूषक कणों की मात्रा में करीब 69 फीसदी तक की वृद्धि हुई है और जीवन प्रत्याशा सूचकांक, जो 1998 में 2.2 वर्ष कम था, उसके मुकाबले अब एक्यूएलआई की ताजा रिपोर्ट के अनुसार 5.6 वर्ष तक कमी आई है। अमेरिका की शिकागो यूनिवर्सिटी के ‘द एनर्जी पॉलिसी इंस्टीट्यूट’ के शोधकर्ता एक अध्ययन के बाद खुलासा कर चुके हैं कि वायु प्रदूषण के ही कारण भारत में लोगों की औसत आयु कम हो रही है। कुछ अध्ययनों के अनुसार भारत की कुल 1.4 अरब आबादी का बड़ा हिस्सा ऐसी जगहों पर रहता है, जहां पार्टिकुलेट प्रदूषण का औसत स्तर डब्ल्यूएचओ के मानकों से ज्यादा है। 84 फीसदी व्यक्ति ऐसी जगहों पर रहते हैं, जहां प्रदूषण का स्तर भारत द्वारा तय मानकों से अधिक है। भारत की एक चौथाई आबादी बेहद प्रदूषित वायु में जीने को मजबूर है और यदि प्रदूषण का स्तर बरकरार रहता है तो उत्तर भारत में करीब 25 करोड़ लोगों की आयु में आठ साल से ज्यादा की कमी आ सकती है। उत्तर भारत दक्षिण एशिया में सर्वाधिक प्रदूषित हिस्से के रूप में उभर रहा है, जहां पार्टिकुलेट प्रदूषण पिछले 20 वर्षों में 42 फीसदी बढ़ा है और जीवन प्रत्याशा घटकर 8 वर्ष हो गई है। हालांकि भारत ‘नेशनल क्लीन एयर’ कार्यक्रम के तहत वर्ष 2024 तक पार्टिकुलेट प्रदूषण को 20-30 फीसदी तक घटाने के लिए प्रयासरत है लेकिन शोधकर्ताओं का कहना है कि यदि भारत अपने उद्देश्य में सफल नहीं हुआ तो इसके गंभीर दुष्परिणाम देखने को मिल सकते हैं। यदि भारत अगले कुछ वर्षों में प्रदूषण का स्तर 25 फीसदी भी घटा लेता है तो राष्ट्रीय जीवन प्रत्याशा 1.6 वर्ष और दिल्लीवालों की 3.1 वर्ष बढ़ जाएगी। कुछ ही दिनों पहले ‘वायु गुणवत्ता जीवन सूचकांक’ (एक्यूएलआई) की नवीनतम रिपोर्ट में बताया गया है कि वायु प्रदूषण तरह-तरह की बीमारियां पैदा करने के अलावा लोगों की आयु भी घटा रहा है अर्थात् इसका सीधा प्रभाव जीवन प्रत्याशा पर पड़ रहा है। भारत के संदर्भ में रिपोर्ट में कई सनसनीखेज तथ्य उजागर किए गए हैं। एक्यूएलआई ऐसा सूचकांक है, जो जीवन प्रत्याशा पर वायु प्रदूषण के प्रभाव की गणना करता है। रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि वायु प्रदूषण के अनुमानित प्रभावों की तीव्रता सम्पूर्ण उत्तर भारत में बहुत ज्यादा है, जहां वायु प्रदूषण का स्तर दुनियाभर में सबसे ज्यादा खतरनाक है। एक्यूएलआई रिपोर्ट के अनुसार यदि वर्ष 2019 जैसा वायु प्रदूषण संघनन जारी रहा तो दिल्ली, मुम्बई और कोलकाता जैसे सर्वाधिक प्रदूषित महानगरों में रहने वाले लोग अपनी जिंदगी के नौ से ज्यादा वर्ष खो देंगे। रिपोर्ट के अनुसार भारत में करीब 48 करोड़ लोग गंगा के मैदानी क्षेत्र में रहते हैं, जहां प्रदूषण का स्तर बहुत ज्यादा है और यह प्रदूषण अब गंगा के मैदानों से आगे मध्य प्रदेश तथा महाराष्ट्र जैसे राज्यों तक फैल गया है, जहां खराब वायु गुणवत्ता के कारण लोग 2.5 से 2.9 वर्ष की जीवन प्रत्याशा खो सकते हैं। हालांकि इस रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक केन्द्र द्वारा संचालित राष्ट्रीय स्वच्छ वायु कार्यक्रम के लक्ष्य राष्ट्रीय जीवन प्रत्याशा को 1.7 वर्ष तक बढ़ाने में सहायक हो सकते हैं लेकिन इन लक्ष्यों की प्राप्ति के लिए प्रत्येक मोर्चे पर ठोस नीतियों की आवश्यकता है। कुछ समय पूर्व बोस्टन के ‘हैल्थ इफैक्ट इंस्टीच्यूट’ तथा ‘हैल्थ मैट्रिक्स एंड एवल्यूशन’ की प्रदूषण के मनुष्यों की आयु पर पड़ने वाले अच्छे-बुरे प्रभावों को लेकर किए गए अध्ययन की रिपोर्ट भी सामने आई थी, जिसमें कहा गया था कि भारत सहित सभी एशियाई देशों में वायु में घुलनशील प्रदूषणकारी तत्वों पीएम 2.5 की मात्रा निरन्तर बढ़ रही है। अध्ययनकर्ताओं का कहना था कि पीएम 2.5 का स्तर भारत, पाकिस्तान, बांग्लादेश तथा अफ्रीकी देशों में डब्ल्यूएचओ के मानकों से बहुत ज्यादा है, जिस कारण दुनियाभर के प्रत्येक क्षेत्र में जीवन प्रत्याशा में कमी आ रही है। आईसीएमआर की एक रिपोर्ट में भी कहा जा चुका है कि वायु प्रदूषण के कारण भारत में औसत आयु घट