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Cse In News

Billions in welfare kitty, yet India's mining villages stay buried in poverty

India has the world's fourth largest coal reserves and is its fourth-biggest producer of iron ore, the key material in steel-making "The objectives are very clear and the focus is on the people," he said, noting that at least 60 per cent of the funds must be spent on improving local lives. A 2018 status report on the DMFs by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environme... Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/national/billions-in-welfare-kitty-yet-indias-mining-villages-stay-buried-in-poverty-1035008.html

Delhi Master Plan 2041: Are we missing the bus on transport systems?

Integrated public transport is the weakest link of this development plan. The Delhi Development Authority has published draft development plan 2041 for suggestions and objections. By 2030, the Delhi urban region is expected to become the largest metropolitan region in the world with a projected population of 39 million residents. The National Capital Territory of Delhi is infamous for many aspects, and unfortunately not for the right reasons: air pollution with vehicular emissions contributing 39% (PM2.5) of the total pollution in the city, the highest number of road crash deaths in the country, unsafe public spaces and transport for women and girls. Delhi’s development plan, which will shape the city’s growth for the next two decades, bears the responsibility of not only catching up, but also setting the tone for the rest of the country and other megapoli globally. While there are no precedents to follow, Delhi will either become an example to follow or avoid. Streets and public transport systems are not only a city’s backbone but its most visible form of urban governance and can demonstrate commitment to equitable low-carbon pathways. There are some progressive attempts at improving non-motorised transport in the city. However, the disconnect between the baseline studies on transport and proposals, lack of analysis of public transport ridership and patterns, specific outcome and output targets, implementation timelines and responsible agencies endangers its vision and threatens to make the plan a paper-based exercise. We will dive a little deeper into different modes of transport (see graphic below) and governance. Non-motorised transport As per the baseline studies, 42% of all trips in Delhi are by walking (35%) and cycling (7%). Average walking trips are 1.6 km, while cycling trips are 3.6 km. The plan recommends that “concerned agencies” shall create active travel plans to promote walking and cycling. The proposed street design guidelines also incorporate road safety for pedestrians. Given the fragmented institutional structure of Delhi, with more than a dozen road-owning agencies, it is unclear who would take the responsibility of preparing these active travel plans. The Delhi Development Authority should take the responsibility for delineating and publishing city-level network plans, which individual road-owning agencies can detail out subsequently. It is important that these are published as part of the development plan so that they have statutory backing and civil society can hold individual agencies accountable. The Delhi Development Authority should publish a city-level cycling network plan, a pedestrian infrastructure priority plan that includes metro-rail, frequent bus-transport corridors and their influence zones. Additionally, it should publish a plan that identifies traffic-calmed zones to create safer streets for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. These could be areas within a five-minute walking distance of city and regional nodes such as railway and metro-rail stations, bus terminals, inter-state bus terminals, university campuses, district and community centres, and primary, secondary schools, hospitals which attract children, care givers and youth who are some of the most vulnerable road users. Finally, the street design guidelines of the Delhi Development Authority’s Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure Centre should be updated to specifically include women’s safety and diversity in public spaces. Integrated public transport is the weakest link of this development plan. The baseline studies argue that the fares of airconditioned buses and metro-rail systems are comparable and that we may expect a modal shift to metro-rail in the future. Simultaneously, it states that first- and last-mile connectivity trips to bus stops are by e-rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, two-wheelers and cycle rickshaws. Individuals calculate the cost and ease of a door-to-door journey that would necessitate planning for an integrated public transport journey. Further, research has indicated that walking constitutes 87% of all first- and last-mile trips to bus stops in Delhi, and 93% for informal women workers. Transportation affordability usually refers to the ability of households to purchase mobility for their basic needs like education, work, shopping, healthcare. A report by the Centre for Science and Environment presents different measures of transport affordability: there is an affordability problem with public transport when more than 10% if households spend more than 15% of their income on work-related trips. The South African government established less than 10% of income as a policy benchmark in its 1996 White Paper on Transport Policy. The baseline studies report that the per capita income in Delhi is Rs 25,260 per month. Our research among informal women workers revealed that 37% of their households earned less than Rs 10,000 per month with an average monthly household income of Rs 12,135. We calculated the cost of using different modes of public transport (non-AC buses, AC buses, Phase-I and Phase-II metro-rail stations), with the following assumptions: 52 (work) trips per month per household (assuming two trips per day for 26 days), no transfers, average travel distance of 10.90 km as per the baseline studies, 3.60 km as the average distance for e-rickshaws and 5 km as the average distance for autorickshaws is 5 km. Our analysis shows that only non-AC buses, AC buses and Phase-I metro-rail stations with walking as the first and last mile are affordable for households with a monthly household income of Rs 12,135. Further, the use of any mode of public transport with first- and last-mile connectivity by paratransit such as autorickshaws and shared e-rickshaws is unaffordable to households earning Rs 25,260 per month. The cost of travelling by a two-wheeler is cheaper than traveling by the Phase I and Phase II metro-rail stations with paratransit. There are around 3,200 bus stops in Delhi, as compared to 500 existing and proposed metro-rail stations, providing connectivity and access to different parts of Delhi. Therefore, it is imperative that the development plan aim to augment the bus fleet in Delhi to achieve 60-70 buses per million residents, amounting to 18,000-21,000 buses in Delhi by 2041. This will also need to consider augmenting and replenishing the fleet every seven-10 years. Further, bold action will be required to reorganise paratransit to enable fare integration, consider a hybrid of distance-based and flat-fare systems to ensure affordability of public transport services, and increase parking fees along public transport corridors and their influence zones to disincentivise the use of personal motor vehicles. Spatial planning While the plan provides norms and allocation of different amenities, there are no guidelines on their spatial location. Land-use and transport integration should not remain restricted to mass rapid transit. The plan must include guidelines to ensure that amenities accessed on a daily basis (such as markets, primary schools) are within walking distance whereas city and regional amenities (such as hospitals, city-level public open spaces) are within walking distance of frequent public transport Lastly, the development plan of Delhi needs to adopt bold targets to ensure connectivity, access and equity, identify responsible agencies and set implementation target years. The targets should ensure that at least 90% of the residents, all new affordable and economically weaker section housing have access to frequent bus-based public transport within five minutes walking distance. The plan should also create a sustainable urban mobility plan linking future scenarios to greenhouse gas emissions with the goal of achieving net zero targets by 2050. The National Capital Region is at a historical juncture, where it can become a model for other urban regions to follow or continue to attract attention for all the wrong reasons.

