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CSE calls for law on front-of-pack labelling on packaged junk foods

To help India fight obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) epidemic, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has called for a law on front-of-pack labelling to inform the consumers about the unhealthy packaged junk foods, enabling them to make informed decisions about what they intake. "Countries are working to find ways to nudge the consumers into healthy food choices and to contain the growing crisis of obesity and diet-related NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension and heart ailments. It is a crisis that increasingly impacts children and also worsens the Covid-19 symptoms," said Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE, and editor of 'Down To Earth' that carried the analysis. The analysis underlined how even after seven years, four committees and two draft regulations, India still does not have the much-needed front-of-pack labelling law to warn the consumers about the harmful levels of fat, salt and sugar hiding in ultra-processed junk foods. "The CSE was part of the FSSAI-constituted committee that first proposed front-of-pack labelling in India in 2014. Ever since, the packaged junk food industry is pushing hard to delay it and make it weak," said Amit Khurana, Director, food safety and toxins programme at the CSE, and the lead author of the analysis. Also the part of the 2021 stakeholder consultations organised by the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India), the authors have elaborated on how these consultations have not made meaningful progress and instead have opened possibilities for front-of-pack labelling options preferred by the industry. The analysis clearly enumerates how the draft thresholds - limits above which a product could be marked unhealthy - proposed by the FSSAI-constituted working group have suited the packaged food industry, as they were much relaxed than those proposed by the FSSAI in its earlier labelling drafts of 2018 and 2019 as well as those adopted by countries with best practices. The proposed thresholds have now been put on hold after most consumer organisations opposed them. This working group was formed to look into the issue of thresholds following a CSE study in December 2019, which said that most popular packaged junk foods have salt and fat content several times higher than the thresholds proposed by the FSSAI in its labelling drafts of 2018 and 2019. Therefore, they would have been marked 'red' as per the proposed law at that time. "We also opposed the last-minute FSSAI proposal of including 'positive nutrients' in the label. We are certain that it will only give the industry a chance to claim its bad food as good food and mislead the consumer. These recent consultations were like one-step forward and two-steps backwards. We are far behind than where we were in 2018 and we do not know which way it will go," said Khurana.

सीएसई : डिब्बाबंद जंक फूड पैकेट पर सामने की तरफ प्रभावी ढंग से ‘चेतावनी’ लगाई जानी चाहिए

सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरमेंट (सीएसई) का कहना है कि स्वास्थ्य के लिए नुकसानदेह डिब्बाबंद जंक फूड पर प्रभावी ढंग से सामने की तरफ ‘चेतावनी’ लगाई जानी चाहिए ताकि उपभोक्ताओं को उनकी सरल और प्रभावी जानकारी मिल सके। अभी नहीं पता लगता वसा, नमक व चीनी का नुकसानदेह स्तर संस्थान ने इन खाद्य पदार्थों के पैक पर सामने की ओर (फ्रंट ऑन पैक) लेबलिंग के लिए जल्द कानून बनाने की मांग भी की है। सीएसई की महानिदेशक सुनीता नारायण का कहना है, फूड पैकेट पर दी जाने वाली पोषक तत्वों से जुड़ी जानकारी उपभोक्ताओं को भ्रमित रखती हैं। इससे संबंधित खाद्य पदार्थ के नुकसानों के बारे में पता नहीं चलता। लिहाजा, उपभोक्ताओं को नुकसानदेह खाने से बचाने की दिशा में फ्रंट ऑन पैक लेबलिंग एक प्रभावी तरीका है। सात वर्षों में नहीं बन पाया कानून विश्लेषण में बताया गया है, बीते सात वर्षों में चार समितियों और दो मसौदे नियमनों के बावजूद भारत में उपभोक्ताओं को अति-प्रसंस्कृत (अल्ट्रा प्रोसेस्ड) जंक फूड में छिपे वसा, नमक और चीनी के नुकसानदेह स्तर की चेतावनी देने के लिए फ्रंट ऑन पैक लेबलिंग कानून नहीं बन पाया है। कड़ा कदम नहीं उठा रहा एफएसएसएआई सीएसई में खाद्य सुरक्षा व विषाक्त कार्यक्रम के निदेशक अमित खुराना के मुताबिक, 2014 में एफएसएसएआई द्वारा गठित समिति ने सबसे पहले फ्रंट ऑन पैक लेबलिंग का प्रस्ताव दिया था। डिब्बाबंद जंक फूड उद्योग इसे लागू करने में देरी और इसे कमजोर करने के लिए पूरा जोर लगा रहा है। खुद एफएसएसएआई जनस्वास्थ्य और उपभोक्ताओं के हितों को बचाने के लिए कड़ा कदम उठाने से हिचकिचाते रहा है। तमाम देश खान-पान की अच्छी आदतें विकसित करने, मोटापा, मधुमेह, हाइपरटेंशन और हृदय संबंधी बीमारियों को रोकने के तरीके ढूंढ रहे हैं। यह संकट बच्चों पर भी असर डाल रहा है और कोरोना की भयावहता में भी इसका योगदान रहा है।

Delhi Air Pollution 2021: गैस चैंबर में तब्दील नहीं होगी दिल्ली, 15 अक्टूबर से लागू हो जाएगा GRAP

सर्दियों के दौरान जब भी वायु प्रदूषण का स्तर 400 से ऊपर गंभीर स्थिति में जाएगा हवा की दिशा भी पंजाब हरियाणा और राजस्थान की साइड वाली होगी तो एनसीआर के सभी कोयला संयंत्र बंद कर दिए जाएंगे इस बार सर्दियों में राजधानी दिल्ली को गैस चैंबर नहीं बनने देने के लिए केंद्रीय वायु गुणवत्ता प्रबंधन आयोग पुख्ता तैयारी कर रहा है। पहली बार एनसीआर के कोयले से चलने वाले बिजली संयंत्र (थर्मल पावर प्लांट) भी बंद करने का निर्णय लिया गया है। केंद्रीय विद्युत विनियामक आयोग (सीईआरसी) ने जरूरत के अनुसार बिजली वितरण कंपनियों को वैकल्पिक प्रबंध करने का दिया निर्देश भी जारी कर दिया है। गौरतलब है कि अगले महीने 15 अक्टूबर से दिल्ली-एनसीआर में ग्रेडेड रिस्पांस एक्शन प्लान (ग्रेप) लागू हो जाएगा, जो 15 मार्च तक लागू रहेगा। इस दौरान वायु प्रदूषण के विभिन्न चार स्तरों के अनुसार अन्य सभी प्रतिबंध तो अमल में आ ही जाएंगे, पहली बार कोयला संयंत्र भी बंद किए जाएंगे। हालांकि ऐसी व्यवस्था केवल प्रदूषण के गंभीर स्थिति में पहुंचने पर होगी। आयोग के एक वरिष्ठ अधिकारी ने बताया कि सर्दियों के दौरान जब जब भी वायु प्रदूषण का स्तर 400 से ऊपर गंभीर स्थिति में जाएगा, हवा की दिशा भी पंजाब, हरियाणा और राजस्थान की साइड वाली होगी तो एनसीआर के सभी कोयला संयंत्र बंद कर दिए जाएंगे। स्थिति में सुधार होते ही उन्हें पुन: चालू कर दिया जाएगा। इस दौरान बिजली आपूर्ति सुनिश्चित बनाए रखने के लिए अक्षय ऊर्जा का भी सहारा लिया जाएगा। सीईआरसी ने बिजली वितरण कंपनियों के साथ साथ नार्दर्न रिजन लोड डिस्पेच सेंटर (एनआरएलडीसी) और सभी राज्यों के स्टेट लोड डिस्पेच सेंटर (एसएलडीसी) से बात कर ली है। ऐसे करते हैं हवा को प्रदूषित इन संयंत्रों से जो धुआं निकलता है, उसमें सल्फर डाइआक्साइड व नाइट्रोजन डाइआक्साइड जैसी खतरनाक गैसें निकलती हैं। यह गैसें वायुमंडल में समाहित होकर स्वास्थ्य पर नकारात्मक असर डालती हैं। आइआइटी कानपुर ने हाल ही में दिल्ली की हवा का अध्ययन किया। अध्ययन के लिए सल्फर, लेड, सेलेनियम, और आर्सेनिक जैसे तत्वों का चयन किया गया, क्योंकि इनकी मदद से ही इसका सही अनुमान मिल पाता कि पीएम 2.5 में कोयला संचालित ऊर्जा उत्पादन संयंत्रों का योगदान कितना है। अध्ययन में सामने आया कि दिल्ली के पीएम 2.5 में इन संयंत्रों का योगदान आठ फीसद तक है।

