Even six years after the water consumption norms came into force, the water-guzzling coal power industry is ignoring water regulations and there is a high degree of non-compliance observed in the sector, a new report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says.
A new analysis by researchers shows that the new thermal power plant norms issued by the Union environment ministry last month, which allowed them flexibility in meeting certain criteria, could compromise India’s emission reduction goals that are part of efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The new rules, which came into effect on March 31, give an extension of 1 to 3 years to all thermal power plants to comply with emission norms that are mandated by the government. What makes it worse is that the penalty charged to companies for not complying with the extended deadline is even lower than the cost of complying with rules that are meant to reduce emissions, an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment has found. This means that thermal power plants can continue to pollute by paying a lower price for not installing pollution control devices. CSE’s analysis released on Thursday shows that while installing the equipment for pollution control will cost between ₹40-100 lakh/MW, the penalty that a 500 MW thermal power plant will have to pay to keep running without installing the equipment is only ₹5-11 lakh/MW as per the new amendment. Similarly, the maximum penalty imposed on non-compliant thermal plants is 20 paise per unit of electricity.
The Delhi government has inaugurated its first smog tower, but many environmentalists believe this kind of project can’t provide a permanent solution to a complicated problem like air pollution. Here's what eminent environmentalists have to say. Delhi’s air pollution has been a matter of worry for years now and several attempts have been made by governments to control it. Come October, the pollution begins, and it continues till the end of the winter. Just ahead of this season, the Delhi government has inaugurated its first smog tower at Baba Kharag Singh Marg in Connaught Place, but many environmentalists say this kind of project can’t provide a permanent solution to a complicated problem like air pollution which has many dimensions and might prove to be a costly affair in a resource-hit city like Delhi. At the same time, the Delhi government is looking forward to successfully starting the smog tower and then monitoring the data for the next two years. If the experiment is successful, authorities will work to get more such towers installed in the capital. There is an ongoing debate on the government’s priority to fight pollution in months to come. India Today talked to various environmentalists, both from the government and from private organisations, on the new initiative and its workability in Delhi. There are many contradictory views about how resources can be utilised better to address the problem of bad air quality. ENVIRONMENTALISTS CRITICAL OF THE MOVE, GOVT SAYS WAIT FOR FINAL OUTCOME The first smog tower has been portrayed by the Delhi government as one of the new initiatives to control pollution in a specific area. But most environmental scientists working on this problem for years are not very convinced. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has a very critical view of the new initiative. She told India Today, “We have no data from across the world where smog towers have helped to clean the ambient air. Smog towers across the world are not being installed as regulatory action. What we know in China and in Denmark are more private initiatives and have nothing to do with government policy. We do not have any hard data which shows that it improves the air quality.” “In Denmark, it was a recreational venture in a park, but we don’t have any data. It is now up to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to do a proper assessment and validate and show how effective it is. But we are not promoting it as these are expensive devices and this money should be spent to cut emissions at source rather than doing such a job.” Another eminent environmental crusader, Bhavreen Kandhari is not just against such kinds of “band-aid solutions”, but she has also worked on a few such towers being installed by East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir. Bhavreen said, “I wrote to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) about the pollution issue. The data should be transparent. Even we are monitoring data from the smog tower put up by Gautam Gambhir. From the initial analysis, we found that there is hardly any impact on pollution and these are absolutely ineffective. For the last 10 months, we have been monitoring the data from these smog towers and will come up with details in the next few days.” But the government has a different point of view about these smog towers. Dr Anwar Ali Khan, a senior environmental scientist with DPCC, who is in charge of the Smog Tower project, explained the whole technology and why Delhi should wait for the final outcome. Khan said, “We have now installed the tower and the impact assessment study will be done by IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay in the next two years. The technology which we have adopted is CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) developed by the University of Minnesota. The kind of particulate material which will be filtered will be up to 0.3 microns. The particles can be trapped through double filtration technology.” “There are 8 sensors (2 each from four directions) installed in this tower, half of them will measure the quality of air before it enters, and half will measure the quality after the clean air will be released. The monitoring will be done by SCADA system and the real-time data would be displayed on the surface and website,” he said. The first smog tower project costs almost Rs 24 crore, and he has justification for this as well. He said, “It’s a new foreign technology and hence the cost is higher. But we have used 10 thousand filters in this smog tower