Freeing up: 9 sites picked in south Delhi to park heavy vehicles at night

NEW DELHI: South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has identified nine sites for parking of commercial vehicles at night. The move is aimed at avoiding congestion on main roads in south Delhi areas due to haphazard parking of heavy vehicles. These on-street parking sites are located at prominent stretches near commercial or residential areas. To get the traffic police’s permission, SDMC officials held a meeting with the joint CP, traffic police on Friday, said officials. Since the new parking policy notified by Delhi government stresses on renewal of commercial vehicles’ registration every year only when there is proof of parking, this facility will be required for such vehicles. The civic body can issue parking certificates/NoC that can be utilised by the owner for the registration renewal in future,” said Prem Shankar Jha, deputy commissioner, remunerative and project cell, SDMC. “The traffic police have told us that the matter will be looked into and a reply will be given soon,” said a south corporation official. The civic body aims to charge a minimum of Rs 9,900 per month as parking fee from commercial vehicles and the rate will increase depending upon the size of commercial vehicles. “So far, we have identified space for parking of 134 buses and trucks. More such parking sites will be identified in future,” said the official. Residents of different areas, including Alaknanda and Nivedita Kunj (RK Puram), have been frequently complaining about inconveniences caused to them due to parking of commercial vehicles, such as buses, tempos, trolleys and trucks, on the main roads during night hours. “The project sites after getting finalised will be given to parking contractors. They will install CCTV cameras and make other arrangements for safety purposes,” said the official. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, however, said that the term, “commercial vehicles”, was wide and covered many kinds of vehicles, including e-vehicles. It is important to earmark sites for all of these after understanding their requirements and doing proper demarcation. “There are taxi aggregators who need space to park their cars at night. Then we have tempos also, which will need space for loading and unloading. Since all these vehicles will be covered under the Delhi Parking Policy as well as electrical vehicle policy, keeping all factors in mind before finalising sites is very important. Provision for charging stations also needs to be looked into,” she said. The south corporation presently has 140 surface parking lots for non-commercial vehicles and of them, 113 are fully operational. Besides, there are six operational underground multi-level and two stack parking lots.

Do floating solar panels work better?