रही है। पिछले साल ‘सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट’ द्वारा भी कहा गया था कि वायु प्रदूषण से होने वाली घातक बीमारियों के कारण देश में जीवन प्रत्याशा औसतन 2.6 वर्ष घट गई है। सीएसई की उस रिपोर्ट के अनुसार बाहरी पीएम 2.5, ओजोन तथा घर के अंदर का वायु प्रदूषण इस स्थिति के लिए सामूहिक रूप से जिम्मेदार साबित हो रहे हैं। रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक दुनियाभर में आज जन्म लेने वाला कोई भी बच्चा वायु प्रदूषण नहीं होने की तुलना में औसतन 20 माह पहले ही जबकि भारत में जन्मा बच्चा अपेक्षा से 2.6 साल पहले ही दुनिया से चला जाएगा। सीएसई का कहना था कि घर से बाहर का और घर के भीतर दोनों ही जगहों पर वायु प्रदूषण जानलेवा बीमारियों को न्यौता दे रहा है, जो भारत में स्वास्थ्य संबंधी सभी खतरों में मौत का तीसरा सबसे बड़ा कारण हो गया है। बहरहाल, शोधकर्ताओं का कहना है कि वायु की गुणवत्ता में सुधार करके इस स्थिति को और बिगड़ने से बचाया जा सकता है। एक्यूएलआई के निदेशक केन ली कहते हैं कि जीवाश्म ईंधन संचालित वायु प्रदूषण आज एक वैश्विक समस्या है और वायु प्रदूषण से मुक्ति पूरी दुनिया को औसत आयु में दो वर्ष जबकि सर्वाधिक प्रदूषित देशों को पांच साल बढ़त दिला सकती है। ली के मुताबिक अगर भारत, पाकिस्तान, बांग्लादेश और नेपाल वायु गुणवत्ता को विश्व स्वास्थ्य संगठन के मानकों के अनुरूप बनाने में सफल हो जाएं तो यहां के लोगों की औसत आयु 5.6 वर्ष बढ़ जाएगी अन्यथा उम्र इतनी ही घट जाएगी। शिकागो विश्वविद्यालय के एनर्जी पॉलिसी इंस्टीट्यूट के निदेशक और अर्थशास्त्र के प्रोफेसर माइकल ग्रीनस्टोन के मुताबिक वायु प्रदूषण पर अब गंभीरता से ध्यान देने की जरूरत है ताकि करोड़ों-अरबों लोगों को अधिक समय तक स्वस्थ जीवन जीने का हक मिल सके।

India registers high water storage losses

New Delhi, Oct 7 (Prensa Latina) India experiences one of the largest water storage losses worldwide in the last 20 years, it was reported today in this capital. Terrestrial water storage (TWS) decreased on the planet at the rate of 1.0 centimeter per year between 2002 and 2021, according to a report published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The TWS includes all the water in the land surface and the subsurface, that is, superficial, the soil moisture, snow and ice and underground, Down To Earth portal pointed out. The greatest losses of this vital resource in the world correspond to Antarctica and Greenland, but many highly populated places in lower latitudes also show high TWS falls, such as India, which shows a loss of at least 3.0 cm per year, according to the investigation. Water is a key requirement for human development but only 0.5 percent of the total on Earth is available as fresh. Water resources around the globe are under enormous pressure due to human and natural stress generators like population growth, urbanization and declining fresh water availability. Furthermore, extreme weather events are also responsible for the pressure on water resources in all sectors and regions, WMO noted. In India, per capita water availability decreased from 1,816 cubic meters in 2001 to 1,545 cubic meters in 2011 and the parameter is expected to drop to 1,367 cubic meters in 2031, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Meanwhile, five of India's 21 river basins suffer from 'absolute water scarcity' (per capita water availability of less than 500 cubic meters). Some other five have 'water shortages' (per capita less than 1,000 cubic meters) and three have 'water stress' (per capita less than 1,700 cubic meters).