to filter out different sizes of pollutants. Secondly, the height of the tower is approximately 24 meters with a 6-meter-high canopy so that aerodynamic flow can be maintained in the tower and the polluted air won’t be mixed with the cleaned air. We have also installed 40 big fans which can clean air quantities up to one thousand cubic metres per second. The filters will also be changed regularly keeping the air pressure in mind.” “We have never claimed that it will clean the air of a very big area, but with these towers, we can develop a clean air-breathing zone/park and we are planning such parks as rejuvenation centres. If this experiment is a success, the same can be replicated at smaller levels in societies and other areas like parks," he added. While the government is justifying spending on the projects like smog towers which can clear the air in a vicinity of one square kilometre, environmentalists have a different approach towards the problem. Most said the government should work more seriously to control pollution at source and effort should be seen there, rather than on such kinds of projects. Anumita Roy Chowdhury said, “Delhi already has a comprehensive clean air action plan, from vehicles, industries and waste management. A few things have happened but they need to do a lot more. For example, we have to completely eliminate waste burning in the city and for doing that the city should have a centralised segregated waste collection mechanism and should ensure that we should have a zero-landfill policy.” “Waste at landfill sites is being reused and reutilised so that it does not catch fire. For demolition and construction waste, these should be collected, recycled and brought back. In industrial areas, although they have started using clean fuel, fuels like coal should be completely closed. Particularly, they should focus on the small and medium industries in the city because these are still using dirty fuel. Enforcement is a big challenge and if you are burning so much dirty fuel then how will you control the pollution,” she said. Vehicular pollution is also a very important component of air pollution which contributes more than one-third of the pollution in the capital. The Delhi government has kept a target that 25 per cent of total vehicles should be electrified by 2024. But right now only 1.3 per cent of vehicles are electrified. To achieve the target of 25 per cent from here in three years will be a big task. More buses and integration of buses and metro trains are also quite important and even cycling infrastructure should be increased. The Delhi government has also initiated a few projects to control pollution at source, which include tackling industrial pollution, making the clean fuel of PNG mandatory, asking restaurants to run their tandoors and stoves on green fuel rather than coal, and controlling dust pollution from construction sites through sprinklers. But there is still a major concern over the implementation of these policies through a proper vigilance mechanism and that’s why despite all efforts the results are not showing on the ground.
uel efficiency norms have a bearing on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which are now under scrutiny to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change Under the shadow of COVID-19 and uncertainty over sales, India’s automotive sector has been protesting that scheduled implementation of higher standards of emissions and fuel efficiency next year, and enhanced vehicle safety goals, are deeply affecting the prospects of the industry. Cars and passenger vehicles are becoming unaffordable. This view is opposed equally fiercely by environmental organisations, who point to data showing that automakers are poised to achieve the higher standards, because these are already set low. Fuel efficiency norms have a bearing on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which are now under scrutiny to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. What is the point of contention? The car industry must comply with the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards, which represents the emissions profile of the models sold by a company, and was first introduced in 2017. These are due to be tightened by April 2022. On August 25, 2021, at a virtual session held as part of the annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, R.C. Bhargava, complained that the government failed to match its views on the auto industry’s importance to the economy with measures on the ground to reduce taxes, rigour of safety and emissions norms. This was echoed by TVS Motor Company CMD Venu Srinivasan, who said even entry-level mopeds were being taxes like luxury products. What are the contentious fuel efficiency-emission standards? An analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) found that the average CO2 emissions calculated on the basis of sales in 2017-18 of new Indian passenger cars were 121 gm/km, which was a reduction of 2 gm/km from the fleet average performance in 2015-2016. According to the ICCT estimates, India’s norms were relatively relaxed. Its report said that the 2017–18 fleet average CO2 emissions were ahead of the targets by 9.0% and 9.5% ahead with flexibility mechanisms – which are used by manufacturers to determine their credits. Without flexibility mechanisms, most corporate groups had already met the 2017–18 standards at least two years early, according to the ICCT. By this calculation the fleet was only 7.3% from fulfilling the fiscal 2022–23 targets, taking flexibility mechanisms into account. Crucially, this meant that it represented a 1.5% annual CO2 emissions reduction, “which is slower than the annual decrease of 2.1% from 2006–2007 to 2017–2018.” Moreover, this was well below the 3.7%–5% annual CO2 emissions reduction requirements for other countries, the analysis concluded. What are environmental bodies saying? Enviromental bodies such as the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) have been arguing that setting the bar low, and extending the deadline would stunt innovation in engine