Experts point out that there are several advantages of floating solar power plants. The most important is that there is no requirement of land. But these are costlier than traditionalsolar panels, writes Deepanwita Gita Niyogi Floating solar plants, also called floatovoltaics, are the newest craze in India. The Jharkhand government has approved a 100 MW floating solar plant in Getalsud dam near Ranchi. Another plant having a similar capacity is expected to become operational in the reservoir of Ramagundam thermal power plant in Telangana’s Peddapalli district. It is being developed by the NTPC. The company has also commissioned a 10 MW floating solar plant at Simhadri, Andhra Pradesh, and additional 250 MW floating solar projects, including the one at Ramagundam. Experts point out there are several advantages of floating solar power plants, one being that there is no requirement of land. But these are costlier than traditional solar panels and are large-scale in scope and maintenance. For, the Ramagundam project, the capital expenditure is 450 crore. According to the NTPC, the cost is almost at par with a ground mounted solar project. Why go for floating panels? Samrat Sengupta, director, climate change and renewable energy, at the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said floating solar panels are costly as the racking system needs to have a high corrosion resistance, good load capacity and a long life span for holding the panels in water for more than 25 years. Manu Maudgal, power lead at the Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, a non-profit based in New Delhi, explained that the challenge lies in engineering such modules which are able to handle water and wind corrosion as well as operational maintenance like anchoring and mooring. But there are benefits too. The most obvious advantage is no loss of land space. “The return on investment of floating solar installations is also higher than ground mounted ones. They yield five to seven percent better output than ground ones due to the natural cooling of the panels, resulting in decreased temperatures and higher efficiency,” Sengupta added. Explaining the land issue further, Maudgal said that in a country like India, grid-scale photovoltaic solar farms are located in areas where land is either cheaper or available on a contiguous basis. The more we come closer to human habitations, cheap and large parcels of land are, however, difficult to get. Many of India’s reservoirs, lakes and irrigation canals are suitable for floating solar panels. “To make it attractive, the floating photovoltaic potential in India has been assessed to be close to 300 GW. This potential is estimated assuming only 25-30 percent coverage of the water surface and not 100 percent,” Maudgal pointed out. Talking of canals, Chhattisgarh is trying to work something out in this direction. Sanjeev Jain, chief engineer at the Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency under the state government’s department of energy informed that there has been a revision in the state’s solar policy. A proposal has been passed for expansion from the current 700 MW to 2000 MW by 2022. “We are targeting solar as for wind power development, there is not much exploitable potential in Chhattisgarh,” Jain said. He added that the state is exploring the possibility of setting up floating solar plants on canals banks and canal tops. In this regard, the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will analyse the potential for which a proposal has been submitted. In Chhattisgarh, canals come under the water resources department of the state government. Centralised Vs decentralised The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy wants to promote decentralised solar plants to make affordable power available in rural areas. In an office memorandum dated December 13, 2019, it enumerated guidelines for the development of decentralised solar power plants in India. Jain added that floating panels work best for discoms or utility grids whereas mini and micro grids serve rural communities better. Decentralised off grid is always a better option for energy storage and security. He said a lot of renewable energy work is going on in the rural sector in Chhattisgarh. Solar mini and micro grids are being maintained for rural electrification for the past 15 years. But Maudgal said utility-scale floating photovoltaics or FPVs, which generate solar power and feed into grids, would gain more traction as compared to distributed ones due to the initial engineering and operational maintenance issues. FPVs are relatively new in India and also globally. Potential new applications for FPVs closer to communities are being considered such as tanks and ponds. However, such applications face challenges like ownership, obtaining clearances and reliable data availability. That is the reason usually man-made reservoirs and water bodies are the first choice, Maudgal informed. Since not more than 30 percent of the water surface is covered by FPVs, their environmental impacts are also being speculated. More study is required, Maudgal said. “One thing is clear. As water evaporation from water bodies is to the tune of 30 percent, FPVs can reduce that to an extent, thus making water available for other uses.” But apprehensions exist that FPVs can trigger a chain of reaction in water bodies, harm aquatic life and lead to a shift in the ecology like the food chain. Other negative socio-economic impacts could be effects on tourism, fishing and navigation, Maudgal added. Meanwhile, the NTPC is studying the feasibility of installing floating solar panels in the water bodies of its other thermal power stations. It has also signed an MOU with the Damodar Valley Corporation to set up floating solar projects in its reservoirs and pursuing states to allocate water bodies for more such projects.