Monsoon withdrawal delayed in most parts of the country: IMD

A delayed monsoon withdrawal may push the crop stubble burning in neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab to the latter half of the month, according to the experts. NEW DELHI: After a long haul, parts of the national capital saw light rain on Tuesday evening, October 5, 2021. This might be one of the last few showers of the season even though monsoon withdrawal is expected to be delayed this year for most parts of the country, said officials in the India Meteorological Department (IMD). A delayed monsoon withdrawal may push the crop stubble burning in neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab to the latter half of the month, according to the experts. As per IMD data, the Safdarjung Observatory received 0.5 mm rainfall between 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm. Lodhi Road station received 0.3 mm rain during the same time. “Usually monsoon would withdraw by September end or first week of October. But this year, with continuous low-pressure areas forming over the Bay of Bengal, it is likely to withdraw by the second week of October. So far because of good winds, air quality and intermittent showers has been fine,” said the IMD official. So far air quality has been in check, but if stubble burning incidents coincide with the onset of winter, it may add to the already high pollution levels during that time. Centre for Science and Environment executive director Anumita Roychowdhury, said: “Unlike last year when September was mostly dry with little rain, stubble fires had intensified from mid-September itself, the number of instances this season may pick up only in the latter half of the month.” “While the impact of stubble burning to Delhi’s pollution will depend on the wind direction at that time, it is likely that coinciding with stubble fires with the festive season and the onset of winter may result in a toxic combination leading to a spike in pollution levels,” she said.

Experts discuss climate policy and economic inequity in the ninth Yale Development Dialogue

Yale Economic Growth Center, Department of History and Jackson Institute of Global Affairs co-host seminar focusing on climate priorities in preparation for upcoming United Nations conference. Yale economics professors and famed environmentalists gathered on Tuesday to discuss the commitments of high and low-income countries to addressing climate change while correcting economic inequity. This event was the ninth in the Yale Development Dialogue series — a set of events intended to bring together economists, historians, policymakers, journalists and other experts to discuss issues that affect countries of varying economic statuses through an interdisciplinary lens. The Yale Economic Growth Center, Department of History and Jackson Institute of Global Affairs co-hosted the webinar. Tuesday’s panelists focused on climate policy in the context of the United Nations’ upcoming Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26, which is scheduled to take place in Glasgow between Oct. 31 and Nov. 12. Specifically, the panelists discussed relationships between global economic injustice and climate activism. “Unless you have a collaborative agreement [between the rich and poor] … you will not have an agreement that is effective,” panelist Sunita Narain, a famed Indian environmentalist, said of the upcoming COP26 proceedings. “If it is not affordable growth, if it is not inclusive growth, it is not sustainable.” In addition to Narain, who is the director general of the India-based research institute Centre for Science and Environment, panelists included John Haldon, professor emeritus of history at Princeton; Nicholas Ryan, assistant professor of economics at Yale; and Rohini Pande, professor of economics and director of Yale’s Economic Growth Center. The session was moderated by Catherine Cheney ’10, a senior reporter who covers for Devex the role of technology, innovation and philanthropy in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. A central topic of the panel was the effect of COVID-19 on international climate policy and attitudes. Pande, Narain and Ryan all described a sense of pessimism about the likelihood of a global climate response based on individual “nationalistic responses” to the pandemic, as Pande said. “This is the worst time in the world. The leadership in the world literally sucks,” Narain told attendees. “Yet you have vaccine racism happening today. Yet you have a divided world. What does that tell us about the future of climate change?” Ryan, whose research includes the examination of energy policy in India, quantified the discrepancy. He explained that it would have required about $70 billion to vaccinate every person against COVID-19. The scale of investment needed for climate change, however, is about 1,500 times greater. “That is how much larger the problem is, just in money terms, and the reason to be a little bit pessimistic,” Ryan said. “If the U.S. or China are not willing to unilaterally step up … and eliminate COVID from the world … then what does that