India can achieve net zero carbon emissions target by 2065-70: Study

India is now the fourth-largest emitter after China, United States and the European Union, and as per IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report released on August 9, it will be among the most severely affected countries India can achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2065-70 as its greenhouse emissions will peak by 2035 and if it caps coal usage in the next 10 years, said a new study co-authored by the former vice-chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia. But he said this will also depend on rich countries doubling climate finance to US $200 billion per year in the next few years. The paper titled ‘Getting Net Zero Approach for India at CoP 26’ strongly advocates that India should declare its ‘net zero’ target year at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference or CoP 26 starting from October 31 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. It said that India’s traditional argument that it has to emit for its own development no more holds “diplomatic ground” as there are viable non-emitting energy alternatives available. Net zero is the state in which a country’s greenhouse emissions are removed from the atmosphere by carbon absorption or sequestration. This is the most hotly debated proposal for CoP 26 as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had said achieving net zero by 2050 was a must to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, to pre-industrial level by the end of 2100. India is now the fourth-largest emitter after China, United States and the European Union, and as per IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report released on August 9, it will be among the most severely affected countries. India has committed to reducing the emission intensity of its gross domestic product by 33-35% by 2030 and having 175 gigawatt renewable energy capacity by 2030 under the Paris Agreement of 2016. There is renewed pressure on India to enhance its renewable commitment under the Paris deal to 450 GW by 2030 and phase out coal. India’s environment minister Bhupendra Yadav, before going for the special UN meeting on climate change on Friday had said that net zero is not enough to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. He said developed countries need to reduce emissions to provide carbon space to developing countries to exercise their right to grow and eradicate poverty. “While public announcements of 2050 as a net zero target date helps to focus public attention on the need to reduce emissions, it is important to recognise that having a common net zero emissions date for all countries is not the best way of tackling global warming,” the paper said. It said net zero target years can be given to countries based on the remaining available carbon budget with the least allocation to G20 (richest) countries, which account for close to three-quarters of global emissions. “A trajectory that gets to net zero by the time committed but exceeds the country’s carbon budget is much worse than following a trajectory which keeps within the budget but reaches net zero later,” the paper written for Centre for Social and Economic Progress said. Based on the above argument, the paper said that China and Indonesia have already announced that they will reach net zero by 2060. “The studies reviewed in this paper suggest that India could reach a peak around 2035 and get to net zero sometime between 2065 and 2070. We could offer something along these lines at CoP 26,” Ahluwalia said in the paper co-authored with Utkarsh Patel, who is an associate fellow at Centre for Social and Economic Progress, an independent public policy think tank. To achieve the net zero target, the paper said, India needs short-term decarbonisation targets along with trajectories for the next three decades. The best short term target, the study said, would be a planned phasing out of coal-based power generation as India has already adopted expanding renewable energy capacity to 450 GW by 2030. However, the Indian government has opposed phasing out coal saying it is needed for the country’s developmental imperatives. The paper outlined several implications for phasing out coal, including huge revenue loss for poorer Indian states such as Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. For states such as Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, close to 15% of the state revenue comes from the mining sector. Further, these states would lose out on employment, the paper said, as new employment in the renewable sector would be created in western and southern India which has better solar and wind resources. India has about 210 GW of coal-based capacity, 39 GW is under construction and another 25 GW is under different stages of approval. If the coal-based power plants have a life of 40 years, India will have the capacity to generate 200 GW thermal power by 2050 and achieving net zero status by 2070 will not be possible. “Reducing life of plants to 25 years can helping in achieving net zero,” Ahluwalia said. The close aide of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in the paper, strongly argued that India should not commit to a net zero target without enhanced international financial support, saying the IPCC’s assessment of $600 billion per year as the amount of additional energy sector investment needed in developing countries should be the starting point. He added that the finance could be divided into internet finance, private flow responding to market conditions, and additional bilateral and multi-lateral inflows. “The additional funding of around $100 billion per year through multi-lateral components should be a good starting point,” Ahluwalia said in the paper. The paper said that another US $ 100 billion can come from the private sector and market-based incentives such as carbon trading. Former special climate envoy Shyam Saran did not agree with Ahluwalia and said he was “pessimistic” that the funds could come from the developed countries to ease energy transition for developing countries. Saran, who has repeatedly advocated the traditional position that India should insist on emission reduction targets for the developing world, said any energy transition for the developing world would be costlier than the developed world as patents of almost all technologies are with the West. “The rich world has absolved itself from its climate responsibilities and passed on the buck to the developing world. Net zero is an example of that,” he said. Sunita Narain, director general of Centre for Science and Environment, said India should reject net zero targets put out by the West since they are flawed and inequitable for developing countries. “The target of 2050 is too far away. We need to keep our focus on 2030, with sharp and real targets. India should seek enhanced emission reduction from the developed world and finance for energy transition,” she said. “We need disruptive action, not disruptive technology.” Navroz Dubash of Centre for Policy Research said various studies have shown why net zero was important for India and it can achieve the target by 2065, which Ahluwalia said was equitable. “The emergence of new economic opportunities and technologies could dramatically change the landscape, and there may be space for an aspirational statement towards net zero. But given the information we have today, it would be gambling with the developmental future of India to lock ourselves into a hard net-zero deadline,” he had said in an article published in HT in March. Ahluwalia admitted that the approach could face resistance and economic gains should be considered. “There will be understandable resistance to making such a major break. However, the issue needs to be examined in the context of the enhanced warnings about the impact of global warming and the technological changes that have taken place which allow for making a shift to renewables, both feasible and economic,” he said.