9 sites picked in south Delhi to park heavy vehicles at night

These on-street parking sites are located at prominent stretches near commercial or residential areas. To get the traffic police’s permission, SDMC officials held a meeting with the joint CP, traffic police on Friday, said officials. South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has identified nine sites for parking of commercial vehicles at night. The move is aimed at avoiding congestion on main roads in south Delhi areas due to haphazard parking of heavy vehicles. These on-street parking sites are located at prominent stretches near commercial or residential areas. To get the traffic police’s permission, SDMC officials held a meeting with the joint CP, traffic police on Friday, said officials. “Since the new parking policy notified by Delhi government stresses on renewal of commercial vehicles’ registration every year only when there is proof of parking, this facility will be required for such vehicles. The civic body can issue parking certificates/NoC that can be utilised by the owner for the registration renewal in future,” said Prem Shankar Jha, deputy commissioner, remunerative and project cell, SDMC. “The traffic police have told us that the matter will be looked into and a reply will be given soon,” said a south corporation official. The civic body aims to charge a minimum of Rs 9,900 per month as parking fee from commercial vehicles and the rate will increase depending upon the size of commercial vehicles. “So far, we have identified space for parking of 134 buses and trucks. More such parking sites will be identified in future,” said the official. Residents of different areas, including Alaknanda and Nivedita Kunj (RK Puram), have been frequently complaining about inconveniences caused to them due to parking of commercial vehicles, such as buses, tempos, trolleys and trucks, on the main roads during night hours. “The project sites after getting finalised will be given to parking contractors. They will install CCTV cameras and make other arrangements for safety purposes,” said the official. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, however, said that the term, “commercial vehicles”, was wide and covered many kinds of vehicles, including e-vehicles. It is important to earmark sites for all of these after understanding their requirements and doing proper demarcation. “There are taxi aggregators who need space to park their cars at night. Then we have tempos also, which will need space for loading and unloading. Since all these vehicles will be covered under the Delhi Parking Policy as well as electrical vehicle policy, keeping all factors in mind before finalising sites is very important. Provision for charging stations also needs to be looked into,” she said. The south corporation presently has 140 surface parking lots for non-commercial vehicles and of them, 113 are fully operational. Besides, there are six operational underground multi-level and two stack parking lots.

मल प्रबंधन से संबंधित क्विज में असलम को चौथा स्थान

जागरण संवाददाता, मैथन(धनबाद): ग्रामीण इलाके में मल-कीचड़ प्रबंधन विषय पर अफ्रीका-साउथ एशिया आनलाइन कानक्लेव एंड ट्रेनिग का आयोजन किया गया था। सेंटर फार साइंस एंड इंवायरमेंट नई दिल्ली की ओर से इसका आयोजन पिछले दिनों किया गया था। समय पर दिए गए कार्यो को पूरा करने में धनबाद के असलम हुसैन चौथे स्थान पर रहे। प्रशिक्षण में भारत के अलावा बांग्लादेश, फिजी, साउथ अफ्रीका, इंडोनेशिया, युगांडा, घाना सहित करीब 25 देशों के सौ प्रतिभागियों ने हिस्सा लिया था। सभी प्रतिभागी अपने-अपने देश में पेयजल एवं स्वच्छता के मुद्दे पर काम कर रहे हैं । प्रशिक्षण के दौरान सीएसई की डायरेक्टर जनरल सुनीता नारायण, इंवायरनमेंटल हेल्थ सैनिटेशन एंड हाइजीन सेक्शन मिनिस्ट्री आफ हेल्थ, कम्युनिटी डेवलपमेंट तंजानिया के असिस्टेंट डायरेक्टर खलिद मस्सा, यूनिसेफ के वाटर सैनिटेशन एंड हाइजीन विशेषज्ञ सुजोय मजूमदार, मलेशिया के इंटरनेशनल एफएसएम कंसल्टेंट दोराई नारायण ने आनलाइन मल कीचड़ प्रबंधन की जानकारी दी। ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में आसान व उपयोगी शौचालय निर्माण की तकनीक, शौचालय तक पानी की पहुंच पर विस्तार से जानकारी दी गई। क्विज प्रतियोगिता में चौथे स्थान पर रहे असलम हुसैन ने बताया कि प्रशिक्षण के साथ-साथ उसी विषय पर क्विज का भी आयोजन होता था। इसमें सर्वश्रेष्ठ पांच को चुना गया। असलम चौथे स्थान पर रहे। सभी विजेता प्रतिभागियों को सेंटर फार साइंस एंड इंवायरनमेंट की ओर से प्रकाशित पत्रिका डाउन टु अर्थ का एक साल के लिए सब्सक्रिप्शन दिया जाएगा। पेयजल एवं स्वच्छता प्रमंडल एक के कार्य पालक अभियंता मनीष कुमार ने इस उपलब्धि पर असलम हुसैन को बधाई दी है। कहा कि इससे शौचालय निर्माण में सहुलियत होगी।