say about climate change?” Ryan, however, noted some potential room for hope, pointing to progress in renewable energy investment in developing countries. However, not all panelists agreed that renewable energy is the right solution to address climate change, particularly for low-income countries. “In my part of the world, solar is still expensive for the poorest in the country,” Narain said, adding that some Indians cannot afford electricity, even when it comes from “dirt-cheap coal.” While Ryan responded that the most recent prices on solar in India were about 2.5 rupees — roughly 3.4 United States cents — per kilowatt-hour, as compared to 3.5 or 4.0 rupees for coal, Narain pointed out that the upfront cost of renewable energy can be prohibitive to people and to communities in poverty. A January report from Oxfam found that the richest one percent of the global population have used twice as much carbon as the poorest 50 percent over the last 25 years. However, as Cheney pointed out during the panel, the global poor are hit hardest by the effects of the climate crisis, from droughts to housing instability to food shortages. This disparity also affects some of COP26’s goals, which include identifying the necessary 2030 emissions reduction targets for each country to reach net-zero emissions by the middle of the century. Pande raised a question to fellow panelists concerning their thoughts on the efficacy of net-zero strategies and whether they are sufficient. In Narain’s view, they are not. Narain pointed to two flaws with net-zero initiatives: equity concerns and insufficient technology. Per the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world should reach a state of net-zero emissions by 2050. However, “there’s no way the U.S. and India can have the same timeline,” Narain said, speaking to general issues with prescribing the same directive across countries of varied income statuses. “That discussion today is so over that we shouldn’t even waste our time,” she added. Instead, Ryan said global superpowers like the United States and European nations need to step in. As John put it, a fundamental problem in the field now is how to build geopolitical changes, such as China’s growing influence on many African countries, into climate policy framework, especially as these changes affect lower-income communities. The next Yale Development Dialogue is scheduled for Oct. 28 and will focus on global health equity.

The Heroin Stain

The Adani group has come under fire after the special court directed the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to probe if any benefits were gained by the group because of the huge consignment of contraband landing at its port in Mundra. Is the Adani-owned port responsible for narcotics arriving from other countries? Last fortnight, while extending the custody of a Chennai couple held in connection with the Rs 21,000-crore heroin haul from Mundra port, the Special Court for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) in Bhuj, Kutch (Gujarat), on September 30, sought to know if the Mundra Adani Port had acquired any interest from the import of narcotics. The Special Court of Additional District Judge CM Pawar also wanted to know why the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) did not probe the source of the heroin in Afghanistan. A couple, Machavaram Sudhakar and his wife Govindaraju Durga Purna Vaisali, were arrested on September 17. The Bhuj court granted DRI their custody till September 20. The DRI also arrested Coimbatore resident Rajkumar P and recovered narcotics from other places in raids held after the Mundra seizure. Four Afghan nationals and one Uzbek national have also been arrested. After getting credible information that the consignment contained drugs from Afghanistan, DRI officers seized two containers and sent samples for examination. A forensic analysis of the seized substance confirmed the presence of heroin. The consignment was imported by a trading company registered in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. It was declared as semi-processed talc stones originating from Afghanistan and shipped from Bandar Abbas Port in Iran to Mundra Port in Gujarat. The importer was identified as Sarvim Exports, which is located at Derawal Nagar in Delhi. The cargo was declared as an Ayurvedic product, mulethi (licorice), and the drugs were hidden in plastic pipes painted to resemble bamboo. On September 26, while hearing the remand application of Rajkumar P, the Court had directed the DRI to probe if any benefit was gained by the Adani Group by virtue of the consignment of banned contraband landing at its port in Mundra. According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Afghanistan is one of the biggest exporters of narcotic drugs, and as per estimates, it accounts for nearly 85% of global heroin supplies. Following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul on August 15, there have already been multiple meetings among central agencies to discuss the impact in terms of drugs smuggling, infiltration of foreign terrorists and terror activities in India. Making