Campuses are beginning to see green

Sustainability has attained a new urgency in the corporate and academic world as they innovate to cut carbon dioxide emissions While India is pushing for a host of green measures to inch closer to its nationally determined commitments to the Paris Agreement, coaxing institutions to develop sustainable practices could push the envelope further. If office complexes, universities, schools, colleges, convention venues, industrial parks, military cantonments — practically all campuses — scale up best practices to bring down carbon dioxide emissions, half the battle would be won. Though some corporates moved early in developing sustainable systems in their office complexes and secured Leed certifications or a green building rating, others are trying to enhance their sustainability reports. Companies such as Wipro, TCS, Infosys, Suzlon, Capgemini and others now boast facilities that have rooftop solar, wind turbines, rainwater harvesting, water recycling and other customised and innovative environment-friendly measures. Take Capgemini, for example. It aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 and become a net-zero business by 2030. It has introduced a slew of measures to reduce carbon emissions at its Indian campuses, including captive solar plants, rooftop solar, solar gazebos, pedestrian walkways, car ports, a solar-powered amphitheatre and solar-powered ‘trees’. The ‘trees’ have solar panels as leaves and a power generator that resembles the trunk. Their shade is bedecked with work tables — an open-air workspace for employees. Viswanathan R, Capgemini’s Senior Director, Corporate Real Estate Services, India, says the group has increased its renewable energy portfolio to 50 per cent in 2020 from 37 per cent in 2019. Other measures include carpooling, rainwater harvesting, offsite green energy procurement for its Bengaluru campus, shifting from diesel to natural gas generators at its Noida campus, and a dual-state electricity feeder to reduce diesel consumption at its Bengaluru EPIP campus. Today Capgemini is exporting surplus green power to electricity boards. Recently it started a global initiative to transition to a fully electric vehicle (EV) fleet by 2030 and reduce commuting emissions per employee by 50 per cent. Its Bengaluru campus is the first corporate campus in India to receive a net-zero energy ‘Platinum’ certification. Apart from corporate houses, other campuses need to step up to achieve results. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is focussing on academic institutions as they “ serve as important incubators” for a new generation of professionals to drive the future change. Timely lessons In 2017, CSE launched its Green Campus Initiative and its “Green Campus Compendium” traces the journey through examples from Gargi College in Delhi, Vivekananda Centenary College in Rahara, West Bengal, and Assam Don Bosco University to Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU). The 500-acre GNDU, for example, set up a centre to promote sustainability in education, lifestyles and professional practice. It instituted a strict ‘no cars on campus’ policy for students and simultaneously set up a bike sharing programme with docking stations for easy connectivity. The GPS-enabled smart bicycles were available at ₹175 per month, or ₹5 per half-hour. E-rickshaws also plied. Air conditioners were restricted to laboratories, assembly halls and offices of heads of departments to cut energy use. Passive design features allowed natural ventilation and daylight. Rainwater harvesting wells were installed alongside a wastewater treatment facility to treat 2.5 million litres daily. Its 25-acre botanical garden has 200 plant species and there are about 50,000 trees on campus. It segregates 60 per cent of the 200 kg of waste it generates daily and has two vermi-compost units for organic waste. The green campus movement has set a new compliance target for the 993 universities, 39,931 colleges, and 10,725 stand-alone institutions in the country. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has included an environmental sustainability criterion in its rating of educational institutions. The All-India Council for Technical Education has also instituted a ‘Clean and Smart Campus’ award. This carrot-and-stick approach could hasten academic campuses to ‘green’ up their act.

Record rain, clear sky, but no good air day

New Delhi: For the last couple of days, Delhiites have been seeing an azure sky above their heads. And while people have been taking to social media to highlight the fact, Delhi’s air has actually failed to be in the ‘good’ category in recent days to validate the blue skies. Central Pollution Control Board classifies air as ‘good’ when the air quality index (AQI) is at the 50 or lower mark over a 24-hour period. By this reckoning, Delhi has failed to record a single such day this year, despite recording five good air days in 2020, four of which came in rainy August. Carbon monoxide (CO) is primarily generated from vehicles as exhaust emissions, while it is also an indicator of other sources of combustion. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), pointed out that September has seen intense rains this year and while PM2.5 and PM10 have remained low, the emergence of CO indicates the impact of the vehicular sector, which becomes more prominent when rain settles down the pollutants in the air. “Particulate matter settles down, but gases are still prominent in the air,” she said. “CO as the lead pollutant means it is generally due to vehicles, because the major chunk of the gas, 80- 90% comes from vehicles. Ozone is also created in a similar way.” Chowdhury said good air was difficult to achieve unless multiple sources were acted upon. Experts said the high Carbon monoxide concentration could affect the amount of oxygen in the body and. It is known as a ‘silent killer’, especially in closed spaces. Dipankar Saha, former head of CPCB’s air laboratory, said CO was generated by poor engine performance and was released due to unburnt fuel. “Unburnt hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are released into the air and it is a dangerous gas. Therefore, it has 1-hour and 8-hour standards, as opposed to PM10 and PM2.5, which are measured over 24 hours,” explained Saha. Meanwhile, O3 is formed by primary pollutants and gases reacting in the presence of sunlight. At the ground level, the gas can be particularly dangerous to those with respiratory problems or asthma. CPCB’s daily bulletin is an indicator. Carbon monoxide (CO) and ground-level ozone (O3) are emerging as the prominent pollutants for the day, other than PM10, or coarse pollutants, and PM2.5, which are micro, respirable particles. While the former features as the prominent pollutant in 16 of the 18 days of this month so far, ozone was a prominent pollutant on three days. Despite recording relatively low AQI — hovering between 60 and 70 — high CO readings, which emerged as the prominent pollutant, may have been the reason the capital’s air quality was unable to touch the ‘good’ range. The lowest AQI recorded so far in September is 60, on September 12, a day when both O3 and CO featured prominently in the readings. Meanwhile, the highest AQI for the month was 122 (moderate), recorded on September 6 when both PM2.5 and PM10 featured as the lead pollutants in the absence of CO and O3.

दिल्ली: सर्दियों में सांस लेना मुश्किल! राजधानी में इन 11 जगहों पर बेतहाशा बढ़ गई हवा में गंदगी