New EPR regulations for plastic packaging industry soon

New Delhi: The packaging industry utilising plastic in any form will soon witness a totally new chapter with the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&amp;CC) set to bring in a new regulation that will focus on the extended producer's responsibility (EPR). "This will change the manner in which all kinds of recycling is done. This will also bring in a lot of accountability," said an official from the MoEF&amp;CC. The MoEF&amp;CC had also been fighting a case in the National Green Tribunal that had insisted on enforcing EPR guidelines. A background paper on the management of plastic waste in India by the Centre for Science &amp; Environment (CSE) in 2020 had said, a global material balance study on plastics pointed out that 79 per cent of the total plastics produced in the world enters our environment as waste. <p>Extended producer's responsibility (EPR) means that the producer is responsible for the product till its very end of life and has to ensure reverse collection after the consumer has deemed it as waste.</p>

Armed with microbes, India prepares to fight season of deadly farm fires

A proprietary microbial solution developed by the state-run Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), known as Pusa decomposer, is the best bet yet to prevent fires set by farmers to millions of acres of crop residue after summer paddy harvests, experts say Northern India, including Delhi, is bracing for an annual spell of notorious winter smog caused by agricultural fires, but authorities say they are ready to put up a novel fight, armed with a liquid concoction swarming with microbes. A proprietary microbial solution developed by the state-run Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), known as Pusa decomposer, is the best bet yet to prevent fires set by farmers to millions of acres of crop residue after summer paddy harvests, experts say. Farmers are reluctant to use machines to clear rice stalks because it pushes up post-harvest costs by 11-12%, Hukum Singh, a rice-grower in Haryana said. Last year, the Delhi government devised an elaborate plan to distribute several hundreds of litres of the solution to farmers within its territory. Official results reported to a top anti-pollution commission showed the solution was “effective”. The Delhi government is preparing to treat at least 4,000 acres of crop residue this year too. On Monday, the Delhi government’s environment minister Gopal Rai announced it would start spraying the decomposer from October 5 to prevent stubble burning. Farmers across Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh typically harvest paddy in October and then set their fields on fire to clear rice stalks for the next crop. The burning of crop residue in more than seven million hectares has emerged as a deadly cause of winter pollution, resulting in weeks-long smog in New Delhi during October and November. The fires are so widespread that they are visible from space. Westerly winds carry the smoke from burning fields towards the national capital. Air pollution in Delhi typically spikes to alarming levels, breaching the “severe” level. Air pollution kills up to an estimated 30,000 people in Delhi annually, according to a 2015 report of New Delhi’s Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Burning paddy straw has emerged as a big problem in the past two to three decades as farmers have shifted to mechanized combine harvesters, which cut the grainy part of a rice plant, leaving the stalk intact. A special mix of microbes in the decomposer developed by the IARI gorges on any kind of organic biomass. In the process, it turns rice stubble into fluffy manure. “The technology has been given to several agritech firms, which will distribute it to farmers in these northern states free,” said YV Singh, IARI’s principal scientist of microbiology. Yet, this is a modest beginning. Authorities in Punjab are preparing to use decomposer technology in about 700,000 acres to begin with, while officials have identified another 600,000 acres in Uttar Pradesh, Singh, the top IARI scientist, said. About 100,000 acres in Haryana have been targeted too. Private firms see a big potential and are harnessing big data and artificial intelligence to bring efficiency in using the decomposer under technology-sharing deals. Nurture.farm, a Bangalore-based agritech firm, is targeting 500,000 acres in Punjab and Haryana through its platform. The company says its platform has the potential to reach 1 million farmers. “We are using satellite mapping to identify farms where crop burning has been carried out. Using a shared-economy platform, we are spraying farms with the decomposer for free,” said Dhruv Sawhney, the business head of nurture.farm. For now, the cost of production of the decomposer, which is a bioenzyme, is ₹35 per acre, which is “nominal”, said Sawhney. The decomposer comes in the form of capsules that contain an activated package of eight strains of fungi, Singh said. To prepare a solution of 25 litres, farmers need to add 5 capsules of the decomposer, along with jaggery and checkpea flour, to water. Within a week, a good layer of fungi admixture is formed. To decompose paddy stubble in one hectare, farmers need to spray 25 litres of this solution.

