• Director General Office

डॉ. सुनीता नारायण पर्यावरण संरक्षण समिति का गठन

कमलापुर। क्षेत्र के पार्वती विद्या मंदिर जूनियर हाईस्कूल कसमंडा में छात्र-छात्राओं में पर्यावरण संरक्षण के प्रति जागरूकता के लिए डॉ. सुनीता नारायण पर्यावरण संरक्षण समिति का गठन किया गया। शिक्षक सत्यप्रकाश सिंह ने बताया छात्र-छात्राओं में पर्यावरण संरक्षण की भावना अभी से जाग्रत हो इसलिए विद्यालय में डॉ. सुनीता नारायण पर्यावरण संरक्षण समिति का गठन किया गया है। डॉ. सुनीता नारायण भारत की प्रसिद्ध पर्यावरणविद् हैं। पर्यावरण संरक्षण समिति की अगुवाई में छात्र-छात्राओं को अपने घरों में तुलसी के पौधे लगाने के लिए पौधे उपलब्ध कराए गए और तुलसी के पौधे का महत्व बताया गया। समिति में राधा चौरसिया अध्यक्ष, अमन कुमार उपाध्यक्ष, पवित्र तिवारी महामंत्री, सिमरन राजपूत कोषाध्यक्ष, और सम्मानित सदस्य के रूप में मोहम्मद वारिस, नेहा चौरसिया, शिवांकी चौरसिया, हर्षित, ओम मंजुल गौतम, आयुषी का चयन किया गया है। विद्यालय में छात्र-छात्राओं ने पदाधिकारियों और सदस्यों का माल्यार्पण कर स्वागत किया। सभी चयनित पदाधिकारियों को प्रबंधक त्रिभुवन सिंह, प्रधानाध्यापक अमरेंद्र प्रताप सिंह, शिक्षक विनय पाल सिंह, सत्य प्रकाश सिंह, रवि प्रकाश सिंह, गिरिराज यादव, नंदराम आदि मौजूद रहे।

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi govt to ready winter pollution plan by Sept 30

Some of the factors responsible for air pollution are stubble burning, vehicular emissions, road and construction dust, waste burning and poor management of pollution hot spots, said state environment minister Gopal Rai The Delhi government is preparing a 10-point winter action plan to combat air pollution in the national capital, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said on Thursday, and added that he will hold a review meeting with all departments concerned on September 14. The minister explained the plan will focus on different aspects of the air pollution, including internal and external factors responsible for hazardous levels of pollutants in Delhi’s air during winters every year. Rai listed some of these factors as stubble burning, vehicular emissions, road and construction dust, waste burning and poor management of pollution hot spots. He said besides focussing on all these things, the government will also look to improve coordination with the neighbouring states for action on crop stubble burning and polluting industries. He also talked about setting up an advance war room for managing anti-pollution measures and upgrade the Green Delhi app that was launched last year as well as better coordination with central agencies such as Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). “We already held a meeting with the environment and forest department to outline the key focus areas for the plan. Now, we plan to hold a meeting of all departments concerned on September 14, and take suggestions on the same. The winter action plan will be ready by September 30,” Rai said. Each winter Delhi turns into a gas chamber due to meteorological factors such as low temperatures, poor speed and adverse direction of the wind, as well as other factors such as road dust and garbage burning besides vehicular emissions. Despite the city being remained locked due to Covid pandemic for months last year, the situation quickly deteriorated August onwards with the phased reopening of the city and the economy. According to a Centre for Science analysis, from the cleanest August (the cleanest month since air quality records started to be maintained in May 2015), the PM2.5 levels rose dramatically to one of the dirtiest Novembers in recent years. Rai added that several campaigns will be launched in a phased manner to deal with prominent sources of pollution. To address stubble burning across non-Basmati rice fields in the Capital, the Delhi government last year introduced bio-decomposer formula, which can decompose crop residue and turn it into manure within 20-25 days. “Emission from burning of stubble, waste and those from vehicles and dust are the major sources of winter pollution, which have been kept as the first four focus areas in the plan. Besides, areas in Delhi where people are subjected to extremely high levels of pollution, as compared to the rest of the city, are being identified as hotspots. Special attention will be given to these areas,” the minister said. He also talked about installing more smog towers, based on the results from the ones that were set up at some hot spots. The Delhi government recently inaugurated a smog tower Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Connaught Place. Also an experimental smog tower at Anand Vihar --identified as a pollution hot spot --- has been installed by the Union government under the National Clean Air Programme, which was inaugurated by Union environment minister Bhupendra Yadav on September 7. Rai said the integrated war room, set up in 2019, will be upgraded for better monitoring and implementing area-specific solutions. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said stubble burning, which has been fixed as the first focus point in the plan, must be a part of the inter-state coordination. Also, the waste burning, vehicular and dust pollution have been rightly identified as areas of intervention. “The plan should have also included industrial pollution as an intervention area. A specific and detailed strategy for implementation in each of these sectors is required, which will also determine the effectiveness of the plan. For instance, to control waste burning, scaling up of the entire waste management system with adequate infrastructure is required. Also, stringent compliance of the strategies can ensure the plans functionality,” she said.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi must revisit its traffic plans in wake of Covid-19, say experts

In this last instalment of a four-part series, Hindustan Times spoke to traffic experts, researchers and senior police officers to understand how various aspects of travelling have changed since the pandemic hit A global crisis like Covid-19 has undone many things in many places. In Delhi, it has undone years of work in decongesting roads, among other things. Planners and traffic experts believe there is a need to return to the drawing board to understand the new travelling patterns in the city and the new challenges in their wake. In this last instalment of a four-part series, Hindustan Times spoke with traffic experts, researchers and senior police officers to understand how various aspects of travelling have changed since the pandemic hit, and how the city can reinvent strategies so that private vehicles don’t dominate road traffic. Study the congestion patterns Transport experts said that in the last year since the pandemic began, traffic volume has increased on the city roads, jams are more spread out beyond the rush hour, and newer congestion hotspots have emerged. But many advised caution in interpreting these as permanent trends. Sewa Ram, professor (transport planning) at the School of Planning and Architecture, said Delhi is witnessing a “transition” from a situation that it had never experienced before, and the city administration needs to “wait and observe traffic patterns”. “What we need to do is carefully study the trends for at least another year to understand how congestion patterns are affecting the city. It would not be right to start panicking now, because we are still recovering from a pandemic. Schools and colleges are yet to open, workplaces are yet to come to a set routine, and public transport modes are still functioning with restrictions. Patterns have to be consistent to become trends and we need to carefully monitor the way we travel for the next few years,” Ram said. ‘Flexible’ transit modes needed Ram said that over the last year “non-scheduled trips” or “flexible trips” have increased as private companies are allowing employees to work from home or come to offices for a limited number of days or periods. This was one of the reasons for unforeseen traffic congestions in various parts of the city. Amit Bhatt, director (integrated urban transport) at the World Resources Institute (India), said that another reason for increased congestion in the city is the safety concerns among commuters while travelling in mass transit modes such as public buses and the Delhi Metro. “Delhi was heavily invested in mass transit modes till the pandemic hit us. But now, we have been observing that commuters are reluctant to use these mass transit modes because of safety concerns. This is also leading to people moving more towards private vehicles,” Bhatt said. Surveys over the last year have observed a trend of people switching to private vehicles. In a survey conducted by Cars24, an online platform for buying and selling used cars, April saw a spike in the sale of second-hand two-wheelers and cars since June last year. The survey said that 50% of their customers were in favour of pre-owned vehicles because it not only solved the purpose of privacy during a commute but was also a cheaper and more viable alternative. “The sudden spike in the demand for used bikes and cars come from a consumer base that is looking to shift from public transport options like buses and trains to private vehicles. Given the new social distancing norm where people are trying to stay safe from crowded spaces, there has been a spurt in used two-wheeler buying,” the survey report read. Bhatt said that the takeaway from this is that commuters are moving away from mass transit modes. “So, it might be a wise idea for the city’s decision-makers to now invest in flexible, demand-based transit modes. For instance, a demand-based bus system to cater to the working population that is now having flexible working hours, such a system is already in place in San Francisco. The bus system now is timetable-based but commuter demands are changing because of the pandemic,” Bhatt said. Time is right to go green Experts also suggested that the pandemic has offered an opportunity to shift the city’s infrastructure to greener and more sustainable modes. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said that this would be the right time for the city to invest in green infrastructures such as cycling tracks and pedestrian walkways. “After the first lockdown, we all observed a renewed interest for cycling. Many commuters were seen cycling for leisure or short trips. We need to cash in on this interest so that it can be supported with infrastructure. Continuous lanes need to be created to ensure that there is a safe space for cyclists. This is the safest mode of transportation as it has a single occupant and also ensures social distancing,” said Roychowdhury. Many cities across the world have taken a cue from the pandemic to work towards redesigning their streets and encouraging cyclists and pedestrians, viewing these as the safest travel modes post-pandemic. Paris introduced over 45km of new cycleways, known as “coronapistes”, and restricted motor traffic along selected areas as part of the ‘Paris Respire’ (Paris Breathes) plan to clean the city’s air and improve the quality of life. In Milan, the city officials are transforming around 35km of streets into cycle lanes and widening pavements to ensure that pedestrians get enough space to maintain social distancing while walking. In Germany, Colombia and Mexico, authorities reclaimed more than 150km of roads across their capitals, using existing resources such as cones, temporary lights and lane separators. In New York, the city council is reportedly planning a reconfiguration of roads for walking and cycling, turning 75 miles of roads into “streets for people”. Policing needs a reboot Apart from working on long-term infrastructural tweaks, the city’s traffic enforcement teams will also need to adapt to new ways of policing given the restrictions brought about by the pandemic. “We have directed our officials to be stationed at traffic junctions and intersections during the rush hour, instead of standing to challan drivers. We are shifting our focus to congestion management,” said Muktesh Chander, special commissioner of police (traffic). Other than bringing about an attitudinal change to policing among the staff, the department is also increasing the use of technology to limit interaction among drivers and police officials. Other, smaller cities are also emulating this model of shifting towards technology-driven policing. In Chandigarh, the police department on August 20 directed enforcement teams to refrain from issuing any manual challans and move completely to an online prosecution system.