दिल्ली में सर्दियों के आते ही हवा में प्रदूषण का स्तर बढ़ जाता है। राजधानी में 2020-2021 में पिछले दो सर्दियों के मुकाबले हवा में प्रदूषण में बढ़ोतरी देखने को मिली है। पिछले दो सर्दियों के आंकड़ों से पता चलता है कि दिल्ली के 13 हॉटस्पॉट में से 11 में पिछली सर्दियों की तुलना में 2020-21 में प्रदूषण में वृद्धि देखी गई। केवल एक हॉटस्पॉट, वजीरपुर में प्रदूषण की स्थिति में कुछ सुधार दिखाई दिया है। इससे एक बात साफ हो जाती है कि लोकल लेवल पर एयर पॉल्यूशन को कंट्रोल करने के लिए ग्राउंड लेवल पर और अधिक प्रयास करने की जरूरत है। 13 हॉटस्पॉट की हुई थी पहचान 2018 में, दिल्ली प्रदूषण नियंत्रण समिति और केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड ने दिल्ली के 13 सबसे प्रदूषित क्षेत्रों की पहचान की थी। इन जगहों पर PM2.5 का स्तर शहर के औसत से भी अधिक था। सर्वे में स्थान विशेष को लेकर एक्शन लेने की बात कही गई थी। इसके अलावा 2019 में हर एक हॉटस्पॉट के लिए स्थानीय स्तर पर ऐक्शन प्लान का भी जिक्र किया गया था। वजीरपुर और साहिबाबाद में दिखा सुधार हालांकि, सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) द्वारा विश्लेषण किए गए आंकड़े बताते हैं कि पूरे राष्ट्रीय राजधानी क्षेत्र (एनसीआर) में केवल वजीरपुर और साहिबाबाद ने पीएम2.5 लेवल के मामले में सुधार दिखा है। द्वारका के आंकड़े तुलना के लिए उपलब्ध नहीं थे। 13 हॉटस्पॉट में रोहिणी, द्वारका, ओखला फेज II, पंजाबी बाग, आनंद विहार, विवेक विहार, वजीरपुर, जहांगीरपुरी, आरके पुरम, बवाना, मुंडका, नरेला और मायापुरी शामिल है। बहादुरगढ़ में 50% बढ़ा पॉल्यूशन इसके अलावा एनसीआर के लिए छह प्रदूषण हॉटस्पॉट की पहचान की गई। इनमें से फरीदाबाद में दो और गुड़गांव, बहादुरगढ़, भिवाड़ी और साहिबाबाद में एक-एक हॉटस्पॉट शामिल था। एनालिसिस में सामने आया कि जहांगीरपुरी का मौसमी औसत 256 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति क्यूबिक मीटर था, जो चिह्नित हॉटस्पॉट्स में सबसे प्रदूषित था। बहादुरगढ़ ने लगभग 50% की छलांग दर्ज की, लेकिन यह अभी भी अन्य हॉटस्पॉट की तुलना में साफ था। जहांगीरपुरी के बाद, विवेक विहार, नरेला, आनंद विहार, बवाना दिल्ली में सबसे अधिक प्रदूषित हॉटस्पॉट रहे। इन सभी स्थानों पर पिछली सर्दियों में प्रदूषण में बढ़ोतरी दिखी। 2019-20 में बाकी एनसीआर की तुलना में साहिबाबाद 200 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति घन मीटर के साथ सबसे अधिक प्रदूषित शहर था। नए हॉटस्पॉट पर ध्यान देने की जरूरत सीएसई ने यह भी बताया कि डेटा से पता चला है कि नए प्रदूषण हॉटस्पॉट भी उभर रहे है। इन जगहों पर भी समान रूप से ध्यान देने की जरूरत है। इनमें दिल्ली के आठ और बाकी एनसीआर में सात जगह शामिल हैं। इन नए हॉटस्पॉट की पहचान मौजूदा हॉटस्पॉट के औसत के साथ उनके वार्षिक औसत की तुलना करके की गई। इन जगहों पर हवा में प्रदूषण का स्तर 197 माइक्रोग्राम प्रति क्यूबिक मीटर था। लोकल लेवल पर बढ़ रहा प्रदूषण सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड इन्यवॉयरन्मेंट में रिसर्च और एडवोकेसी से जुड़ी कार्यकारी निदेशक अनुमिता रॉय चौधरी ने कहा कि नए प्रदूषण वाली जगहों में दिल्ली में अलीपुर, डीटीयू, आईटीओ, नेहरू नगर, पटपड़गंज, सोनिया विहार, मंदिर मार्ग और अशोक विहार और नोएडा में सेक्टर 1 और 116, गाजियाबाद में लोनी, संजय विहार और इंदिरापुरम, ग्रेटर नोएडा में नॉलेज पार्क V और बुलंदशहर शामिल हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि यह फिर से स्थानीय प्रदूषण के प्रभाव की ओर इशारा करता है। सितंबर के अंत तक विंटर ऐक्शन प्लान दिल्ली सरकार सितंबर के अंत तक विंटर ऐक्शन प्लान जारी करेगी। इसमें 10 महत्वपूर्ण फोकस वाले क्षेत्र में प्रदूषण वाले हॉटस्पॉट पर काम करना और नए स्थानों की पहचान करना भी शामिल है। दिल्ली सरकार के एक अधिकारी का कहना है कि हर साल लगातार प्रयास किए जा रहे हैं, खासकर सर्दियों के दौरान। इसमें प्रदूषण के स्थानीय स्रोतों को नियंत्रित करना शामिल है। अधिकारी ने दावा किया कि प्रत्येक हॉटस्पॉट के लिए वर्कप्लान में तत्काल और साथ ही दीर्घकालिक उपाय शामिल हैं। जल्द ही सुधार दिखाई देगा।

Cold discomfort: Winter pollution worsened in 11 of Delhi hotspots

NEW DELHI: The data from the last two winters reveal that 11 of the 13 hotspots in Delhi witnessed an increase in pollution in 2020-21 as against the previous winter. Only one hotspot, Wazirpur, showed improvement, indicating much more efforts will be required on the ground to control localised air pollution. Track the pollution level in your city In 2018, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and Central Pollution Control Board identified Delhi’s 13 most polluted areas where PM2.5 concentration was well above even the city’s average. The survey was carried out to take location-specific action and each hotspot got a localised action plan in 2019. However, the data analysed by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) point out only Wazirpur and Sahibabad in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) have shown actual improvements in terms of PM2.5 concentration. The data for Dwarka weren’t available for comparison. The 13 hotspots are Rohini, Dwarka, Okhla Phase II, Punjabi Bagh, Anand Vihar, Vivek Vihar, Wazirpur, Jahangirpuri, RK Puram, Bawana, Mundka, Narela and Mayapuri. Six pollution hotspots were identified for the rest of NCR — two in Faridabad and one each in Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwadi and Sahibabad. “Jahangirpuri with a seasonal average of 256 micrograms per cubic metre was the dirtiest among the recognised hotspots. Bahadurgarh recorded an almost 50% jump, but it was still cleaner than other hotspots,” the analysis stated. After Jahangirpuri, Vivek Vihar, Narela, Anand Vihar, Bawana were the most polluted in Delhi, all showing an increase in pollution last winter as compared to 2019-20. For the rest of NCR, Sahibabad was the most polluted with an annual average above 200 micrograms per cubic metre. CSE also pointed out that the data revealed that new pollution hotspots were also emerging, calling for equal attention. These include eight locations in Delhi and seven in the rest of NCR. These new hotspots were identified by comparing their annual average with the mean of the existing hotspots — 197 micrograms per cubic metre. The locations include Alipur, DTU, ITO, Nehru Nagar, Patparganj, Sonia Vihar, Mandir Marg and Ashok Vihar in Delhi and Sector 1 and 116 in Noida, Loni, Sanjay Vihar and Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, Knowledge Park V in Greater Noida and Bulandshahr. “This again points towards the impact of localised pollution and the data show much more efforts are required at these locations to bring them down closer to the city average,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at CSE who analysed the data. Working on pollution hotspots and identifying new locations is one of the 10 key focus areas identified by Delhi government as part of its winter action plan, which will be released by September-end. Constant efforts are being made every year, especially during winters, to control localised sources of pollution, said a government official. “The action plan for each hotspot include immediate as well as long-term measures. Improvement will be visible soon,” the official claimed.