Commercial vehicles entering Delhi without RFID tags could lose their permits

Implemented at the toll plazas in 2019, the RFID technology allows for automatic toll deduction. Commercial vehicles entering Delhi without RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags could lose their permits, with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) requesting transport departments of respective states to take action against violators under the Motor Vehicles Act. SDMC Mayor Mukesh Suryan said notices have been issued to as many as 966 vehicles from several states including Delhi, Haryana, UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Madhya Pradesh for not purchasing RFID tags – which is mandatory to enter the city via toll plazas. Transport departments of these states have been requested to cancel permits of such erring vehicles, he said. Implemented at the toll plazas in 2019, the RFID technology allows for automatic toll deduction. Commercial vehicles entering Delhi have to pay a green cess or environment compensation charge (ECC) between Rs 700 and Rs 1,400, and toll between Rs 100 and Rs 2,000, depending on the vehicles’ size and category. A senior official of the South MCD said the corporation has given a long rope to commercial vehicles to switch to RFID but will resort to strict measures if they continue to not follow guidelines. Over the past two weeks, the corporation has also been issuing challans of Rs 500 against vehicles that haven’t paid toll tax using RFID tags. The action was taken after the corporation had from August 31, made it mandatory for all commercial vehicles to enter Delhi on payment of toll tax/ECC through RFID system only. RFID tags can be obtained and recharged at 39 point of sale systems set up at city borders. The tags can also be recharged online on the SDMC website (www.ecctagssdmc.com) and MCD-Toll mobile app. Around 6 lakh vehicles enter the capital every day. Members of the erstwhile Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA), Sunita Narain and Bhure Lal, had earlier said the expansion of the RFID system was one of the key projects that needed to be expedited. RFID, if implemented well, helps at three levels: reducing pollution by minimising congestion at toll booths due to manual collection; minimising corruption as human interference will be less; and stopping polluting or old diesel vehicles older than 10 years.

Pollution in Delhi: WHO के प्रदूषण मानकों के लिए 'दिल्ली अभी दूर', PM 2.5 का औसत स्तर 2020 में 17 गुना ज्यादा रहा

नई दिल्ली: प्रदूषण से निपटने के लिए डब्ल्यूएचओ ने 2005 के बाद अपने मानकों को अधिक सख्त बनाया गया है। हालांकि एक्सपर्ट के अनुसार इन मानकों पर खरा उतरने के लिए राजधानी दिल्ली को लंबा सफर तय करना होगा। अभी तो राजधानी राष्ट्रीय मानकों के करीब भी नहीं पहुंच पा रही है। डब्ल्यूएचओ के नए मानकों से तुलना करें तो राजधानी में पीएम 2.5 का औसत स्तर 2020 में 17 गुना अधिक रहा है। ग्रीन पीस के सीनियर क्लाइमेट कैंपेनर अविनाश चंचल ने बताया कि डब्ल्यूएचओ की नई गाइडलाइंस से यह साफ हो गया है कि प्रदूषण के लिए कोई सेफ स्तर नहीं है। यह इस ओर भी इशारा है कि प्रदूषण के राष्ट्रीय मानक नाकाफी हैं और इनमें भी संशोधन की जरूरत है। सेंटर फॉर रिसर्च एंड एनर्जी एंड क्लीन एयर के एनालिस्ट सुनील दहिया के अनुसार भारत में राष्ट्रीय मानक 2009 में संशोधित किए गए थे। लेकिन अच्छी बात यह है कि देश में इन स्टैंडर्ड को रिवाइज करने का काम शुरू हो चुका है। सीएसई की एग्जीक्यूटिव डायरेक्टर अनुमिता राय चौधरी के अनुसार दिल्ली जैसे शहर में डब्ल्यूएचओ के नए मानकों को पूरा करना बहुत अधिक मुश्किल रहने वाला है। दिल्ली अभी राष्ट्रीय मानकों से ही काफी दूर है। जबकि इसके लिए पिछले तीन से चार सालों के दौरान काफी प्रयास किए गए हैं। लॉकडाउन के दौरान जब सभी कमर्शल गतिविधिया बंद थीं तब दिल्ली नैशनल स्टेंडर्ड के कुछ करीब पहुंच गई थी। पब्लिक हेल्थ फाउंडेशन ऑफ इंडिया के सेंटर फॉर एनवायरनमेंटल हेल्थ उपनिदेशक डॉ पूर्णिमा प्रभाकरण के अनुसार भारत में मानक काफी ढीले हैं। राजधानी में डब्ल्यूएचओ के नए मानकों के करीब पहुंचने में अभी काफी लंबा समय लग सकता है। लंग केयर फाउंडेशन के संस्थापक और चेस्ट ऑनको सर्जरी एंड लंग ट्रांसप्लांटेशन के अध्यक्ष डॉ अरविंद कुमार के अनुसार मरीजों पर वायु प्रदूषण के दुष्प्रभाव साफ दिखाई दे रहे हैं, यह आपात स्थिति है। आईआईटी कानपुर के प्रफेसर और नेशनल क्लीन एयर प्रोग्राम की स्टीयरिंग कमिटी के सदस्य प्रफेसर एस एन त्रिपाठी के अनुसार राजधानी दुनिया के सबसे प्रदूषित शहरों में शामिल है। डब्ल्यूएचओ के नए दिशानिर्देश ने इन मुद्दों को फिर से केंद्र में ला दिया है। अब इसके लिए पूरी जिम्मेदारी से काम करने की जरूरत है।