development, as well as block the transition to electric vehicles. Although the upgraded standards are the second phase of CAFE, which went into effect four years ago, the industry is now citing the effect of the pandemic to support its call for a postponement of implementation. Mr. Bhargava argued at the SIAM event that he was left wondering whether the belief that cars were a luxury to be owned only by the rich had changed at all in India. Mr. Srinivasan said the basic mode of transport – the moped – had become costlier by up to 50% due to tax, clubbing of three years of insurance and safety norms such as ABS (braking system). The auto industry, led by SIAM, began lobbying for a postponement of the efficiency standards by two years even in 2020. It argued that heavy investments had been made in the shift from BS IV engines to BS VI, and carmakers needed time to recoup these outlays. In March 2021, in response to a similar argument, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari countered the industry, asking why it was difficult to meet the emissions norms for the domestic market, when the same units were able to produce cars for advanced countries with higher standards. Environmental organisations also want the government to set a long-term framework with a 2035 horizon, with four-yearly targets to be achieved by the industry on emissions and fuel efficiency. How does India rate internationally? The CSE, points out that Europe, “despite having heavier vehicles compared to the low-powered smaller cars of India, has set CO2 standards at 95 CO2 g/km in 2020-21, as opposed to 113 CO2 g/km in India.” It also says that the standards have been applied only to cars in the country. Moreover, even the calculation of emissions from real world driving are not strict enough, compared to worldwide test standards that measure all stages of operation of a vehicle. Traffic accidents killed 1,54,732 people in 2019 in India, an increase of 1.3% over the previous year according to the National Crime Records Bureau. COVID-19 reduced mobility and therefore accidents to
bout 50% of freshwater-based coal-powered plants, mostly of state-owned companies, do not comply with 2015 water-consumption norms, even after six years. Old and inefficient cooling water-based plants in India continue to operate without installing cooling towers. 48% of India’s existing coal power fleet is located in water-scarce districts. These are findings of a recent study conducted by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). According to the study “Water Inefficient Power”, even after six years, the water-guzzling coal-powered industry is ignoring the 2015 water-consumption regulations with a high degree of non-compliance. Counted amongst the most water-intensive industries in the country, the coal power sector is responsible for about 70% of the total freshwater withdrawal by all industries. Indian power plants with cooling towers consume twice as much water as their global counterparts, says the report. According to the 2015 norms (revised again in 2018), plants installed before January 1, 2017, are required to meet a specific water-consumption limit of 3.5 cubic metres of water per MWh; while those installed after have to meet the norm of 3 cubic metres of water per MWh, apart from adopting zero-liquid discharge. Additionally, all freshwater-based plants are required to install cooling towers and subsequently achieve the norm of 3.5 cubic metres of water per MWh. All sea water-based plants were exempted from meeting the norms. The deadline to meet the water norms was December 2017, which has long passed. The water norms for coal power plants were introduced in 2015, along with the emission norms. Though the emission-norm timelines for the sector were revised twice by the ministry, once in 2017 and more recently in 2021, the issue of compliance and implementation of water norms has been completely overlooked. Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director, Industrial Pollution unit of CSE, says this is happening at a time when many power producing regions of the country are facing acute water shortages. “Also, there is huge water pollution due to the power plants’ effluent discharge.” The CSE surveyed over 154 GW of total coal power capacity and found about 50% of the freshwater-based plants to be non-complying. Most of these plants belong to state-owned companies. The CSE survey has found that old and inefficient once-through cooling water-based plants in India continue to operate without installing cooling towers. These plants are not just flouting the water norms, but also the emission norms, says the survey. Built before 1999, all once-through-based power plants in India are old and polluting. Many of these plants were identified for retirement, but have not yet retired. They continue to operate, with no plans to upgrade or install either emission control equipment or cooling towers. “Allowing these old plants to continue to pollute water cannot be an option. Plants identified for retirement must be closed down immediately if they have no plans to retrofit or to install emission-control technologies and/or cooling towers,” says Sugandha Arora, deputy programme manager of the Industrial Pollution unit of CSE. The CSE survey has also found several loopholes in the self-reported data and data formats being followed across states to report specific water consumption. As per CSE’s recent estimates, about 48% of India’s existing coal power fleet is located in water-scarce districts like Barmer and Baran in Rajasthan. Yadav says this sector has a massive water footprint and therefore, all efforts must be made to mitigate this impact. “There is huge scope of reducing the sector’s water demand by ensuring implementation of the 2015 standards and addressing the challenges related to accurate reporting of data, old inefficient once-through cooling plants and implementing zero discharge in newer plants. If implemented rigorously, the standards can drastically reduce overall water consumption of the sector and will make Indian plants water-efficient.”