New ways to curb climate migration

Many nations are building better resiliency in places vulnerable to weather disasters, a task as important as curbing carbon emissions. By the Monitor's Editorial Board Extreme weather events, many of which are rooted in climate change, could displace some 216 million people within their own countries by 2050, finds a new study from the World Bank. And that is only in poorer countries. Another study estimates that every additional day each year with an average temperature of about 90 degrees Fahrenheit adds nearly 1% to the number of climate migrants. Added to the tens of millions of people who have fled war or political strife – as witnessed in Afghanistan – solutions to forced migration are more urgent than ever. The World Bank’s new research, titled Groundswell 2.0, offers this suggestion: If governments take quick remedial action they could cut internal migration, and the hardships it brings, by as much as 60% to 80%. The action most needed would be to reduce worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases. A United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) is scheduled to be held in early November in Glasgow, Scotland, a follow-up to the Paris climate accords of 2015. As governments struggle to pledge and keep promises to reduce emissions, the World Bank says concurrent steps can be taken to build resiliency and fend off the worst effects of climate migration. These include ways to help people stay in their homes, as well as to help in their movement to and resettlement in new locations. In Egypt, for example, parts of the Nile delta are projected to be places of out-migration. Several cities, including Cairo, should expect to receive these refugees. The report notes that planners could identify places most likely to be hit hardest by climate change and help more climate-resilient areas prepare to take in migrants. Many other ways to help ease climate migration are available. More drought-resistant crops, for example, are being developed that could help keep farmers home. Rooftop water harvesting can be used to irrigate fields. In some villages in India where water harvesting and other water conservation methods are being undertaken, climate migration has been reversed and migrants are returning to their homes, says Sunita Narain, director general of the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi, in a recent interview with The Times of India. “It is essential to invest in building local climate resilience and protecting community economies,” she added. Ways to mitigate climate migration are becoming well known. Even as nations try to curb carbon emissions, they can also put measures in place to solve the rising displacement of people by weather disasters.

India’s toxic love affair with plastic: on the 2022 ban against single-use products

Come July 2022 and the Indian government’s ban on single-use plastics (SUPs) will come into force. At least that’s what a recent announcement by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) states. The Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, announced in August, state that 20 identified SUPs will be phased out by next year. Although an ambitious and what some might even consider a welcome change to India’s snowballing plastic crisis, the announcement has brought with it several questions. The ‘Report on Single Use Plastics’, worked on by an expert committee constituted by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (DCPC), has categorised plastic products based on their environmental impact and utility — those found to have the lowest utility and highest environmental impact are recommended for a phase-out. These include thin carry bags (less than 50 micron); non-woven carry bags and covers (less than 80 gsm and 320 microns); small wrapping/ packing films; straws/ stirrers; cutlery such as foam cups, bowls; earbuds with plastic sticks; cigarette filters; small plastic bottles; plastic banners; among other products. Interestingly, the report also mentions that on examining bans and other restrictions on plastic products issued by various State governments and Union Territories, the expert committee ‘noted that the guidelines lack uniformity and vary widely in different parts of the country’. Key loopholes Where are the corporations? A cursory glance at the list highlighting the environmental adverse impact score of SUPs makes it evident that these are products being churned out by small and medium manufacturers. Larger corporations that mass-produced everything from furniture and bags to multi-layered packaging and bottles are missing. Minderoo Foundation’s ‘Plastic Waste-Makers Index’, released earlier this year, reveals the companies that produce 90% of all SPU waste generated globally. The list includes Reliance Industries, GAIL India, Indian Oil Corporation, and Haldia Petrochemicals from India. Packaging and EPR woes: Plastic packaging (flexible and rigid) contributes almost 60% of the total plastic waste generated, as a report from the Centre for Science and Environment finds. These include everyday products such as food wrappers, wrapping films, etc., but packaging waste hasn’t been listed for a phase-out. The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 had proposed for these to be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable way through extended producer responsibility (EPR) of the producer, importer and brand owner (PIBO). ‘Five years later, the EPR for plastic waste management remains only on paper, due to non-compliance by PIBOs and weak enforcement by authorities,’ states Down to Earth. ‘The Ministry’s assumption that the PIBOs will start complying now is puzzling.’ The expert committee’s report backs this, and states that the EPR concept in India is largely connected with litter and other environmental issues but has not even begun to be implemented. This is yet another missing link in India’s plastic ban policy. Busting the bio-plastic bubble: Next come the infamous ‘bio-plastics’ and other compostable, oxo-degradable and oxo-biodegradable plastics — primarily used for grocery bags or carry bags. While you may feel a tad better opting for these bags rather than polythene ones, how ‘sustainable’ or ‘plastic-free’ they really are is an altogether different story. Remember, not all bio and plant-based plastics are biodegradable, and not all ‘green’ or biodegradable plastics are bio-based. In addition, they require separate composting facilities created with specific environmental conditions. The Report mentions that the conditions required for the decomposition of compostable bags do not exist in India’s municipal landfills. Most importantly, compostable plastic packaging is not a blanket solution, but rather one for specific, targeted applications as a majority of compostable plastics are more expensive than conventional plastics, and not available in sufficient quantities in India. The recycling process gets impacted when conventional and compostable plastics are mixed. The informal workforce: According to the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the plastics recycling industry in India employs over 1.6 million people and has more than 7,500 recycling units. It is a known fact that recycling has been managed by extremely small players, who employ elementary waste segregation processes and lack scientific know-how on waste collection, segregation, and disposal. The plastic industry not only needs an upgradation of technology for mechanical recycling, as the Report mentions, but requires investing in educating these players, and providing them incentives to manage waste wisely. Key in this list of players are the waste pickers — estimated to be between 1.5 million and 4 million. We need measures to improve the way they function. They need to be given ID cards, authorisations, incentives for their health, welfare, education, etc. If rules for source segregation and preventing the mix of plastics are enforced, it will go a long way in easing the lives of rag-pickers and making their job safer. Worse, the pandemic has made the battle against plastic tougher — given the rise in PPE kits and disposable masks — but the war against SUPs has been going on for decades. Like every other segment of Indian society, we have the rules, but there is no implementation. The polluters continue to pollute, and the dump yards grow higher by the minute. Unless there is strong data to support which product needs to be banned and how to go about it, besides putting existing rules into effect, India’s plastic crisis will be far from over.