Experts welcome stricter air quality norms

The stricter air quality standards issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday are a welcome move but it will be challenging for Delhi to achieve the new limits, experts and officials said. “The new norms will put more pressure on the government to form policies to achieve stricter standards of air pollution. But achieving the new standards is going to be challenging,” said an official of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee. The WHO, in the first update of its air quality guidelines in 15 years, has tightened global air pollution standards in recognition of emerging science that the impact of air pollution on health is much more serious than earlier envisaged. For instance, the upper limit of annual PM2.5 (particulate matter) as per the 2005 standards, which is what countries now follow, is 10 microgram per cubic metre. That has now been revised to five microgram per cubic metre. Anumita Roychowdhury, head of Clean Air Programme at the Centre for Science and Environment, said the WHO’s air quality norms are not legally binding on countries, but rather a general guide for what nations should set as goals. “The Central Pollution Control Board is expected to revise the national ambient air quality standards soon and the new WHO guidelines need to be the reference point for developing appropriate intermediate targets for India,” she said. For Delhi and large parts of north India, it will be difficult to achieve these new guidelines, but the WHO has proposed a step-by-step approach through progressive tightening of intermediate standards, she added. “During the lockdown, air pollution halved in Delhi when local pollution and regional influence could be minimised. Even then we were not near the WHO guidelines. In 2020, the annual average level of PM2.5 in Delhi was 98 micrograms per cubic metre, against the national standard of 40. The WHO is asking for annual average of 5 micrograms per cubic metre. This bears out the scale and speed with which we need to push action in Delhi and across the regions to meet our own standards first,” the expert said. She said that it is not clear why the WHO has increased the bar for SO2 levels from 20 to 40 ug/m3.

Indian cities may struggle to meet new WHO pollution standards, experts say

The WHO has tightened its air pollution guidelines bringing down the annual PM 2.5 guideline from 10 micrograms per cubic metres to 5 micrograms per cubic metres and the 24-hour PM 2.5 limit from 25 micrograms per cubic metres to 15 micrograms per cubic metres The revised pollution guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO), tightening the acceptable levels of pollutants might be a difficult feat to achieve for Indian cities, considering geographical and meteorological factors, but it draws attention to the high level of exposure to hazardous particles and gases that residents in Delhi face,environment and health experts said on Wednesday. They added that with Covid-19 pandemic posing a public health hazard, the agencies should intensify action to combat air pollution. The World Health Organization has tightened its air quality guidelines bringing down the annual PM 2.5 (respirable pollution particles) guideline from 10 micrograms per cubic metres to 5 micrograms per cubic metres and the 24-hour PM 2.5 limit from 25 micrograms per cubic metres to 15 micrograms per cubic metres. It has also tightened norms for five other pollutants based on recent evidence of health impacts associated with them, a WHO report released on Wednesday, said. Experts said the new levels show how even the slightest increase in pollution levels in a city can impact the health of its residents, especially the vulnerable sections. By reducing the ambient levels of PM2.5 (particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres) and PM10 (particulate matter with diameter less than 10 micrometres) under the new air quality guidelines, WHO has re-emphasised the need for putting in more efforts to control particulate matter concentration in air. Though it would be a huge challenge to achieve those levels, but it should be taken as a wake-up call. Efforts by all stakeholders needs to be intensified in order to control pollution levels,” said Dr Arun Sharma, director, National Institute for Implementation Research of Non-Communicable Diseases, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Releasing its revised air quality guidelines, the WHO in a statement highlighted that in recent years several studies have established how even a slight increase in pollution levels in a region can adversely impact the health of its residents. A 2013 assessment by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) highlighted that outdoor air pollution is carcinogenic to humans, with the particulate matter component of air pollution most closely associated with increased cancer incidence, especially lung cancer. An association also has been observed between outdoor air pollution and an increase in cancer of the urinary tract, the 2013 report said. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment, said that while it might be tough to conform to the new WHO guidelines for a city like Delhi, where even the baseline pollution levels are just short of meeting the national annual standards of 40ug/m3, it is important to scale up action to reduce pollution levels as much as possible. “What we saw during the Covid-19 lockdown, when all pollution sources in the city were shut, there was a reduction of 40-45% in pollution levels. This was a little close to our own pollution standards. While the WHO standards are tough to meet but we need to come up with tighter and stricter action plans for pollution management. Action should not just be localised, we need regional action plans as well,” Roychowdhury said. Delhi, because of its landlocked geography and its weather conditions, faces a year-long pollution problem that reaches emergency levels every winter. Delhi’s baseline pollution study, the minimum pollution when major polluting sources are shut, which was conducted by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) during the Covid-19 pandemic last year shows that the baseline levels of PM10 and PM2.5 were found to be 38ug/m3 (+/- 8) and 22ug/m3 (+/- 6) respectively. The baseline value of NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) was found to be 8 parts per billion (+/- 3), which is also considered to be very high. Dr Arvind Kumar, founder, Lung Care Foundation and chairperson of Institute of Chest Surgery (chest onco-surgery and lung transplantation), said all possible efforts should be made to resolve the crisis. “As doctors, we see the effects of air pollution on people every day. This is a public health emergency, impacting the lives of people but its worst impacts are seen in South Asian countries like India. For the sake of our future generations, we need to commit to doing anything and everything it takes to solve this crisis,” he said.