Coal-power plants in India consume huge amounts of water. A new study by the Centre for Environment and Science shows that these plants with cooling towers consume twice as much water as their global counterparts. Most of these power plants do not comply with 2015 water-consumption norms to regulate irrational use of water in coal power plants. Water stress is an urgent reality in India. Amongst water intensive industries in India, coal power plants especially are huge guzzlers of water and are responsible for about 70 per cent of the total freshwater withdrawal by all industries in India. Almost half (48 per cent) of the existing coal-power fleet in India are located in water-scarce regions. Despite the deadline of December 2017 to comply with water consumption norms, most of the freshwater coal power plants continue to defy the rules. These are some of the findings of a recent study titled ‘Water-Inefficient Power: Implementing Water Norma and Zero Discharge in India’s Coal-Power Fleet’ released today by Centre for Environment and Science (CSE), a New Delhi-based environmental research organisation. As per the report, most of the power plants in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh do not comply with the specific water-consumption norms that were introduced by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in 2015 in order to regulate irrational use of water in coal power plants. “Water norms are highly neglected by the environment ministry and in such a scenario about 50 per cent power plants continue to flout them even when the norms are lax,” stated the report. The research organisation went on to point out that the Indian coal power plants with cooling towers consume twice as much water as their global counterparts. Globally, a 500 MW super critical plant withdraws 2.52 cubic metre per megawatt hour (m3/MWh) water while in India a similar power plant withdraws double the amount of water at 4 m3/MWh. “Coal-power plants consume huge amounts of water. With growing water stress in several regions of India, it is vital that they use water judiciously,” read the report. The study also pointed out that many Indian power plants with inefficient water consumption practices and older technologies tend to have much higher specific water consumption and consume significant amounts of water. This is at a time when several parts of India already face severe water crisis. Coal-power plants in water-scarce regions such as Nagpur and Chandrapur in Maharashtra; Raichur in Karnataka; Korba in Chhattisgarh; Barmer and Baran in Rajasthan; Khammam and Kothagudem in Telangana and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu already face the brunt of water scarcity. The crisis is especially aggravated during summers when there is additional demand for power due to increased cooling needs, adding pressure on coal power plants. Monsoon failure and drought also add to the stress. The non-profit recommended that it is important that these plants comply with the specific 2015 water-consumption norms to regulate irrational use of water in coal power plants. The deadline to meet these water norms was December 2017. However, several coal-based power plants in India continue to defy the deadline and flout the rules. What are 2015 water-consumption norms? In December, 2015, the environment ministry notified water standards for coal power plants. Plants installed before 2017 were required to meet a norm of 3.5 m3MWh and plants installed after 1 January 2017 had to meet 2.5 m3/MWh along with