• Sustainable Mobility

पांच मिनट में चार्ज हो जाएगी आपकी इलेक्ट्रिक कार, जान लीजिए इस नई तकनीक के बारे में

नई दिल्ली, विवेक तिवारी। पूरी दुनिया में इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों की मांग तेजी से बढ़ी है। लेकिन इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियां की बैटरी को चार्ज करने में लगने वाला समय आज भी कार खरीदारों के सामने चिंता की बात है। लेकिन ये चिंता अब ज्यादा दिन तक नहीं रहेगी। जल्द ही बाजार में आने वाली नई इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों की बैटरी को मात्र पांच मिनट में चार्ज किया जा सकेगा। इजराइल की कंपनी स्टोर डॉट ने आधुनिक तकनीक के तैयार की गई खास तरह की लिथियम आयन बैटरियां पेश की हैं जिन्हें मात्र पांच मिनट में ही चार्ज किया जा सकेगा। आने वाले समय में इस तरह की बैटरियां इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों में लग कर आ सकती हैं। StoreDot ने हाल ही में फोन, ड्रोन, स्कूटर और कार निर्माताओं के लिए एक्सट्रीम फास्ट चार्जिंग बैटरियों को पेश किया। कंपनी की ओर से पेश की गई बैटरियों को पांच मिनट में चार्ज किया जा सकता है लेकिन इसके लिए आज इस्तेमाल होने वाले चार्जर की तुलना में कहीं अधिक पावर वाले चार्जर की जरूरत होगी। कंपनी का उद्देश्य है कि 2025 तक इस तरह का चार्जिंग इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर डेवलप करे जिसके जरिए इलेक्ट्रिक व्हीकल को पांच मिनट तक चार्ज करने के बाद कम से कम 100 मील सफर किया जा सके। कंपनी पांच मिनट में चार्ज होने वाली बैटरियों के कॉमर्शियल उत्पादन के लिए पूरी तरह से तैयार है। कंपनी के सीईओ, डॉ डोरोन मायर्सडॉर्फ़ के मुताबिक जल्द ही पांच मिनट में चार्ज होने वाली बैटरियां इलेक्ट्रिक वाहनों के लिए उपलब्ध होंगी। कंपनी के वैज्ञानिकों ने कई चुनौतियों को पार करते हुए एक्सट्रीम फास्ट चार्जिंग बैटरियों की सुरक्षा, लाइफ साइकिल, मैटेरियल और सेल डिजाइन को लेकर बेहतरीन काम किया है। उन्होंने बताया कंपनी अब इस बैटरी के कॉमर्शियल उत्पादन करने की स्थिति में है। उन्होंने बताया कि साल के अंत तक कंपनी अपनी सेकेंड जनरेशन सिलिकॉन-डोमिनेंट एनोड प्रोटोटाइप बैटरी को भी बाजार में पेश करेगी। लिथियम आयन बैटरी को रीसायकल करने वाली कंपनी LOHUM के को फाउंडर जस्टिन लेमौन कहते हैं कि भारत में इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों की संख्या तेजी से बढ़ रही है। ऐसे में आने वाले समय में देश में गाड़ियों की लिथियम आयन बैटरियों को रीसायकल करना बड़ी चुनौती होगी। एक अनुमान के मुताबिक 2027 तक 200 गीगावाट आवर्स क्षमता की बैटरियां रीसाइक्लिंग के लिए उपलब्ध होंगी। इन बैटरियों को रीसायकल करने का बाजार करीब 11 बिलियन डॉलर का होगा। लीथियम आयन बैटरी और उसे बनाने में इस्तेमाल होने वाले सामान के आयात पर निर्भरता कम करने के लिए बैटरियों की रीसाइक्लिंग जरूरी है। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरमेंट (CSE) की एग्जीक्यूटिव डायरेक्टर रिसर्च एंड एडवोकेसी अनुमिता रॉय चौधरी के मुताबिक भारत में गाड़ियों को इलेक्ट्रिक में बदलने की रफ्तार काफी धीमी है। अबतक देश में मौजूद कुल गाड़ियों में मात्र एक फीसदी ही इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियां हैं। 2050 तक जीरो एमिशन या carbon neutrality के लक्ष्य को हासिल करने के लिए 20 देशों ने पहले ही पेट्रोल और डीजल गाड़ियों को सड़क से हटाने के लिए अपने प्लान पेश कर दिए हैं। भारत में 46 फीसदी की दर से इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों के बाजार के बढ़ने पर ही जीरो कार्बन एमीशन के लक्ष्य को हासिल किया जा सकेगा। पांच मिनट में चार्ज होने वाली बैटरी में तैयार हुई है ये तकनीक सामान्य तौर पर लिथियम आयन बैटरी में एक इलेक्ट्रोड ग्रेफाइट का बनाया जाता है। इसी में लिथियम आयन चार्ज स्टोर होते हैं। लेकिन बहुत तेज चार्ज करने पर आयन मेटल में बदल जाते हैं और बैटरी में शॉट सर्किट हो जाता है। इसलिए इस बैटरी को धीरे चार्ज किया जाता है। लेकिन StoreDot ने जो लिथियम आयन बैटरी बनाई है उसमें उन्होंने ग्रेफाइट की जगह सेमीकंडक्टर नैनोपार्टिकल्स का इस्तेमाल किया है। नैनो पार्टिकल्स के तौर पर इस बैटरी में जर्मेनियम का इस्तेमाल किया गया है। इस बैटरी को बहुत तेज चार्ज किया जा सकता है। लेकिन StoreDot इस बैटरी को और बेहतर और सस्ता बनाने के लिए इसमें सिलिकॉन के इस्तेमाल पर शोध कर रही है। साल के अंत तक इस तरह की बैटरी को कंपनी पेश कर सकती है। हाल ही में पेश की गई ब्लूमबर्ग एनईएफ प्रोजेक्ट रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक अगले 20 सालों में दुनिया में लगभग 500 मिलियन इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियां सड़कों पर होंगी। ऐसे में पूरी दुनिया में ईवी चार्जिंग इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर को तेजी से बढ़ाए जाने की जरूरत है। इसमें आधुनिक तकनीक की भी बड़ी भूमिका होगी। आने वाले समय में ईवी चार्जिंग को लेकर भी कई नए बिजनेस मॉडल काम करेंगे। फिलहाल इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों के लिए तीन प्रमुख तकनीकों का इस्तेमाल किया जा रहा है 1. ट्रिकल चार्जर ये गाड़ी को धीमें चार्ज करने का तरीका है। प्रमुख रूप से घरों में इसी तकनीक के तहत गाड़ियों को चार्ज किया जाता है। इसमें 220 वाट के तीन पिन प्लग का इस्तेमाल होता है। कंपनियां तरीके का इस्तेमाल इमरजेंसी में करने की सलाह देती हैं। 2. एसी चार्ज इस तकनीक के तहत एक बॉक्स लगाया जाता है। इसमें फॉस्ट चार्जिंग का भी विकल्प दिया जाता है। सार्वजनिक जगहों पर भी इस तरह के चार्जर लगे होते हैं। 3. डीसी चार्जर ये इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों को सबसे तेज चार्ज करने का तरीका है। इसके तहत कई सार्वजनिक जगहों पर फॉस्ट चार्जिंग पावर स्टेशन लगाए जाते हैं। इनकी क्षमता 50 के डब्ल्यू या उससे ज्यादा की होती है। इस तरीके से आप अपनी गाड़ी की बैटरी को 20 से 80 फीसदी तक मात्र 40 मिनट में चार्ज कर सकते हैं। कुछ जगहों पर अल्ट्रा फास्ट चार्जिंग स्टेशन लगाए गए हैं। इनकी क्षमता 150 केडब्ल्यू की है। आने वाले समय में इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों की चार्जिंग को लेकर इस्तेमाल हो सकती हैं ये तकनीक 1. व्हीकल टू ग्रिड आने वाले समय में संभव है कि इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों की बैटरियों को ग्रिड की बिजली को स्टोर करने के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जा सके। करोड़ों गाड़ियां जब पार्किंग में खड़ी होंगी तो ग्रिड की बिजली इन गाड़ियों की बैटरी में स्टोर हो जाएगी और जरूरत पड़ने पर यहां से वापस ग्रिड में चली जाएगी। इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ी के मालिक को इस व्यवस्था के तहत गाड़ी को चार्ज करने की लागत और घर में बिजली इस्तेमाल होने वाली बिजली के बिल में कुछ के ऑफर हो सकते हैं। 2. वायरलेस ईवी चार्जिंग आने वाले समय में आपको वायरलेस EV Charging की सुविधा देखने को मिल सकती है। इस तकनीक के आने पर इलेक्ट्रिक गाड़ियों की बिक्री को भी बल मिलेगा। इस तकनीक के तहत जब गाड़ी किसी निश्चित पिकअप या ड्रॉप लोकेशन पर खड़ी होगी तो हाई पावर वायरल इवी चार्जिंग सिस्टम ये ये चार्ज हो जाएगी। खास तौर पर इस सुविधा का फायदा टैक्सी या कॉमर्शियल गाड़ियों को मिलेगा। इस सुविधा के लिए अंडरग्राउंड चार्जिंग प्लेट्स लगाई जाएंगी। जो गाड़ी के आने पर उसे चार्ज कर देंगी। 3. मोबाइल चार्जिंग आने वाले समय में आपको कई चार्जिंग वैन, पोर्टेबल चार्जर और टेम्परेरी चार्जर जैसी सुविधाएं देखने को मिलेंगी। मोबाइल चार्जिंग की सुविधा शुरू करने के लिए न तो बहुत अधिक खर्च करने की जरूरत होगी और न ही कोई बड़ा इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर विकसित करना होगा। 4. अल्ट्रा फास्ट चार्जिंग आने वाले दिनों में आपको कई सार्वजनिक जगहों पर अल्ट्रा फास्ट चार्जिंग का विकल्प मिलेगा। इसके तहत आपको अपनी गाड़ी चार्ज होने का घंटों इंतजार नहीं करना होगा। अल्ट्रा फास्ट चार्जिंग के तहत आपको एक मिनट चार्ज करने पर आपको लगभग 32 किलोमीटर के सफर की सुविधा मिलेगी। इस सुविधा के आने के बाद इलेक्ट्रिक व्हीकल की मांग तेजी से बढ़ेगी। ऑस्ट्रेलिया सरकार पूरे देश में अल्ट्रा फास्ट ईवी चार्जिंग नेटवर्क बनाने पर काम कर रही है।