it a political issue, Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh on October 1 demanded a judicial inquiry into the seizure of heroin at the Mundra Port in Gujarat, saying that he had no faith in the National Investigation Agency. Mundra Port is the largest private port of India located on the north shores of the Gulf of Kutch near Mundra in the Kutch district of Gujarat. It is a private port and also a special economic zone. Incorporated in 1998 as Gujarat Adani Port Limited (GAPL), the company began operating it in 2001. The combined company was renamed Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Limited. The development of Adani Port & Special Economic Zone Limited was conceptualised by entrepreneur Gautam Adani. The Adani Group has issued a clarification stating that it is only the port operator and does not have the authority to check shipments arriving at the port. The Narcotics Control Bureau has found that while Mumbai is the cocaine capital of India, the country is also used as a route for trafficking cocaine to other parts of the world. India has become a favourite destination of cocaine, the supply of which is controlled by the powerful drug group of South American countries. The major drug laws of India are the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) (1985) and the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (1988). Under one of the provisions of the Act, the Narcotics Control Bureau was set up with effect from March 1986. The Act is designed to fulfill India’s treaty obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. The Act has been amended three times—in 1988, 2001, and most recently, in 2014. The Act allows the court to grant immunity to an addict if he/she is found involved in a case dealing with tracing the amount of drugs. The immunity, however, is granted only after the accused agrees to undergo medical treatment for de-addiction under Section 64A. Someone who has only consumed banned drugs or narcotics but is not involved in trading, can get bail. Section 31A of the Act states that the maximum punishment in cases under the NDPS Act is death penalty. The death penalty can be given to a person found guilty of being involved with commercial quantities of drugs. Section 8(c) of the NDPS Act prohibits the production, manufacturing, possession, selling, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consumption, inter-state import and export, import to and from India or tranship of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, except for medical or scientific purposes, and requires a licence or permit by the concerned authorities. Under Section 27, the consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance is a punishable offence. In Section 35 of the Act, it is presumed that the accused knew what they were doing. Hence, the accused will be guilty unless proven innocent. Consumption of cocaine carries up to one year of imprisonment, whereas consumption of charas or cannabis carries up to 6 months’ imprisonment. Under the Union Finance Ministry, the Department of Revenue had in 2015 passed an order to all state governments stating that seized drugs must be destroyed as earliest as possible in order to avoid its misuse or theft. In 2015, the government added Mephedrone or meth, as a psychotropic substance. The amendment was made after the drug grew popular among the youth. In April this year the apex court, while holding that a private vehicle is not a “public place” under the NDPS Act, acquitted three men accused of possessing poppy, saying they were charged under the wrong section. The judgment came from a bench headed by Justice UU Lalit which said that recovery of a banned substance from a private vehicle parked on a public road wouldn’t be covered under Section 43 of the NDPS Act—the provision used for recovery of the banned substance. The bench, however, said that such cases can be covered under Section 42 of the Act. While Section 43 of NDPS Act deals with the power of seizure and arrest in a public place, Section 42 gives a designated officer powers of “entry, search, seizure or arrest” in a suspected narcotics case. A committee, headed by Sunita Narain of the Centre for Science and Environment, was set up by the Union ministry of Environment and Forests to inspect the ship-breaking facility of M/s Adani Port and SEZ Limited near Mundra West Port in Gujarat’s Kutch district. The committee which submitted its report on April 18, 2013, found incontrovertible evidence of destruction of mangroves, blocking of creeks and non-compliance of other clearance conditions. Subsequently, on July 29, 2013, a public hearing was held where people from four affected villages posed questions about the project and its impact on the environment. The latest seizure from the Mundra port and the quantity involved suggests that it is ideally located for such consignments to make its way to Mumbai. Adani is India’s second richest individual and unlikely to be involved in smuggling contraband but if any of the officials hired to run the port are found to be involved, it could put a dent in his reputation.