zero liquid discharge. The norms did not make any distinction between freshwater-based and seawater-based plants in the December 2015 notification. In June 2018, however, MoEF&CC issued an amendment to its 2015 notification (see table: Specific water consumption norms 2015 and subsequent amendment). In this, the water consumption limit of 2.5 m3/MWh for new plants—installed after 1 January 2017—was revised to three m3/MWh. Thus, the revised water norms mandate only freshwater-based plants to meet the norm of 3.5 or three m3/MWh and seawater-based plants are exempted from the norms. All freshwater-based once-through cooling plants are additionally required to install cooling towers and subsequently achieve the norm of 3.5 m3/MWh. “Ash water discharge is one of the most common and polluting discharges from thermal power plants. Often discharge is intentional and not accidental, but even if accidental, it is still a violation,” said Shripad Dharmadhikary, coordinator, Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, centre to monitor water and energy issues, during the virtual launch of the report. Operational coal based thermal power stations in drough prone areas programme (DPAP) and desert development programme (DDP). He suggested restoring the original more stringent norm of 2.5 m3/MWh for plants after 2016. Also Read: ‘Eight major coal ash breach accidents in past two years, penalties levied but not paid by coal-based power plants’ Why meeting water use norms is critical? As coal has the largest share (60 per cent) in electricity generation in the country, it is estimated that coal based power plants will remain to be the mainstay of power generation at least in this decade. If a large capacity power plant (2,980 MW) operating at 70 or 90 per cent load reduces its water consumption rate from 4 m3/MWh to 3m3/MWh, the plant will save on a respectable 18-23 million cubic metres of water a year, highlighted the CSE report. As per the CSE’s 2015 study Heat on Power, Indian power plants were estimated to withdraw around 22 billion cubic metres of water, which is over half of India’s domestic water requirement. Way forward Some of the recommendations by CSE to tackle high water consumption by coal-based power plants include: Environment ministry and CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) must review implementation of water consumption norms and issue clear deadlines to non-complying plants. Environment ministry and regulatory authorities must prioritise implementation of norms in water scarce regions; non-complying plants (in states such as Madhya Pradesh) should be issued directions/notices to immediately comply. The ministry must prioritise or fast track decommissioning of old and inefficient once-through cooling plants. Robust and effective policy needed to encourage use of treated municipal sewage to reduce freshwater consumption in power plants.
मीठे पानी पर आधारित कोयले से चलने वाले लगभग 50% संयंत्र, जिनमें से ज्यादातर राज्य के स्वामित्व वाली कंपनियां हैं, छह साल बाद भी 2015 के पानी की खपत के मानदंडों का पालन नहीं करते हैं। भारत में पुराने और अक्षम कूलिंग वाटर-आधारित प्लांट कूलिंग टावर्स स्थापित किए बिना काम करना जारी रखते हैं। भारत के मौजूदा कोयला बिजली बेड़े का 48% पानी की कमी वाले जिलों में स्थित है। ये सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट द्वारा किए गए एक हालिया अध्ययन के निष्कर्ष हैं (सीएसई) अध्ययन “जल अकुशल शक्ति” के अनुसार, छह साल के बाद भी, पानी की खपत वाले कोयले से चलने वाला उद्योग 2015 के जल-खपत नियमों को उच्च स्तर के गैर-अनुपालन के साथ अनदेखा कर रहा है। देश में सबसे अधिक जल-गहन उद्योगों में गिना जाता है, कोयला बिजली क्षेत्र सभी उद्योगों द्वारा कुल मीठे पानी की निकासी के लगभग 70% के लिए जिम्मेदार है। रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि कूलिंग टावर्स वाले भारतीय बिजली संयंत्र अपने वैश्विक समकक्षों की तुलना में दोगुना पानी की खपत करते हैं। 