• Down To Earth

The Human Right to Water in India

University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2021-09 The Human Right to Water in India Fatima, Zainab Fatima, Z. (2021). The human right to water in India (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/113981 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY The Human Right to Water in India by Zainab Fatima A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF LAWS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN LAW CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2021 © Zainab Fatima 2021 ii Abstract This thesis analyzes and examines the right to safe and accessible drinking water as a human right focusing on India. The objective of this research is to assess the current status of the right to water in India, especially after judicial recognition of this right as part of the right to life guaranteed under the Indian constitution. It highlights the opportunities and challenges for further developing such a right. It also suggests some possible measures that India may have to consider in order to make this right a reality. It is important to note that this doctrinal research is limited in scope as it only focuses on one aspect of right to water, that is, the right to safe and accessible drinking water in the Indian context. This thesis makes an argument for an explicit and substantive recognition of the right to water in India’s constitution and laws based on experience with three comparable rights: the Indian right to education, the Indian right to food, and South Africa’s explicit right to water in its constitution and laws. As the right to life is closely connected to the right to water, it should not only be recognized but also strongly protected by law. Though this thesis acknowledges that a constitutionally/statutorily-protected human right to water won’t solve all water problems, it tries to make the case that such an approach may help to prioritize water, set minimum standards of governance, mobilize political will, fix accountability of government (especially towards marginalized sections), and to prepare a framework for community participation involving different stakeholders that will lead to more informed decision-making. iii Acknowledgements I cannot express the joy and contentment I am feeling at completing my degree. From moving to a new country, to fighting a pandemic and facing health struggles, my master’s program has been quite a journey! I would like to thank some people, without whom I would not have been able to complete this research and would not have made it through my degree. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and regards to my supervisor Professor Martin Olszynski for his consistent guidance and unwavering support. He was really patient and understanding during the research and writing of this thesis. He was always kind to keep in touch virtually throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and helped me steer through this research despite all odds. His comments and feedbacks were always helpful and constructive. I would also like to thank and appreciate my other Professors at Faculty of Law who shared their valuable knowledge through their teachings and provided strong guidance and encouragement in my research journey. I am grateful to my Professor and Graduate Program Director Dr. Lyndsay Campbell for her insights on legal research and writing with her encouragement and guidance. I am so thankful to her for always pushing things in right direction for me. I would also like to thank Dr. Fenner Stewart for his inputs and suggestions on my topic. I also thank Professor Anna-Maria Hubert for encouraging and supporting me. I am grateful for the scholarship from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the Faculty

• Water Programme

Five UP cities can harvest 2,600 mn litres of storm water, prevent flooding

Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Moradabad cities together contain more than 2,000 ha of planned open spaces, which provide an opportunity to harvest over 2,600 million litres of storm water annually, according to a report from Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). "This opportunity must not be missed any more. If not harnessed, it may lead to incidences of localised urban flooding. This potential can be realized by allocating only 1-3 per cent of the area of these parks to storm water harvesting structures based on Water-Sensitive Design and Planning (WSUDP) principles," the report recommended, according to a CSE release on Wednesday. The report 'Roadmap for Implementation of Water-Sensitive Design and Planning in Uttar Pradesh: Storm Water Harvesting in Parks and Open Spaces' was released at an online event titled 'Water-sensitive Urban Design and Planning: Approach, Challenges and Potential'. The CSE prepared the report in partnership with the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Jal Shakti Ministry. NMCG Director General, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, shared how Namami Gange mission has evolved from a river-cleaning project to a holistic river rejuvenation mission. "Water sensitive urban design and planning is one of the key focus areas of the Namami Gange mission. The NMCG, in association with other stakeholders, has released a 'River sensitive master plan' and 'Guidelines to protect urban wetlands," he said. He also pointed out that it is time to remind urban city planners and managers that if the city has to survive and thrive, they need to focus on urban water bodies. "Urbanisation is not watertight - rather, it is a diffused process and hence it is necessary to have a composite approach of centralised and decentralised strategies and a mix of options. The learning from Namami Gange initiatives is applicable in other river basins as well," he said. Senior Director, Urban Water programme, CSE, Suresh Kumar Rohilla spoke about the key issues and challenges in the Ganga basin. "The urban built-up area has increased by approximately 44 per cent between now and 2005-06. This has widened the water demand-supply gap, leading to overexploitation of river stretches and aquifers and deterioration and encroachment of urban lakes and ponds. In such a scenario, cities need a water-sensitive approach." The report provides a brief overview of the Ganga basin with respect to urban water management, focusing on the five cities which are located on the banks of the Ganga and its tributaries. "The cities face complex issues related to urban flooding, over-exploited groundwater resources and encroachment of water bodies. They are also part of the national flagship programmes of AMRUT and Smart Cities, which provide an opportunity to mainstream WSUDP in these cities," it said. The report advocates the application of storm water harvesting in parks and open spaces to tackle urban flooding issues and augment the groundwater resources of these cities. An estimated 2,624 million litres of storm water can be harvested from parks and open spaces in these five cities, which is a missed opportunity and ends up as a liability for the city causing urban flooding, it said.