Union minister Bhupender Yadav to attend closed-door meeting on climate targets on UNGA sidelines

The Informal Climate Leaders Roundtable on Climate Action follows the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and comes less than six weeks before the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav will likely participate in an informal meeting called by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson ahead of the UN climate change negotiations (COP 26) in Glasgow, to discuss how nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of major emitters can be enhanced to meet the 1.5 degree warming goal. The meeting will be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, on Monday September 20. The Informal Climate Leaders Roundtable on Climate Action follows the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and comes less than six weeks before the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. According to senior officials in the UN, the agenda of the meeting will be a roadmap to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels and climate mitigation and adaptation finance, particularly the commitment to mobilise 100 billion dollars per year by 2020 by developed countries. IPCC’s report last month flagged that the world may have lost the opportunity to keep global warming under 1.5 degree C over pre-industrial levels. The 1.5 degree C global warming threshold is likely to be breached in the next 10 to 20 years by 2040 even if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions decline rapidly to net zero around 2050, it said. “Environment minister Bhupender Yadav has been nominated to represent India. It is a closed-door meeting on climate change with UN secretary general,” said a senior environment ministry official who asked not to be named. Yadav recently said that the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 is not enough to deal with the climate crisis. The need of the hour is “deeds: and not “plain words” to deal with climate change and reaching “net zero” alone is not enough, a statement from the environment ministry said on Tuesday. It stressed that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report published recently is a clarion call for developed countries to undertake immediate deep emission cuts and decarbonize their economies, Guterres said on Thursday that he expects COP 26 to be a turning point and all countries to commit to a target of net zero emissions by 2050. “COP26 this November must mark that turning point. By then we need all countries to commit to achieve net zero emissions by the middle of this century and to present clear, credible long-term strategies to get there. We need all countries to present more ambitious and achievable Nationally Determined Contributions that will together cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030, compared to 2010 levels. Nothing less will do.” Achieving a net zero emission target implies that all remaining human-caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are balanced out by removing GHGs from the atmosphere in a process known as carbon removal. For this human-caused emissions from industries, vehicles etc should be reduced to near zero. Guterres released a new report by multiple international scientific agencies titled “United in Science” on Thursday which flagged that fossil fuel emissions from coal, gas, cement etc are back at 2019 levels or even higher in 2021. Fossil CO2 emissions from coal, oil, gas and cement peaked at 36.64 GtCO2 in 2019, followed by a significant drop of 1.98 GtCO2 (5.6%) in 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Based on preliminary estimates, global emissions in the power and industry sectors were already at the same level or higher in January-July 2021 than in the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, the United in Science report said. It cited data from the Global Carbon Project which indicates that between January and May 2021 the reduction in CO2 emissions was around 1% vis a vis 2019 compared to a 9% reduction in 2020. China has recorded a substantial increase in CO2 emissions in 2021 compared to 2019. India’s CO2 emissions have increased compared to peak of the pandemic period in 2020 but are still about 4% lower compared to 2019 in the January- May 2021 period. United in Science is coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with inputs from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the Global Carbon Project (GCP). Concentrations of all major greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (NO) continued to increase in 2020 and the first half of 2021, the report said adding that overall emissions reductions in 2020 likely reduced the annual increase of the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases “but this effect was too small to be distinguished from natural variability.” The report has also flagged that there still remains a large gap between NDCs and the emission reduction needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals of keeping global warming under 2 degrees, and preferably under 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. NDCs in mid-November 2020 remained largely inadequate to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and would lead to a temperature increase of at least 3 degree C by the end of the century, it added. Countries must collectively increase their NDC ambitions threefold to get on track to a 2 degree C goal and more than fivefold to get on track to the 1.5 degree C goal, it said. Preliminary estimates of the impact of NDC target updates in 2021 by the US, the EU and the United Kingdom, and announcements of Canada, China and Japan, indicate that emissions projections could be reduced by 12%–15% compared with the projection in 2020. “This is still far from sufficient to bridge the emissions gap in 2030,” the report said. “We need an NDC+ strategy now because we need climate action as a co-benefit agenda. We need to articulate what we will do to mitigate local and global emissions. The driver will be reducing local emissions but will also help reduce global emissions. We need a plan now because it’s important for the people of India,” said Sunita Narain, director general of Centre for Science and Environment.

Expert suggests opening all gates of metro stations, DDMA yet to take a call

At present, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is facilitating the entry of passengers at all stations through 276 gates. A DMRC official told PTI on Thursday that the opening of more gates would lead to more passengers entering the metro stations. During a recent meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), the director of the National Centre for Disease Control, Dr Sujit Kumar Singh suggested that all gates of Delhi Metro stations should be opened in order to reduce congestion for passengers, PTI reported. The DDMA is yet to decide on this matter as Delhi Metro continues operating at its full seating capacity with no standing travel to avoid overcrowding. The meeting was chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. Dr Singh pointed out that only some gates of metro stations were opened and advised opening of all gates at the earliest as this would lead to lesser congestion. At present, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is facilitating the entry of passengers at all stations through 276 gates. A DMRC official told PTI on Thursday that the opening of more gates would lead to more passengers entering the metro stations. “We are following the guidelines of the DDMA and some gates are closed at metro stations. The opening of more gates would lead to more people inside the station. We will follow the guidelines of the DDMA,” the official said. In 2021, Delhi Metro services were suspended when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government imposed a complete lockdown in the national Capital on April 19 due to a massive increase in coronavirus disease cases during the more infectious second wave of the pandemic. As the situation started improving in June, the DMRC started metro services with 50% seating capacity and no standing travel. Since July 26, trains have been running at full capacity with no standing passenger allowed. Hindustan Times reported last week that despite the DMRC allowing full seating capacity in trains, Delhi Metro is running at just 20% of its capacity. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy, CSE, told HT that there are apprehensions among people that travelling in close proximity with others will increase the chances of getting infected with Covid-19. Delhi has so far recorded 1,438,373 cases, 25,084 deaths, 1412880 discharges and 409 active cases due to the viral disease. On Thursday, 28 people were detected as Covid-19 positive while 22 patients recovered. After seeing zero deaths for more than one week, one Covid-19 patient died on Thursday, the second fatality reported in September -- the earlier was on September 7.

Experts hail easy to understand FoPL warnings on packaged food products towards addressing NCDs