2015 के मानदंडों (2018 में फिर से संशोधित) के अनुसार, 1 जनवरी, 2017 से पहले स्थापित संयंत्रों को प्रति मेगावाट 3.5 क्यूबिक मीटर पानी की एक विशिष्ट जल-खपत सीमा को पूरा करना आवश्यक है; जबकि इसके बाद स्थापित लोगों को शून्य-तरल निर्वहन अपनाने के अलावा, प्रति मेगावाट 3 घन मीटर पानी के मानदंड को पूरा करना होगा। इसके अतिरिक्त, सभी मीठे पानी आधारित संयंत्रों को कूलिंग टावर्स स्थापित करने और बाद में प्रति मेगावाट 3.5 क्यूबिक मीटर पानी के मानदंड को प्राप्त करने की आवश्यकता होती है। सभी समुद्री जल आधारित संयंत्रों को मानदंडों को पूरा करने से छूट दी गई थी। पानी के मानदंडों को पूरा करने की समय सीमा दिसंबर 2017 थी, जो लंबे समय से बीत चुकी है। कोयला बिजली संयंत्रों के लिए जल मानदंड 2015 में उत्सर्जन मानदंडों के साथ पेश किए गए थे। हालांकि इस क्षेत्र के लिए उत्सर्जन-मानदंड की समय-सीमा को मंत्रालय द्वारा दो बार संशोधित किया गया था, एक बार 2017 में और हाल ही में 2021 में, जल मानदंडों के अनुपालन और कार्यान्वयन के मुद्दे को पूरी तरह से अनदेखा कर दिया गया है। सीएसई की औद्योगिक प्रदूषण इकाई के कार्यक्रम निदेशक निवित कुमार यादव का कहना है कि यह ऐसे समय में हो रहा है जब देश के कई बिजली उत्पादक क्षेत्र पानी की भारी कमी का सामना कर रहे हैं। “इसके अलावा, बिजली संयंत्रों के अपशिष्ट निर्वहन के कारण भारी जल प्रदूषण होता है।” CSE ने कुल कोयला बिजली क्षमता के 154 GW से अधिक का सर्वेक्षण किया और पाया कि मीठे पानी पर आधारित लगभग 50% संयंत्र गैर-अनुपालन कर रहे हैं। इनमें से ज्यादातर प्लांट सरकारी कंपनियों के हैं। सीएसई सर्वेक्षण में पाया गया है कि भारत में पुराने और अक्षम एक बार ठंडा पानी आधारित संयंत्र कूलिंग टावरों को स्थापित किए बिना काम करना जारी रखते हैं। सर्वेक्षण में कहा गया है कि ये संयंत्र न केवल पानी के मानदंडों, बल्कि उत्सर्जन मानदंडों का भी उल्लंघन कर रहे हैं। १९९९ से पहले निर्मित, भारत में सभी वन-थ्रू-आधारित बिजली संयंत्र पुराने और प्रदूषणकारी हैं। इनमें से कई संयंत्रों की सेवानिवृत्ति के लिए पहचान की गई थी, लेकिन वे अभी तक सेवानिवृत्त नहीं हुए हैं। वे उत्सर्जन नियंत्रण उपकरण या कूलिंग टावरों को अपग्रेड या स्थापित करने की कोई योजना नहीं होने के साथ काम करना जारी रखते हैं। “इन पुराने पौधों को पानी को प्रदूषित करने देना एक विकल्प नहीं हो सकता है। सीएसई की औद्योगिक प्रदूषण इकाई की उप कार्यक्रम प्रबंधक सुगंधा अरोड़ा कहती हैं, “अगर उनके पास उत्सर्जन-नियंत्रण प्रौद्योगिकियों और/या कूलिंग टावरों को फिर से लगाने या स्थापित करने की कोई योजना नहीं है, तो सेवानिवृत्ति के लिए पहचाने जाने वाले संयंत्रों को तुरंत बंद कर दिया जाना चाहिए।” सीएसई सर्वेक्षण में विशिष्ट पानी की खपत की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए राज्यों में अपनाए जा रहे स्व-रिपोर्ट किए गए डेटा और डेटा प्रारूपों में कई खामियां भी पाई गई हैं। सीएसई के हाल के अनुमानों के अनुसार, भारत के मौजूदा कोयला बिजली बेड़े का लगभग 48% पानी की कमी वाले जिलों में स्थित है जैसे कि बाड़मेर और बारां में राजस्थान Rajasthan. यादव कहते हैं कि इस क्षेत्र में बड़े पैमाने पर जल पदचिह्न है और इसलिए, इस प्रभाव को कम करने के लिए सभी प्रयास किए जाने चाहिए। “2015 के मानकों के कार्यान्वयन को सुनिश्चित करके और डेटा की सटीक रिपोर्टिंग, पुराने अक्षम एक बार कूलिंग संयंत्रों के माध्यम से और नए संयंत्रों में शून्य निर्वहन को लागू करने से संबंधित चुनौतियों का समाधान करके क्षेत्र की पानी की मांग को कम करने की बहुत बड़ी गुंजाइश है। अगर सख्ती से लागू किया जाता है, तो मानक क्षेत्र की समग्र पानी की खपत को काफी कम कर सकते हैं और भारतीय संयंत्रों को जल-कुशल बना देंगे। .