• Water Programme

Five Cities in Uttar Pradesh can Avoid Flooding by Harvesting Stormwater, Suggests CSE Report

Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Moradabad cities together contain more than 2,000 ha of planned open spaces, which provide an opportunity to harvest over 2,600 million litres of stormwater annually, according to a report from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). "This opportunity must not be missed any more. If not harnessed, it may lead to incidences of localised urban flooding. This potential can be realised by allocating only 1-3% of the area of these parks to storm water harvesting structures based on Water-Sensitive Design and Planning (WSUDP) principles," the report recommended, according to a CSE release on Wednesday. The report 'Roadmap for Implementation of Water-Sensitive Design and Planning in Uttar Pradesh: Storm Water Harvesting in Parks and Open Spaces' was released at an online event titled 'Water-sensitive Urban Design and Planning: Approach, Challenges and Potential'. The CSE prepared the report in partnership with the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Jal Shakti Ministry. NMCG Director-General, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, shared how the Namami Gange mission has evolved from a river-cleaning project to a holistic river rejuvenation mission. "Water sensitive urban design and planning is one of the key focus areas of the Namami Gange mission. The NMCG, in association with other stakeholders, has released a 'River sensitive master plan' and 'Guidelines to protect urban wetlands," he said. He also pointed out that it is time to remind urban city planners and managers that they need to focus on urban water bodies if the city has to survive and thrive. "Urbanisation is not watertight—rather, it is a diffused process, and hence it is necessary to have a composite approach of centralised and decentralised strategies and a mix of options. The learning from Namami Gange initiatives is applicable in other river basins as well," he said. Senior Director, Urban Water programme, CSE Suresh Kumar Rohilla, spoke about the key issues and challenges in the Ganga basin. "The urban built-up area has increased by approximately 44% between now and 2005-06. This has widened the water demand-supply gap, leading to overexploitation of river stretches and aquifers and deterioration and encroachment of urban lakes and ponds. In such a scenario, cities need a water-sensitive approach." The report provides a brief overview of the Ganga basin for urban water management, focusing on the five cities located on the banks of the Ganga and its tributaries. "The cities face complex issues related to urban flooding, over-exploited groundwater resources and encroachment of water bodies. They are also part of the national flagship programmes of AMRUT and Smart Cities, which provide an opportunity to mainstream WSUDP in these cities," it said. The report advocates the application of stormwater harvesting in parks and open spaces to tackle urban flooding issues and augment the groundwater resources of these cities. An estimated 2,624 million litres of storm water can be harvested from parks and open spaces in these five cities, which is a missed opportunity and ends up as a liability for the city causing urban flooding, it said.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

स्वच्छ पवन..नील गगन ऑनलाईन कार्यशाला का आयोजन, 100 प्रतिभागियों ने लिया भाग

राजस्थान राज्य प्रदूषण नियंत्रण मंडल एवं सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एण्डवायरमेंट की ओर से राष्ट्रीय स्वच्छ वायु कार्यक्रम जुड़े सभी विभागों को शामिल करते हुए राजस्थान के कई शहरों में मंगलवार को ऑनलाईन कार्यशाला का आयोजन किया। प्रदेश के जयपुर, जोधपुर, कोटा, अलवर और उदयपुर को सूची में शामिल किया। कार्यशाला में मानव स्वास्थ्य की रक्षा एवं वायु गुणवत्ता सुधार के प्रयासों को बढावा देने के लिए संयुक्त राष्ट्र महासभा द्वारा स्वच्छ पवन-नील गगन को अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय दिवस के रूप में मनाया गया। कार्यक्रम में साल का विषय ‘‘स्वस्थ वायु, स्वस्थ ग्रह’’ रखा गया। वहीं कोविड-19 महामारी के दौरान वायु प्रदूषण के स्वास्थ्य पर पड़ने वाले विपरीत प्रभावों पर जोर देता है। इसका उद्देश्य सभी के लिए स्वस्थ हवा की आवश्यकता को प्राथमिकता देना है। इस कार्यक्रम को स्वास्थ्य, उत्पादकता, अर्थव्यवस्था और पर्यावरण के लिए स्वच्छ हवा के महत्व के बारे में व्यक्तियों, समुदायों, कॉर्पोरेट्स और सरकार के बीच जागरूकता पैदा करने के लिए संरेखित किया गया था। इस सभा में आईएएस वीना गुप्ता, सदस्य सचिव आनंद मोहन, मुख्य पर्यावरण अभियंता डॉ विजय सिंघल, कार्यकारी निदेशक अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी, कार्यकारी निदेशक, सीएसई, अतिन विश्वास एवं पार्थ कुमार, सीएसई, ने अपने क्षेत्र के मुद्दों पर अपनी विस्तार से जानकारी साझा की। इस कार्यशाला ने शहरी स्थानीय निकायों, उद्योग संघ, शिक्षाविदों और बड़ी संख्या में विद्यालयों, नागरिक समाज समूहों और मीडिया प्रतिनिधियों के साथ-साथ अन्य लोगों के एक विविध समूह को भी एक मंच पर साझा किया। इस आयोजन में राजस्थान के लगभग 287 स्कूलों को आमंत्रित किया गया था। कार्यक्रम की शुरुआत में, डॉ विजय कुमार सिंघल, सीईई, रा.प्र.नि.मं. ने वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार के लिए किए गए प्रयासों के बारे में बताया। इन प्रयासों का असर अब दिखने लगा है। एक छोटा सा प्रयास बड़ा बदलाव ला सकता है। साथ ही आनंद मोहन, सदस्य सचिव, आरएसपीसीबी ने राष्ट्रीय स्वच्छ वायु कार्यक्रम और राजस्थान के पांच गैर-प्राप्ति शहरों का एक सिंहावलोकन पेश किया और सीएसई और हितधारक एजेंसियों के साथ अपनी उल्लेखनीय टिप्पणियों को साझा किया। अनुमिता रॉयचौधरी, कार्यकारी निदेशक, सीएसई, ने राजस्थान के वायु प्रदूषण एवं सम्बन्धित विषय पर किए गए विभिन्न अध्ययनों के आकडे साझा कर अपने विचार व्यक्त किए। कार्यशाला में पार्थ कुमार, डिप्टी प्रोग्रामर, सीएसई, ने राजस्थान के विभिन्न शहरों में आ़ैद्योगिक प्रदूषण के सम्बन्ध में अपने विचार व्यक्त किये। इसके साथ अतिन विश्वास, सीएसई, ने कचरा प्रबंधन और कचरे से संसाधन विषय पर अपने विचार व्यक्त किए। वेबिनार के अंत में कई प्रतिभागियों/विषय विषेषज्ञों ने अपने विचार एवं सुझाव प्रस्तुत किये। इस वेबिनार में लगभग 100 प्रतिभागियों ने भाग लिया। कार्यशाला के दौरान कई मुद्दों पर हुई चर्चा लॉकडाउन और साफ नीला आकाशः कार्यशाला में, वायु प्रदूषण और कोविड -19 के बीच एक कड़ी दिखाने वाले वैज्ञानिक प्रमाण और अधिक प्रदूषित क्षेत्रों में भेद्यता कैसे बढ़ती है, इस पर चर्चा की गई। कार्यशाला में कैसे 2020 में लॉकडाउन चरणों के दौरान अर्थव्यवस्था को बंद करने से सभी क्षेत्रों में प्रदूषण में सफाई /कटौती हुई। स्वास्थ्य जोखिमों को संबोधित करनाः स्वच्छ वायु कार्यवाही से शहर में वायु प्रदूषण के स्वास्थ्य जोखिम को दूर करने की उम्मीद है। 2016 के राज्य स्तरीय रोग भार अनुमान के अनुसार, वायु प्रदूषण राजस्थान में अकाल मृत्यु के लिए दूसरा सबसे बड़ा जोखिम कारक है। राजस्थान में वायु प्रदूषण के कारण प्रति 100,000 जनसंख्या पर मृत्यु दर 112.5 भारत में सबसे अधिक थी। यह अनुमान लगाया गया था कि यदि वायु प्रदूषण की सघनता को कम किया जा सकता है।