FoPL would efficiently guide consumers in making healthier choices and help them reduce their intake of fat, sugar or salt. Experts hail simple and easy to understand Front-of-package label (FOPL) warnings on front of the pack in packaged food products towards addressing India’s burgeoning non-communicable diseases (NCDs) crisis. This, according to experts, would be most suitable for the Indian population, regardless of their age, literacy proficiency or socio-economic strata. FOPL warnings are a proven strategy for informing consumers of the hidden dangers in foods and beverages and every year an increasing number of countries are willingly implementing it. India too for the past couple of years has been seriously considering implementing mandatory FoPL and is conducting stakeholder consultations in this regard. More importantly, it would efficiently guide consumers in making healthier choices and help them reduce their intake of fat, sugar or salt. With poor diets being increasingly associated as a major risk factor for India’s burgeoning NCD crisis, a decision on the right type of FoPL should not be delayed further, emphasised food policy experts and doctors at a virtual discussion organised by CUTS International recently. Any such regulation will form a major stepping stone for the country to target packaged foods that are high in salt, sugar, fat (HFSS), which is the main cause for the increasing number of NCDs in the country. However, from various news reports it has come to light that FSSAI is showing a preference to opt for Health Star Rating (HSR) Label, which is a matter of concern given that the country has a huge number of poor, illiterate and vulnerable populations. To help consumers make healthier choices, Australia and New Zealand had introduced the voluntary HSR system in 2014 that is quite similar to the energy rating label used on our electrical appliances. But recent studies shows that their system is highly flawed as unhealthy food products are still able to get a high score as the rating is based on the overall nutritional value, and any inclusion of healthy ingredients like fibre and protein to an otherwise unhealthy product could easily cancel out its unhealthy ingredients (i.e. sugar, saturated fats and salt). According to Dr. Alexandra Jones, Research Fellow, Food Policy and Law, The George Institute for Global Health, Australia, “HSR allows industry to use it selectively. Hence it is used on products that are already healthier than others. Food products that have a high content of negative nutrients often do not display HSR which is a voluntary system in our country.” Dr Jones also talked about consumer mistrust and instances of industry asserting influence by being present as stakeholders of the regulatory process. More importantly, the system does not effectively assist the vulnerable consumers who need it the most. While HSR, including our own energy star label that was introduced in 2009, does help some middle- to high-income consumers, it does a poor job with respect to consumers of low socio-economic status. Only a fourth of Indian households are currently aware of BEE’s star labels, said George Cheriyan, Director, CUTS International in his opening address as the moderator. “Quoting Grant Schofield, Chief Health and Nutrition Advisor to the Ministry of Education, New Zealand, ‘the Health Star rating is already dead in the water. The algorithm is flawed in the combination of fat, salt and sugar. The food industry brought this to us, we were suckered in. Perversely, very high sugar foods can get 4+ health stars,” he added further saying we should learn from the experiences of Australia and New Zealand and be cautious against adoption of HSR. It is important that Indian regulators choose a simple and interpretive label that aids consumers to choose between healthy and less healthy products.” Amit Khurana, Director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi expressed that it was disheartening to see that even after eight years the country is still discussing FOPL. “A complicated FOPL will not work in India which is so linguistically diverse that every 100 kms the local language changes. Need of the hour is an easy-to-understand warning label.” Dr. Pankaj Bhardwaj, Vice Dean, Research, AIIMS Jodhpur while highlighting the need for effective warning labels from a health perspective cautioned that people with comorbidity and pre-existing NCDs are more vulnerable and at higher risk of getting infected by the Covid 19 virus. Saroja Sundaram, Executive Director, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), Chennai spoke about FOPL from a consumer perspective and reminded regulators how the existing detailed nutritional summary provided in the back of the product never served the purpose due to language barrier and consumer ignorance about its purpose. So she strongly advocated for a FOPL that is always simple and easily interpretable by a consumer thereby helping him to identify unhealthy products. The virtual webinar was attended by around 60 delegates from across the country and abroad, including health experts, representatives from national and international organisations, industry representatives, various state Food Safety Commissionerate, AIIMS, Indian Medical Association, academic and research Institutions from more than 14 states.

Smog Towers a Ruse to Shift Accountability and Politicise Pollution, Say Experts

'We have not seen any data or evidence from any air quality authority to prove that smog towers can improve ambient air quality in the dynamic outdoor conditions of a city. Small applications in other parts of the world are recreational in nature and not part of any regulatory mandate for air pollution mitigation.' As the stubble-burning season approaches the National Capital region again, air pollution is assuming importance on the government's agenda. After the first was inaugurated last month by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, yet another smog tower dots the capital’s skyline. The BJP has set up another tower in Delhi's Anand Vihar area with the previous one being inaugurated in central Delhi’s Connaught Place. India is home to 14 out of the 15 most polluted cities in the world. The 25-metre (82-foot) tower will supposedly dish out 1,000 cubic metres of air per second through filters that are said to halve the number of harmful particulates in a one sq-km radius (0.4 square miles). However, the towers, which have cost the taxpayer over 40 crore rupees have no scientifc evidence of efficiency. More importantly, no impact assessment study was done before setting up the towers. Reports also mention that no reputable scientists have come out in support of smog towers as an efficient way to curb pollution and that no other country in the world has managed to clean outdoor air with the help of giant purifiers. In fact, environmentalists, scientists and clean air advocates have publicly and consistently opposed such measures. As a result, the move to install these towers is being flagged as wasteful and detached, one which will shift focus away from practices that would actually lead to pollution control. Speaking to Newsclick, Sunil Dahiya an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), refuted claims of the machine's efficiency. “Installing smog towers in open air spaces is pure wastage of public money, as it is highly energy and capital intensive to install and operate these smog towers to be able to provide some relief at a city-level, because as soon as they clean the air in the vicinity, new polluted air-particles from the upwind will come in and the air quality will again be poor. The real solution for pollution lies in reducing and removing pollution at source, either by shifting away from polluting practices and fuels or capturing pollution at the point of release," he said. India has more than 480 million people – about 40% of its population – living in areas where pollution levels regularly exceed those found anywhere else in the world. Residents of northern India are on track to lose more than nine years of life expectancy, the University of Chicago's Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report stated. It also added that in 2019, India's average particulate matter concentration was 70.3 microgram per cubic meter (µg/m3), the highest in the world. The number is seven times what the World Health Organisation's has set in its guidelines, the report said. The smog-tower experiment has not yielded any gains internationally either. In 2018, China built a much-larger 60-metre smog tower in the polluted city of Xian, but the experiment is yet to catch on. Speaking to Newsclick, Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director of Research and Advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment, said: “We have not seen any data or evidence from any air quality authority to prove that smog towers can improve ambient air quality in dynamic outdoor conditions of a city. Small applications in other parts of the world are recreational in nature and not part of any regulatory mandate for air pollution mitigation." "It is not clear why we are adopting such expensive and energy intensive gizmos and diverting attention and resources from, real hard action to control direct emissions from pollution sources. The reported cost of smog towers in Delhi is more than the funds allocated for air pollution control individually to most cities under the national clean air programme. If this is not evaluated and addressed right away more cities will rush towards this cosmetic gesture at a huge cost with no real dent on the pollution curve," she added. The Parliament also passed the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill last month amid protests. The Act dissolves the NCR's Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA), which was established in 1998. An ordinance establishing a similar Commission was promulgated in October 2020. In the event of a conflict, the commission's orders or instructions will take precedence over the orders of the individual state governments, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), state PCBs, and state-level statutory bodies. The law is also facing flak with experts criticising its centralised control and arbitrary powers. Speaking to Newsclick, Bhavreen Kandhari, an activist from 'Warrior Moms', a group of mothers from all over India fighting for clean air, said: “Even if vacuuming the air was an option, Delhi would need over 2.5 million smog towers for any effective change in AQI levels. Obviously this is not the solution. The solution is reducing emissions at source, penalising polluters, protecting ‘natural smog towers’ like trees or strict laws to implement thermal power plants (TPP) norms or implement the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. Maybe the elected representatives need to wake up to all of the above instead of wasting our public money on such a farce.”