Even six years after the water consumption norms came into force, the water-guzzling coal power industry is ignoring water regulations and there is a high degree of non-compliance observed in the sector, a new report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says. Counted among the most water-intensive industries in India, the coal power sector is responsible for nearly 70 per cent of the total freshwater withdrawal by all industries in the country. Indian power plants with cooling towers consume twice as much water as their global counterparts, said the report titled 'Water Inefficient Power'. According to the 2015 norms (revised again in 2018), plants installed before January 1, 2017, were required to meet a specific water consumption limit of 3.5 cubic metre of water per MWh; plants installed after January 1, 2017 had to meet the norm of three cubic metre of water per MWh, apart from adopting zero liquid discharge. Additionally, all freshwater-based plants were required to install cooling towers and subsequently achieve the norm of 3.5 cubic metre of water per MWh. All sea water-based plants were exempted from meeting the norms. The deadline to meet the water norms was December 2017 which has already passed. The water norms for coal power plants were introduced in 2015 along with the emission norms. Though emission norms timelines for the sector were revised twice by the Ministry of Coal once in 2017 and recently in 2021, the issue of compliance and implementation of water norms has been completely overlooked, the CSE said in a release. CSE's programme Director for Industrial Pollution Unit, Nivit Kumar Yadav, said, "This is when many power producing regions of the country are facing acute water shortage. Also there is huge water pollution due to the effluent discharge by the power plants." The CSE surveyed more than 154 GW of total coal power capacity and found nearly 50 per cent of the freshwater-based plants to be non-complying. Most of these plants belong to state-owned companies. The largest number of non-complying plants were from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Belonging to MahaGENCO (Maharashtra's power generation company) and UPRVUNL (Uttar Pradesh's power generation company), a majority of these plants are old with inefficient practices which lead to water wastage. The CSE survey has found that old and inefficient once-through cooling water-based plants in India continue to operate without installing cooling towers. These plants are not just flouting water norms but also emission norms, the survey added. Built before 1999, all once-through-based power plants in India are old and polluting. Many of these plants were identified for retirement but have not yet been retired. They continue to operate with no plans to upgrade or install either emission control equipment or cooling towers. "Allowing these older plants to continue to pollute cannot be an option. Plants identified for retirement must be closed down immediately if they have no plans to retrofit or to install emission control technologies and/or cooling towers," said Deputy Programme Manager, Industrial Pollution unit of CSE, Sugandha Arora. As per the CSE's recent estimates, nearly 48 per cent of India's existing coal power fleet is located in water-scarce districts like Nagpur and Chandrapur in Maharashtra; Raichur in Karnataka; Korba in Chhattisgarh; Barmer and Baran in Rajasthan; Khammam and Kothagudem in Telangana; and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. There have been reports of conflicts over water use between industries and local people. "This sector has a massive water footprint and therefore, all efforts must be made to mitigate this impact. There is huge scope of reducing the sector's water demand by ensuring implementation of the 2015 standards and addressing the challenges related to accurate reporting of data, old inefficient once-through cooling plants and