• DTE - Web

Northeastern states witness highest rates of desertification

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) recently reported that six states in northeastern India were among the top 10 places in the country with the highest desertification rates between 2003 and 2018. These states are Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. In northern India, Punjab, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand have seen some of the highest rates of desertification. Mizoram has been desertifying at the fastest rate among the northeastern states in the country, with a degradation of 0.18 million hectares (mha) over a 15-year period. Desertification is the process by which a relatively dry region becomes increasingly arid. Deforestation and loss of cover primarily cause desertification. (Down to Earth) Number of disasters increased over the past 50 years but mortality reduced, thanks to early warnings: WMO Report WMO's Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970-2019) indicates that a significant increase in extreme weather conditions has led to a fivefold increase in the number of disasters since 1970. Nevertheless, the number of deaths has decreased by almost threefold, thanks to enhanced early warnings and disaster management, according to this report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Globally, there have been over 11,000 disasters caused by these hazards, causing just over 2 million deaths and $3.64 trillion in losses. The majority of these disasters were caused by floods and storms. More than 91 percent of these deaths occurred in developing countries, and the hazards causing the most deaths in this period were droughts, storms, floods, and extreme temperatures. (The Weather Channel) 2200 water testing labs are operational across the country 2,200 water testing labs are functioning in the country as part of the Jal Jeevan Mission. These labs are equipped with an app-based digitised platform for testing water quality for standard safety parameters. Public health officials say the new facility will improve health outcomes, especially for children, and will make it easier for private individuals, public health engineering authorities, and panchayats where piped drinking water is available to monitor water quality. In areas with high levels of contamination, the new platform would prove invaluable because anyone can submit a sample and source coordinates of piped water supply. These water-quality testing reports will be delivered online to the person giving the sample and also feed a central database for continual monitoring. (Hindustan Times) Odisha's Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary is under threat from industrial pollution and freshwater extraction An increasing load of pollution from industries, mining and human activities threatens the existence of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, the mangrove ecosystem that is vital to Odisha's identity and existence. Raw water for these activities, estimated at 86.26 million cubic meters (MCM) per year, is drawn from the Brahmani river, from which the mangrove forest gets its freshwater. The existence of the second-largest mangrove forest in India is further threatened by the upcoming irrigation canals from the Rengali reservoir that will divert more water, leaving almost no fresh water for downstream areas. Along with this, an additional 414 mcum shall be drawn from the Kharasrota, a tributary of the Brahmani river at the Jokadia barrage, to meet water needs of the Kalinga Nagar industrial complex. (The New Indian Express, Down to Earth) Centre's micro-irrigation scheme makes drought-prone Maharashtra districts more water efficient The central government’s ambitious micro irrigation scheme – Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY-PDMC) has covered 6.55 lakh hectares in the state, since 2015-16. Out of this 6.55 lakh hectares, about 60 per cent of the area that is over 3.90 lakh hectares, is from 19 districts in the drought-prone Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. According to a study conducted by NITI Aayog to evaluate the PMKSY-PDMC scheme in 2020, the scheme is relevant in achieving national priorities such as substantially improving on-farm water use efficiency, enhancing crop productivity, generating employment opportunities etc. Furthermore, drought-prone districts are responding to micro-irrigation schemes since big dams have failed to resolve the state's water crisis. (The Hindu)

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi govt in talks with Centre to ease restrictions on induction of e-buses

Jasmine Shah, vice-chairperson of the Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission said that the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has already floated a tender for 300 e-buses and as a large part of its fleet is going to retire in the next couple of years, there is an opportunity to scale up the number of e-buses. New Delhi: Delhi government is in talks with the Centre to ease restrictions on the number of electric buses that can be inducted under the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) scheme so that up to 5,000 electric buses can be added in Delhi’s in the city’s public transport fleet in the next five years. Jasmine Shah, vice-chairperson of the Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission said that the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has already floated a tender for 300 e-buses and as a large part of its fleet is going to retire in the next couple of years, there is an opportunity to scale up the number of e-buses. Shah was speaking at a webinar organised by the Centre for Science and Environment to discuss ways to build scale and speed up zero-emission mobility. “This is where the alignment with FAME needs to be improved. The upfront subsidy that FAME gives drives down the cost per km and a state like Delhi can easily absorb three or five thousand e-buses in the next five years,” Shah said. He said that there are restrictions on how many e-buses can be subsidised under FAME, but that doesn’t work for a city of the scale of Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru. He said Delhi has the know-how, backend support and infrastructure and everything is all set but for this small hitch. Sunita Narain, director-general of CSE said that if there is no transformation of scale in the adoption of electric mobility, the benefits will not add up. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE said that a ‘zero-emission mandate’ is required in the country, along with other accelerators like charging and battery ecosystem, fuel economy regulations, financing strategies, etc. Roychowdhury said incentives provided by Delhi government can also reduce the on-road price of electric two-wheelers by 57% on average. Shah added that Delhi’s EV policy gives generous incentives and the two-wheelers and three-wheelers are going to be the game changers when it comes to scale and volume. “Delhi government is giving the remaining permits for autorickshaws only to e-autos and there would be more than 4,000 e-autos in the city soon,” he said.

• Climate Change and Green Economy

The impact of climate change is now visible at the door of Northern world – Expert

Head of Climate Change and Renewable Energy at Centre for Science & Environment has said the impact of climate change is now visible to the northern world that’s why scientists conclude greenhouse gas emissions are choking our planet and placing billions of people in danger. “It is due to the fact that the last couple of years, in the last decade, the impact is visible to the Northern World,” said Samrat Sengupta. According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report, scientists are observing changes in the Earth’s climate in every region and throughout the climate system. It says many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years. Adding that, some of the changes already set in motion such as continued sea-level rise are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years. But Samrat stated that, in the initial phase, communities on the north thought that, due to the availability of their affluent resources, they will be able to share themselves out of the impact. “….but now they have understood in the last few years, we have seen that the devastating impact as climate change and global warming impacting north America, Europe, probably seem to be much more vulnerable than the south,” he told JoyNews‘ Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen via Zoom interview. He said the south, somehow, has integrated into its lifestyle the adaptive that global north has lost with its affluent. IPCC Working Group I Co-Chair Valérie Masson-Delmotte says, “This report is a reality check. We now have a much clearer picture of the past, present, and future climate, which is essential for understanding where we are headed, what can be done, and how we can prepare.” But again, Samrat said nothing has changed in the last decade, that IPCC talks with 100 percent certainty that it is due to human activity only. “It is well known. Only political diversion of that taking because the framework was in place.” He indicated. He however expressed worry the world still depends on nature to absorb some portion of the carbon dioxide. The IPCC’s report also shows that human actions can still determine future climate development. It provides clear evidence that carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary driver of climate change, even as other greenhouse gases and air pollutants also influence climate. Many experts have said that stabilizing the climate will require strong, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and net-zero reduction in CO2 emissions. For the first time, the Sixth Assessment Report provides a more detailed regional assessment of climate change. It also provides a focus on useful information that can inform risk assessment, adaptation, and other decision-making, and a new framework that helps translate physical changes in the climate.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Central, south Mumbai more polluted than western suburbs

The M East ward that houses small scale factories, the city’s biggest open landfill and refineries as well as power plants, consistently recorded the highest level of pollution – nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions – during the same period. Higher concentration of Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) has been found in central and south Mumbai in comparison to western suburbs between June 2019 and May 2020. The M East ward that houses small scale factories, the city’s biggest open landfill and refineries as well as power plants, consistently recorded the highest level of pollution – nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions – during the same period. The findings were shared by the World Resource Institute (WRI) in a public consultation webinar held on Monday on air pollution as part of the Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP). The WRI is assisting BMC in the preparation of the action plan ahead of the 2021 United Nations climate change conference. Monday’s webinar is a part of a six-part public consultation. The data has revealed that while PM2.5 and PM10 levels have reduced since 2015, the levels have remained above the standard limit. It showed that PM10 levels dropped from 118 µg/m3 to 101 µg/m3 in 2018-19 and 91 µg/m3 in 2020-21 when lockdown was in place. However, the levels were at least 1.5 times above the standard limit. The standard annual limit for the Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) or PM10 concentration is 60 µg/m3. PM2.5 – airborne particles with less than 2.5 microns in diameter – levels dropped from 81 µg/m3 to 60 µg/m3 in 2018-19 and 46 µg/m3 in 2020-21. The standard annual limit for PM2.5 concentration is 40 µg/m3. A draft interim report on Emission Inventory and Source Apportionment Study for Mumbai, submitted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in January, had stated that paved and unpaved road dust is responsible for 71 per cent of the emission load of particulate matter in Mumbai. In the webinar, WRI suggested identifying local air quality issues and critical and vulnerable administrative wards in the city, health risk assessment and creation of a ward-level planning map. The experts with various government sectors and organisations working in the field of air pollution suggested a multi-pollutant and multi-sector approach in combating pollution levels. Dr Gufran Beig, senior scientist and founder project director of the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), an initiative of Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said ozone pollutant is the big threat in Mumbai. “First, we should update the emission inventory, which was last conducted in 2015. The emission inventory, along with weather forecasts of every one square km area in the region, will give us a forecast for hotspots every three days that remains valid for almost a week. It can be further improved to 400mX400m resolution. This will be actionable data and weekly hotspots and mitigation measures can be taken accordingly in these areas. A similar project is already underway in Delhi,” he added. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director at Centre for Science and Environment, suggested measures to control construction and demolition waste. “First, we need to quantify the waste and maximise recycling, which will help in reducing carbon emissions. All construction activities in the city, including buildings, roads and Metro, should have a comprehensive waste management plan.” Over the next three days, the BMC will host similar online consultations in the sectors of energy efficiency in buildings, sustainable mobility, urban greening and biodiversity as well as urban flooding and water resources management. People can also send their suggestions, objections and recommendations on the portal mcap.mcgm.gov.in till September 20.

• Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

Delhi civic bodies dispose waste at landfills, get more than they bargained for

Civic bodies have deployed trommel machines at the three landfills in Delhi to segregate the waste and decrease pressure on the sites The three municipal corporations working on reducing the garbage at the three landfills in Delhi --- Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur -- have a new problem at hand. The civic bodies are looking at ways to dispose of at least 1.8 million metric tonnes of inert waste that the processing of waste at the landfills has generated. The civic bodies have deployed trommel machines at these landfills to segregate the waste and decrease pressure on the sites. A trommel machine is a huge mechanical sieve that separates the landfill waste into three components -- municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste or debris and soil or sand. According to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which manages the Okhla landfill site, at least 625,000 metric tonnes of inert waste was piling up at the site, leaving little space for moving of machines and handling the legacy waste. To find a way to dispose of this residue, the SDMC standing committee on August 31 approved the proposal to shift the inert waste to two sites, NTPC Eco Park and Tajpur Pahadi (both near Badarpur) at an estimated cost of ₹19.50 crore. “A tender for the same will be floated this month. The two sites together can accommodate 690,000 metric tonnes of waste. An administrative approval has been given. This will help in fast-tracking the bio-mining process,” said Colonel (retd) B K Oberoi, chairperson, SDMC standing committee. ince last year, the civic body, under a temporary arrangement, has been sending some of the inert material at these two sites. Some of this waste was also being used for making temporary roads at the landfill site. “Already 350,000 metric tonnes of inert waste has been removed from the landfill,” he said. Oberoi said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which had earlier agreed to use inert waste for building of roads, has refused to use it after testing material. “The NHAI told us that the material could not be used for base-filling, as the road may sink. We are now looking for alternative ways to dump it,” he said. NHAI officials did not comment on the issue. The Okhla landfill is spread over an area of 46 acres. Currently, areas under SDMC generate approximately 3,600 metric tonnes of waste every day, almost 50% of which is dumped at Okhla landfill. North and east Delhi municipal bodies also said that piling up of inert waste was hindering their plans to deploy more trommel machines to expedite the processing of waste at the Bhalswa and Ghazipur landfill sites. According to the officials of the civic bodies, mining of the waste at the three landfills has led to significant reduction in their heights. The height of garbage dump at Bhalswa has come down from 65 metres to 54 metres, from 65 metres to 50 metres at Ghazipur, and from 55 metres to 38 metres at Okhla, officials of the three bodies said. “At the Bhalswa landfill, we plan to increase the number of trommel machines from 24 to 60 by next month. We have been using the inert waste in filling up low-lying areas such as streets of unauthorised colonies and vacant spaces in areas such as Narela, Rohini, Rani Khera, among others,” said a senior North corporation official, who asked not to be named. At least 2,500 metric tonnes of solid waste is dumped at the Bhalswa landfill daily. East Delhi Municipal Corporation officials said they were going to hire an agency to handle both processing of waste and dumping of the resultant inert waste. “We plan to increase the number of machines at the site from 20 to 30. Currently, dumping of inert material is too much to handle, and it will be more organised once a single agency is handling the entire work,” said a senior EDMC official. Experts said mining of waste has to be done in a structured manner. Atin Biswas, programme director, solid waste management project, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said a single agency should handle the processing of waste and dumping of resultant inert waste. “The cost of transporting waste is huge. While the civic bodies are employing trommel machines, they also need to get the same agency to dump the inert waste as well so that the space reclaimed from the landfill is not lost to another pile of waste. Simultaneously, the civic bodies should take steps to reduce the amount of waste is dumped daily at the landfills, and focus on segregation of waste is done at source,” said Biswas.

• Sustainable Mobility

Covid-19 aftermath: Longer traffic jams, newer choke points in Delhi

An analysis by the Delhi traffic police shows that between March and June 2020, the travel time in the city reduced by 40-60%, depending on the location. The Covid lockdowns have had a major impact on traffic and mobility patterns in the Capital -- jams are continuing beyond peak hours, new chaos hot spots are emerging, and fewer rides are being made to public transport hubs once restrictions have been lifted, according to assessments by the traffic police and data from Google Mobility Trends. During the first lockdown imposed in March 2020 to curb spread of Covid-19, the city of cars – as Delhi is often referred to since it has over 10 million vehicles, the maximum in the country -- fell silent with its chock-a-block abruptly empty. An analysis by the Delhi traffic police shows that between March and June 2020, the travel time in the city reduced by 40-60%, depending on the location. For instance, travelling from residential localities in east Delhi to west Delhi took around 40 minutes as opposed to over an hour in the pre-pandemic days. The situation, however, changed quickly after June 2020, as people started resuming travel to workplaces, recreational spots, and to supermarkets and malls, with the government relaxing curbs as part of its unlock guidelines. New choke points The return of vehicles led to new traffic patterns emerging. Senior traffic police officials said that over the last year, at least 20 arterial stretches where traffic was not heavy have become new congestion points. “By November last year, we started noticing increased traffic jams. In fact, over the last year, there is a change in traffic patterns. We are seeing more roads turning into congestion points in addition to the existing choke points,” said a senior traffic official, who asked not to be named. Traffic police records show that stretches such as the Ring Road near Safdarjung Hospital, Sri Aurobindo Marg near Hauz Khas, Rajouri Garden (Najafgarh Road), Ajmal Khan Road (near Karol Bagh), Pankha Road (near Hari Nagar) are some of the stretches where heavy traffic jams are being reported more frequently. “A stretch emerges on our radar if there are recurrent traffic jams being reported from there over a significant period of time. The criteria is that the traffic on these roads are not caused by a temporary reason such as a vehicle breakdown or an accident, but because of high traffic volume,” the traffic official added. Heavier traffic at regular trouble spots As new traffic choke points were emerging, snarls on the regular chaos hot spots was getting denser too, said traffic police. Estimates show that on the busiest stretches of the city, including ITO junction, Ashram Chowk, Britannia Chowk, Mukarba Chowk, Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway, and Dhaula Kuan crossing, the traffic volume during peak rush hours increased by 10-12% over the last year compared to the pre-lockdown period. Some of these stretches are also breaking away from the original patterns of “peak hour traffic”— which was categorised by the traffic police as 8am to 12pm and 4pm to 8pm, when the traffic picked up on roads. Complaints received by the traffic department’s control room between June 1 and July 20 this year show that stretches such as the ITO intersection, Mukarba Chowk, Ring Road (from Hyatt Hotel to AIIMS flyover), Ashram intersection, Britannia Chowk, Kashmere Gate (near ISBT), Rajouri Garden crossing (Najafgarh Road), Dwarka Road (near the Palam flyover) and Outer Ring Road (near Hauz Khas metro station) are now reporting traffic jams beyond peak hours. To be sure, some of these stretches -- such as Ashram -- have peculiar problems such as haphazard construction work. At the ITO intersection, which is categorised as one of the busiest stretches in the Capital, traffic volume during the pre-pandemic days was around 250,000 to 300,000 vehicles (during peak hours). In September 2020, the traffic volume increased marginally to around 325,000 to 340,000, but jams were still limited to the four hours in the morning and four hours in the evening with relatively smooth flow during the rest of the day. Since June 10 this year, when traffic movement resumed after the second lockdown imposed in April this year, the traffic volume has been high through the day. A short-period estimate shows that the intersection has been recording around 400,000 vehicles during peak hours, and jams now continue on the stretch for almost the entire day. Mobility trends According to Google’s mobility trends the city’s traffic pattern was changed by the pandemic. The tool tracks the number and length of visits people make to certain kinds of places compared to a baseline – in this case, a five-week period between January 3 and February 6 this year. After the lockdown was announced last year, Delhi saw a drop of nearly 80% in people’s trips to retail and recreational places, parks, supermarkets, pharmacies and workplaces, the trends show. Public transit, which includes places such as bus and train stations, saw the highest drop in people’s mobility in a week after the lockdown was announced, as much as 88%. This, however, has been gradually changing with the Capital easing lockdown measures over time. For example, on April 1 last year there was a 73% drop in visits to supermarkets and pharmacies compared to the baseline, but the drop was 64% on May 1, 27% on June 1, 26% on July 1 and 20% on August 1 last year. The most recent mobility trends, of July 26 this year, show that the drop in visits to retail and recreational spots such as cafes, shopping centres cinemas and libraries has reduced to 29% and to workplaces has dropped to 30%. Movement around residential areas across the city has seen an upward swing, with a 9% increase. Fewer trips to public transport hubs The most worrying trend, according to experts, is that fewer trips are being made to public transport hubs such as Metro stations and bus stands. The mobility trends show that even after the public transport modes resumed services, there was a drop of 24% in mobility around these spots as compared to the baseline. To be sure, curbs were imposed on seating capacity in public buses and the Metro in accordance with the Covid protocols. Though 100% seating has now been allowed in DTC buses and the Metro, standing is not allowed to discourage crowding. Experts say that besides the curbs on seating capacity, the concern over health and safety in public transport also discourage people from using them. This, they said, means that even those who used their private vehicles only for shorter commutes have started using private vehicles more often, leading to a more vehicles on city roads than during the pre-pandemic days. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an organisation focusing on public interest research and advocacy, showed that the mean travel speed on 12 major stretches in Delhi increased from 24 kmph pre-lockdown to 46 kmph during the lockdown. This again reduced again to 29 kmph after the lockdown between October and November 2020 as the government announced phased reopening of activities. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said even after full seating capacity has been allowed inside the trains, the network is running at 20% of its capacity. This is also resulting in long queues outside stations. “Even though the public transport modes are now operational there is a fear among people that travelling in such close proximity with others might increase the chances of infection. This could undo the years of work that has been done in getting people to ditch their private cars and use public transport modes,” Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director research and advocacy, CSE, said. She added, “People who owned a private vehicle, but chose to travel in metros and buses, now prefer to travel via their own cars, because of safety and convenience.” This, however, is not a trend unique to Delhi. Researchers at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, predicted in June last year the possibility of a sweeping switch to “single-occupancy vehicle” dominating the roads of at least 16 US cities, resulting in the risk of extreme traffic post pandemic. Focus on congestion management Traffic police and experts said that, in a post-pandemic world, the focus will have to be on congestion management and on coming up with innovative measures to control dependence on private vehicles. “Policing will have to focus on congestion management. As enforcers of traffic rules, it is certainly our job to ensure that traffic rules are followed and if not people are penalised, but the focus should be to manage congestion and along with it create awareness of best practices,” said Muktesh Chander, special commissioner of police (traffic). Chander said that he wrote to his colleagues in July, asking them to shift their focus on congestion management on arterial roads, as opposed to penalty-based policing. Sewa Ram, professor of transport planning at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), said that the new commuting patterns of the city will have to be studied thoroughly so that a holistic plan can be made around it. “This is a scenario that no one in the world has seen before. The increase in congestion could be a temporary impact of the pandemic, but we must prepare for the worst and plan on how the city’s infrastructure needs to be prepared to handle this new load,” Ram said.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air pollution is now a matter of life and death