Delhi govt agencies told to make pollution combat plans

The exercise is part of the government’s plan to formulate a 10-point winter action plan to combat pollution from internal as well as external factors, and set up specific strategies to prevent the air quality from going into the dangerous zone, like every year. The Delhi government on Tuesday asked several agencies to submit by September 21 a detailed plan on managing various factors responsible for the spike in air pollution during winters in the city. The exercise is part of the government’s plan to formulate a 10-point winter action plan to combat pollution from internal as well as external factors, and set up specific strategies to prevent the air quality from going into the dangerous zone, like every year. Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday organised a meeting of various agencies in the Capital, to set targets for winter. The recommendations by each agency will form a part of the final plan which is expected to be released by September 30. Rai said the effort is aimed at checking pollution sources within Delhi, as well as those in the neighbouring states. Addressing a press conference, Rai said in the Tuesday’s stakeholders’ meeting, agencies were tasked with controlling and managing various aspects of pollution control. The environment minister and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal have also sought a meeting with the Union environment minister to discuss the contribution of pollution from the neighbouring states, and talk about ways in which this can be tackled. Representatives from the three municipal corporations (north, south and east), Delhi Pollution Control Committee, environment department, transport department, Delhi traffic police, Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi Development Authority, Delhi Cantonment Board attended the meeting. “Each agency has been tasked to formulate a detailed plan, which needs to be submitted by September 21. Based on these individual plans, a holistic winter action plan will be released by September 30,” Rai said. Senior environment department officials said they have identified some of the major factors that contribute to the poor air quality in the city such as stubble burning, vehicular emissions, road and construction dust, waste burning and poor management of pollution hot spots. Despite several action plans, including the Supreme Court directed Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), being in place, every year during winters, Delhi’s air slip into emergency zone, turning the Capital’s air hazy and a public health hazard. Meteorological factors such as low temperatures, low wind speed and unfavourable wind directions, along with unchecked local pollution sources such as road dust, garbage burning, and vehicular emissions contribute to turn the national capital into a gas chamber. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) showed that in 2020, there were 23 days when Delhi’s particulate matter 2.5 concentration (PM 2.5) was in the ‘severe’ or worse categories. On Tuesday, the environment minister said to monitor the effective implementation of the winter action plan, the environment department has been assigned the task of coordinating with all other agencies. Explaining what tasks each agency will have to undertake, Rai said, “The work of controlling garbage burning has been assigned to the municipalities. They will have to come up with a plan to ensure that this garbage reaches the proper disposal sites.” Similarly, he said, the Delhi Traffic Police have also been asked to come up with steps for smooth traffic at congestion hot spots, and also repair traffic signals. “When vehicles are stuck at a spot for several minutes, it leads to an increase in pollution levels in the area. We have asked the traffic police to make a list of the congestion hot spots and try to come up with solutions to fix them,” Rai said. Environment experts, however, said the true test of this winter action plan will be in its implementation. “While the direction that they have taken with identifying the sources contributing to Delhi’s air is right, but the true test of this action plan will be how well this is implemented,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment.

Delhi Must Cut PM2.5 By 58% To Meet Annual Standards

New Delhi: With the rainy season nearing its end, Delhi is readying for winter, a time when air pollution hits a peak. A change in wind direction as the monsoon begins to withdraw from the region leads to a drop in wind speed and temperature, both of which trap local and wind-borne pollutants from neighbouring states. The winter action plan to combat pollution is expected to be released by the end of September. While data since 2015 does show the annual average PM2.5 level reducing each year, anti-pollution plans have to take into consideration that Delhi still needs to reduce its annual PM2.5 load by another 58% to meet national air quality standards. In 2020, when the city went into a lockdown due to Covid-19 and determined the ‘base’ pollution levels that could be achieved if key sectors are regulated, the capital still could not meet the national safe standard of 40 micrograms per cubic metre for PM2.5, logging a reading of 96 micrograms per cubic metre. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment on behalf of Central Pollution Control Board’s data from Delhi’s five oldest air quality monitoring stations — ITO, IHBAS, Mandir Marg, RK Puram and Punjabi Bagh — shows the annual average PM2.5 at 152 micrograms per cubic metre in 2015, but dropping to 127 in 2016, 120 in 2017, 118 in 2018 and 109 micrograms per cubic metre in 2019. By 2018, Delhi had 36 air monitoring stations and the average PM2.5 concentration that year based on all the 36 stations was 112 micrograms per cubic metre, still three times the acceptable limit. “The most recent data relates to 2019 because in 2020, the lockdown affected collection of data,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE. “It is still clear that Delhi requires considerable improvement across sectors to reach anywhere close to the national standard for PM2.5.” Based on a three-year, rolling average method, however, when the annual average readings from 2018- 2020 are taken, Delhi’s annual average PM2.5 is 105 micrograms per cubic metre, which Chowdhury explains is a more accurate determination of the average pollution level. Delhi Must Cut PM2.5 By 58% To Meet Annual Standards Sep 15, 2021, 04.48 AM IST New Delhi: With the rainy season nearing its end, Delhi is readying for winter, a time when air pollution hits a peak. A change in wind direction as the monsoon begins to withdraw from the region leads to a drop in wind speed and temperature, both of which trap local and wind-borne pollutants from neighbouring states. The winter action plan to combat pollution is expected to be released by the end of September. While data since 2015 does show the annual average PM2.5 level reducing each year, anti-pollution plans have to take into consideration that Delhi still needs to reduce its annual PM2.5 load by another 58% to meet national air quality standards. In 2020, when the city went into a lockdown due to Covid-19 and determined the ‘base’ pollution levels that could be achieved if key sectors are regulated, the capital still could not meet the national safe standard of 40 micrograms per cubic metre for PM2.5, logging a reading of 96 micrograms per cubic metre. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment on behalf of Central Pollution Control Board’s data from Delhi’s five oldest air quality monitoring stations — ITO, IHBAS, Mandir Marg, RK Puram and Punjabi Bagh — shows the annual average PM2.5 at 152 micrograms per cubic metre in 2015, but dropping to 127 in 2016, 120 in 2017, 118 in 2018 and 109 micrograms per cubic metre in 2019. By 2018, Delhi had 36 air monitoring stations and the average PM2.5 concentration that year based on all the 36 stations was 112 micrograms per cubic metre, still three times the acceptable limit. Congratulations! You have successfully cast your vote “The most recent data relates to 2019 because in 2020, the lockdown affected collection of data,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE. “It is still clear that Delhi requires considerable improvement across sectors to reach anywhere close to the national standard for PM2.5.” Based on a three-year, rolling average method, however, when the annual average readings from 2018- 2020 are taken, Delhi’s annual average PM2.5 is 105 micrograms per cubic metre, which Chowdhury explains is a more accurate determination of the average pollution level. “Particulate pollution has begun to stabilise and decline, but the capital still needs to reduce the annual average PM2.5 by around 60%. There are big gaps in action at present. There is a need to scale up public transport, add walking and cycling infrastructure and implement parking restraints to reduce traffic volume. Delhi also needs to achieve 25% electrification of its vehicles, control pollution in small and medium scale industries and look at waste management infrastructure,” said Chowdhury. Dipankar Saha, former head of CPCB’s air laboratory, said alongside local action, there has to be coordination with other states to ensure that stubble burning and dust, two external factors, do not add to the local load. “Until the Aravalis are made green again, dust will be significant with winds blowing from Rajasthan towards Delhi. Stubble burning, meanwhile, constitutes 30-40% of Delhi’s PM2.5 load in the peak farm fire period,” said Saha.