with the worst dust storms in the world At the national level, Pune was ranked 79th in air pollution in 2020-21 according to the Centre for Science and Environment Details at https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/karachi-lahore-delhi-and-more-these-are-the-cities-with-the-worst-dust-storms-in-the-world/slidelist/85676741.cms
Malnutrition in India: कोविड महामारी ने देश में कुपोषण की स्थिति को और चिंताजनक बना दिया है. ग्लोबल हंगर इंडेक्स 2020 की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार भारत 107 देशों की लिस्ट में 94वें नंबर पर है. Malnutrition in India: भारत में कुपोषण अब भी एक गंभीर समस्या बनी हुई है. कोविड महामारी ने भी देश में कुपोषण की स्थिति को और चिंताजनक बना दिया है. ग्लोबल हंगर इंडेक्स 2020 की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार भारत 27.2 के स्कोर के साथ 107 देशों की लिस्ट में 94वें नंबर पर है, जिसे बेहद गंभीर माना जाता है. विश्व स्वास्थ्य संगठन और प्रसिद्ध स्वास्थ्य मैगजीन लांसेट के मुताबिक देश में हर दूसरी महिला खून की कमी की शिकार है. वहीं देश का हर तीसरा बच्चा अविकसित या छोटे कद का है. इसके अलावा भारत का हर चौथा बच्चा कुपोषण का शिकार है. महिला एवं बाल विकास मंत्रालय के अनुसार देश में 9.3 लाख से अधिक 'गंभीर कुपोषित' बच्चों की पहचान की गई है. प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने इस साल स्वतंत्रता दिवस के अवसर पर लाल किले से कुपोषण के इस गंभीर मुद्दे पर बड़ा ऐलान किया था. उन्होंने कहा कि, गरीब परिवारों को सरकारी योजनाओं के जरिए साल 2024 तक विटामिन, आयरन और अन्य पोषक तत्वों से मिश्रित चावल दिया जाने लगेगा. इसका लक्ष्य देश की एक बड़ी आबादी से पोषण की कमी को दूर करना है. देश में 9.3 लाख से अधिक बच्चें गंभीर कुपोषित' मॉनसून सत्र के दौरान देश में कुपोषित बच्चों को लेकर राज्यसभा में महिला एवं बाल विकास मंत्रालय की ओर से अहम जानकारी दी गई. केंद्रीय मंत्री स्मृति ईरानी ने बताया कि ICSD-RRS पोर्टल (30 नवंबर, 2020 तक) के अनुसार, देश में 6 महीने से 6 साल उम्र के बीच के 9.3 लाख से अधिक 'गंभीर कुपोषित' बच्चों की पहचान की गई है. इनमें सबसे खराब स्थिति उत्तर प्रदेश की है जहां 3, 98,359 गंभीर रूप से कुपोषित हैं. इसके बाद बिहार का स्थान है जहां, 2,79,427 बच्चें गंभीर कुपोषण का शिकार हैं. बता दें कि, बिहार और उत्तर प्रदेश में बच्चों की जनसंख्या भी देश में सबसे अधिक है. 2011 के जनगणना के आंकड़ों के अनुसार उत्तर प्रदेश में 0-6 साल के 2.97 करोड़ बच्चे हैं जबकि बिहार में ऐसे बच्चों की संख्या 1.85 करोड़ है. गंभीर कुपोषित बच्चों के लिए जारी किए गए 5,312.7 करोड़ रुपये साथ ही स्मृति ईरानी ने राज्यसभा में जानकारी दी थी, सरकारी योजनाओं के तहत, इन 'गंभीर कुपोषित' बच्चों को पोषक आहार उपलब्ध कराया जाता है. मंत्रालय ने इसके लिए 2017-18 से 2020-21 तक देश के सभी राज्यों और केंद्र शासित प्रदेशों को 5,312.7 करोड़ रुपये की आर्थिक सहायता प्रदान की है. इनमें से 31 मार्च तक 2,985.5 करोड़ रुपये का इस्तेमाल किया गया है. एक अनुमान के अनुसार देश में 5 वर्ष से कम आयु के बच्चों की मृत्यु के मामले में सबसे ज्यादा 68 फीसदी कुपोषण का शिकार होते हैं. कुपोषण के चलते होने वाली बीमारी, मृत्यु और उत्पादकता में कमी से देश को हर साल 7400 करोड़ रुपये का नुकसान होता है. कोविड महामारी ने बनाया कुपोषण की स्थिति को और गंभीर एक्स्पर्ट्स का भी मानना है कि, महामारी के इस दौर में देश में मिड-डे मील में रुकावट और आर्थिक तंगी के चलते कुपोषण की स्थिति और गंभीर बन गई है. Centre for Science and Environment की स्टेट ऑफ इंडियाज एनवायरनमेंट 2021 सालाना रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक, कोविड-19 महामारी के कारण 0 से 14 साल के 37.5 करोड़ भारतीय बच्चों पर लंबे समय तक बुरे असर का साया रहेगा. इन बच्चे को कुपोषण, अशिक्षा और अन्य कई परेशानियों का सामना करना पड़ सकता है. गंभीर कुपोषित बच्चों का राज्यवार आंकड़ा गंभीर कुपोषित बच्चों के मामले में महाराष्ट्र तीसरे नंबर पर है जहां 70,665 बच्चें इस का शिकार हैं. इसके बाद गुजरात (45,749) और छत्तीसगढ़ (37,249) का स्थान आता है. इस लिस्ट में ओडिशा (15,595) छठें, तमिलनाडु (12,489) सातवें, झारखंड (12,059) आठवें, आंध्र प्रदेश (11,201) नवें और तेलंगाना (9045) दसवें स्थान पर मौजूद है. इसके अलावा असम में 7218, कर्नाटक में 6899, केरल में 6188 और राजस्थान में 5732 बच्चें गंभीर कुपोषण का शिकार हैं.