Until adequate measures for transformative change to prevent air pollution at source are firmly in place, Indian cities will remain highly polluted, causing illness and death, and adversely affecting our GDP and climate In a dharna (agitation) which began two years ago, Anita Dhole, a resident of Mahul in Mumbai’s Chembur, continued her protest against air pollution during the coronavirus lockdown in Mumbai while most people experienced blue skies, distant, scenic views and wildlife sightings in cities all over the world, and the United Nations (UN) announced its first Clean Air for Blue Skies Day. The UN has emphasised the need to “build back better” to avoid future shocks to our planet and has described air pollution as a leading health hazard and contributor to climate change. It has also drawn attention to the special burden of climate change, including indoor and outdoor air pollution on women. Apart from suffering from health effects themselves, women face the brunt of childcare and household responsibilities, which increase disproportionately when a family member becomes ill. Unsurprisingly, women are also at the forefront of researching data, finding solutions and creating awareness, interacting with authorities and influencing policy change. Dhole’s 600-day dharna on the footpath from October 28, 2018, was to highlight the predicament of nearly 30,000 people, including herself, resettled next to a refinery and an industrial complex in a Slum Rehabilitation Authority project. She tells those who will listen of heartbreak and misery where children who do not meet developmental milestones because of exposure to air pollution struggle to breathe. “People are dumped next to industrial effluents and air pollution from chemicals like benzene which measure dangerously high levels and make us ill, but we feel nobody cares,” she says. ENT surgeon Dr Sarika Verma was moved to become a clean air activist when she observed that one in four children in Gurugram near Delhi (periodically the most air-polluted city in the world) has been on nebulisers and the air quality regularly crossed into hazardous levels in the winter months. “In India, 4.6 lakh people died of Covid-19 in the past 16 months, but 1.2 million people die annually from air pollution. Unlike Covid, air pollution is not treated as a health emergency to rectify a preventable cause of death,” she says. Verma goes on to explain that unborn children face low birth weight and premature delivery, and there is now evidence to suggest a mother’s placenta contains breathable particulate matter of 2.5 micrometre diameter (PM 2.5). PM 2.5 are very fine particles, a mixture of solid and liquid droplets of 2.5 diameter or smaller, 30 times thinner than a human hair. They are inhaled deeply into the lungs, causing respiratory and other disease. In Maharashtra, an Indian Medical Council Report quantifies premature air pollution deaths as 1.4 lakh people in 2019, the second highest in any state in India. Eighteen of the non-attainment air quality cities in India are in Maharashtra. Placed within Mumbai city limits, the Deonar open landfill has been key in the recognition of the city’s air pollution problem. It contains mixed garbage unscientifically dumped to a height of 100 feet; in 2016, more than 70 schools shut down for days in a blaze that could be seen on NASA images from space. People experienced the equalising nature of air pollution across socioeconomic sections as most of Mumbai was blanketed by smog and Deonar became a rallying point for air pollution-related discourse. Burning garbage dumps is ubiquitous in areas surrounding Mumbai in the absence of an effective garbage management policy and government air pollution monitoring networks do not cover them. I realised the near-complete lack of accessible data from source when I began documenting other informal garbage dumps soon afterwards. I imagined the people living alongside severely polluted air as I saw them walk alongside, white smoke billow into and around their homes. In 2020, I measured air pollution on the roadaside in Bhiwandi with a hand-held meter next to kilometres-long burning garbage. The smell was noxious as plastic crumpled to white smoke and black shreds. The meter recorded 612µg/m3 breathable particulate matter of 2.5 diameter (PM2.5) at one-minute intervals, though the safe limit is only 20 µg/m3 in a 24-hour period. Unsurprisingly, the winter cough I already had inflamed my chest and I couldn’t speak for days. My meter, while not as accurate as the expensive air quality index stations installed by Pollution Control Boards, is highly indicative of high levels of individual exposure. At Gurugram in 2014, software engineer and founder of Airveda, Namita Gupta, realised the lack of usable data as a mother concerned about the air her children were breathing at home. She experimented with manufacture of monitoring meters and networks meters “I set up a system to monitor air quality at home, so that I would know when I could send my children down to play, expanded it to cover their school and now supply meters to augment the government’s formal AQI monitoring network. There is no way to measure air pollution in the coverage gaps without using low-cost meters,” she says. Recently, she supplied her meters to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board when they placed indigenously developed meters from four startups next to their stationery measuring points to evaluate accuracy of the data. Anumita Roychowdhury and her colleagues at the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, have even carried hand-held meters into the High Court and Supreme Court in 2015 to demonstrate air quality to judges. Prior to the Deonar fire, air pollution had been popularly understood as a ‘Delhi issue’ because of constant reports quantifying Delhi’s poor air quality. After Roychowdhury stumbled upon the issue of air pollution in the 1980s as a young researcher, she has been at the forefront of creating data and awareness and advocating policy change. Her successes include conversion of public transport vehicles from diesel to CNG, a ban on air-polluting construction activities on bad air quality days and proposal of a clean fuel strategy for industry. “Delhi is the first Indian city where the issue of air pollution was categorised into its components. Over the years, Delhi is the only city to shut down all coal power plants and the first one to ban constructions on bad air quality days. We have expanded our work to many other Indian cities too now,” she says. Following Roychowdhury’s lead, some sources have been identified and tackled in other Indian cities too. However, despite her successes, power plants in other parts of India have been granted several extensions of the deadline for clean air emissions and new coal-based power plants are still being sanctioned this year. At a launch of the Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP) in August, the energy sector (which still relies on coal fired power plants) was quantified as the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in Mumbai. In contradiction, other government agencies have categorised leading emission sources differently. Recent studies of NEERI in March 2021 and SAFAR (of the Ministry of Earth Sciences) in June 2021 point to road dust and vehicular traffic as the highest emitters respectively, with power plants, industries, open garbage burning, crematoria etc contributing significantly. While it isn’t clear which one is worst, it is certainly clear that all of these emissions require serious and sustained effort and that action is urgent. Hema Ramani, a lawyer associated with the Bombay Environmental Action Group, has advocated for clean fuel use of the hundreds of licenced and unlicenced bakeries scattered in the residential areas of Mumbai. Her research shows that most bakeries are wood-fired. She approached MCGM to licence and regulate all bakeries within a time-bound programme for effective implementation of cleaner fuel conversions. “Unfortunately, the bakers are reluctant as there is very little interest and no incentive is being offered to them to switch to cleaner fuels by any regulatory authority,” she says. It is apt that the Clean Air for Blue Skies Day falls just before the Indian festive season and reminds us that air pollution needs to be controlled before reaching hazardous levels by taking preventive action now. The festival season worsens air quality immediately before winter, when weather conditions ensure that polluted smog hangs thickly, blanketing our cities. Air pollution not only impacts health and climate, but the economy as well. By 2030, it is estimated that a population of more than 10 million will live in seven Indian mega cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Gurugram where air pollution is highest. GDP loss from air pollution has been quantified by the Indian Medical Council at a stunning figure of Rs7,182 crore in Maharashtra and Rs58,560 crore in India. The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched in September 2020 as a “Long-Term, Time-Bound, National Level Strategy”. It is supported by budgetary allocations of Rs4,400 crore in 2020 and Rs2,217 crore in 2021 when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech acknowledged the need to“tackle the burgeoning problem of air pollution”. Despite the budgetary allocation for 2020 being delayed by the pandemic and the allocation for 2021 cut by nearly half, the NCAP has given fresh impetus to action. Citizens’ experiences with clean air during the lockdown has accelerated and resulted in much greater engagement and a renewed push for transformative change. Nevertheless, real change remains elusive. Adding to more than three million existing vehicles in Mumbai, 495 more were registered within a 24-hour period in June 2021. Stubble burning in Haryana impacts air quality of Delhi and Gurugram. Due to a rise in LPG price, poor women have returned to choolhas, burning firewood and cow dung for cooking. Wood burning crematoria, often situated in residential areas, burnt continuously and required additional firewood during the second wave of the coronavirus crisis in April-June, increasing air pollution during lockdown. Mumbai, which recently became one of ‘Climate 40’ cities worldwide, is committed to reduce emissions by 2030 and Maharashtra will be the first state to develop a detailed climate action plan. The MCAP identifies tackling air pollution as a priority. The plan will be reviewed internally and externally through these two months (September and October), scheduled for public launch by November 2021. Over five years after the garbage dump at Deonar burnt, we continue our struggle to identify air pollution sources. To alleviate the suffering of people like Dhole, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has tendered for 15 mobile air pollution vans which will identify problems and measure air pollution on the spot. In Delhi, giant smog towers are being installed in an attempt to reduce the immediate effects of highly polluted air. However, a new IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report clarifies what is actually required as “limiting cumulative CO2 emissions”. Measures such as smog towers are a palliative effort and measurement of air quality a very initial part of the long road ahead to better air quality, one which requires hard decisions. Back at Deonar, in addition to an existing plant to incinerate medical waste, new waste-to-energy plants are proposed. Jyoti Mhapsekar, president of the Stree Mukti Sanghatana, an NGO working with women waste pickers for decades, says many of the waste pickers they work with and the other eight lakh people who live in the neighbourhood, even people working in her office, are sufferers of air pollution. “We are apprehensive that the new incinerators for waste-to energy plants added to the already-existing medical waste plant will only increase air pollution,” she says. It’s now one year since the first UN Clean Air for Blue Skies Day. Its theme Healthy Air, Healthy Planet “emphasises the health effects of air pollution, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic”. While we quantify sources and draw up plans, we continue to encourage and promote activities which worsen air quality. Until adequate measures for transformative change to prevent air pollution at source are firmly in place, Indian cities remain among the most air polluted in the world, causing illness and death, adversely affecting our GDP and climate. “Air pollution is a life-and-death issue for too many people,” says UNEP Executive Director Inger Anderson. Dhole’s voice is strong and clear as she tells of her harrowing experiences while distributing aid during Covid-19 to people who are already sufferers of respiratory disease caused by air pollution. “From my footpath at Mahul to thousands of people, from March 27, 2020, till today, even during the Covid wave of May-June,” she says. Women are disproportionately affected by air pollution, individually and by their burden of household responsibility. It is apt that women lead positive action too: Citizens’ science and data generation; awareness campaigns, research, policy changes and startups. Inspired by them, rapidly urbanising India has the opportunity to make the air pollution story a pan-India success story. Will we step up?

• Director General Office

Water for fruit

The scale of the transformation is huge and the potential for change is massive The pear tree I am looking at is nearly bent to the ground under the weight of fruit — 50-100 kg grows on each tree in this 50-year-old orchard. Then my gaze shifts to guava, plum, peach, and miles of kinnow and other citruses. And, of course, there was date palm. No, I did not visit Israel last month. I was in Abohar in Fazilka district of Punjab, at the border of Pakistan, and then crossed over to Sri Ganganagar district in Rajasthan. This is the region of the Rajasthan Canal, also known as the Indira Gandhi Nahar. It was incredible to see how water can transform land; and also to learn of the initiative and the scientific knowledge and the risk that the pioneers took to make the desert green. The Indira Gandhi Nahar extends almost 400 km, bringing water of the Sutlej-Beas up to Bikaner and Jaisalmer. But as the journey of water lengthens, the demand goes up. Along with prosperity, the canal brings conflict and competition over the increasingly scarce water. But instead of working to build a water-prudent economy, water-guzzling paddy is now being grown where the canal reaches. All the talk about diversification of agriculture, breaking away from the paddy-wheat cycle, and moving to crops that will be water-prudent is just not happening on the ground. How can this precious water be used optimally? It is here that agroforestry with fruit trees — horticulture — can play a critical role. It provides high-value agriculture; water usage is less with efficient use of drip irrigation. More importantly, it could be the basis of economic growth and jobs — fruit trees have huge potential not just for nutrition-providing juice but also for their use in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Then there is the date palm — it grows in saline groundwater, so it does not even need the precious canal water. But my visit tells me that the fruit revolution is still a story in the making. My first stop was at the Punjab Agricultural University’s Dr J C Bakhshi Regional Research Station in Abohar, where scientists are working painstakingly to improve the productivity of fruit trees; they are using tissue culture to find salinity- and pest-tolerant species. This is where I saw the mind-boggling vision of fruit-laden pear trees growing in the desert. I also saw the date palm, grown from tissue culture, which is so profitable that every sapling costs Rs 4,500, and yet there is a two-year waiting period for farmers to get one. The demand is so high in Rajasthan that the state government has had to restrict the number of saplings a farmer can buy. The sheer hunger and potential of the change became apparent. Then I visited the farm of the late Kartar Singh Narula, who brought kinnow to this dry region of Sri Ganganagar way back in the 1960s, when the canal waters had just reached. It is said that Jawaharlal Nehru was so taken by this idea that he was keen to visit Narula’s Lyallpur farm but had to cut short his journey because of the death of Rajendra Prasad. Today, run by Narula’s family, the farm is full of every species of citrus that you can think of. It’s the proverbial oasis in the desert. It was also in this period that Balram Jakhar — who we all know as a stalwart politician — started his kin now farms in Abohar. These men had the vision to think, not of rice that would guzzle the water, but of this high-value crop of citrus. They wanted sustainable productivity. They understood the advantages of water-prudent, high-value production. Today, the Jakhar farms are run by his grandson Ajay Jakhar, a farmer leader. Here I saw incredible technological interventions to grow good-quality citrus plants at scale — the Jakhar nursery alone produces over 100,000 citrus saplings a year. And there is demand for more. The scale of the transformation is huge and the potential for change is massive: We know the world needs to move towards nature-based solutions; we need to build wealth from sustainable use of natural resources, including water; we need to grow trees to sequester carbon dioxide; and we need to build livelihoods. But I came back with unanswered questions — the spirit of the fruit revolution seems to have got lost along the way. We saw fruit trees, but no efforts to add value from the produce; not even through juice production at scale. We saw no signs of any other efforts to build the fruit economy. Instead, we saw and heard of the still growing popularity of paddy cultivation in this dry region. Then there is the question of sustainability. We know that fruit trees are grown with massive inputs of chemical fertilisers and pesticides — all fruit-growing regions of the world have problems of toxins. So, what can be done and done differently? Questions aside, my visit to the farms of Abohar and Sri Ganganagar filled me with excitement of the possibility of future changes. For this is where the new economy must go — it is about nature, nutrition, and farmers first. The writer is at the Centre for Science and Environment sunita@cseindia.org Twitter: @sunitanar