WHO tightens air quality norms over health hazard

India released its National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in January 2019. NCAP does not have a legal mandate but aims to achieve a 20% to 30% reduction in PM 2.5 concentrations over 2017 annual levels in over a hundred cities by 2024. Harms from air pollution begin at much lower levels than previously thought, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday as it lowered acceptable thresholds for several pollutants, including ultrafine PM2.5 particles that India has typically struggled to contain. According to the new thresholds, the average 24-hour exposure to PM2.5 must remain below 15µg/m³, down from 25µg/m³. In case of PM10 particles – typical dust particles – the safe threshold has been lowered from 50 to 45µg/m³. In terms of exposure over a year-long period, the threshold for PM2.5 has been brought down from 10 to 5µg/m³ and for PM10, from 20 to 15µg/m³. In comparison, India’s thresholds are many folds higher. According to the 2009 National Ambient Air Quality Standards still in force, the acceptable PM2.5 exposure limit over 24 hours is 60µg/m³ (four times the new WHO limit) and for exposure over a year-long period, 40µg/m³ (eight times the revised WHO threshold) Since 2005 when WHO last set air pollutant thresholds, “a substantial new body of evidence has accumulated, further demonstrating the degree to which air pollution affects all parts of the body from the brain to a growing baby in a mother’s womb at even lower concentrations than previously observed,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference. “Air pollution is a threat to health in all countries, but it hits people in low- and middle-income countries the hardest,” he added, urging governments and experts to make use of the new yardsticks in their fight against air pollution. In India, officials said they will study the WHO’s new guidance for further steps. “There is no plan to revise our national air quality standards immediately. We have, however, started a study to look at what changes need to be made to the air quality standards based on health impacts,” a senior health ministry official said, asking not to be named. “We are aware of the recent studies on health impacts of air pollution. The study will take at least a year to be completed and then a proposal will be made to tighten the standards in India. We will respond to the revised WHO air quality guidelines after going through the report,” this person added. There are 132 cities in India that do not meet the national air quality standard for particulate matter according to data with the environment ministry. A team of scientists from across the world conducted a meta-analysis of over 500 epidemiological studies available on health impact of air pollution to revise the WHO guidelines. For the first time, studies from India and South Asia were also included, according to Kalpana Balakrishnan, the director of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s Centre for Advanced Research on Air Quality, Climate and Health, and a member of the WHO technical team which developed the new guidelines. “The guidelines had to be revised because it has been 16 years since the previous ones came. Over 500 epidemiological studies were considered by us, which includes both long-term and short-term effects. For the first time, 19-20 studies from South Asia, including 3-4 from India, were considered. The WHO guidelines are basically values, backed by unequivocal epidemiological evidence, at which highest health benefits can be achieved,” said Balakirishnan. HIGH DISEASE BURDEN’ The new WHO guidance estimates that exposure to even lower concentrations of ambient and household air pollution can cause diseases including lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke, resulting in 7 million premature deaths each year. “This puts the burden of disease attributable to air pollution on a par with other major global health risks such as unhealthy diet and tobacco smoking,” the agency said. The guidelines also give interim targets for countries to pursue to meet the WHO guideline. For PM 2.5 the first annual interim target is 35µg/m³ followed by 25, 15 and 10 µg/m³. “We have to understand that the health burden of air pollution in India is massive. Over 1 million premature deaths are linked to air pollution here. The interim targets that there is benefit even in achieving 35µg/m³ annually. Our annual standard is 40µg/m³. So instead of taking up a large task of revising standards, let’s first try to meet the standards. We of course have to be mindful of the main WHO guideline. Cities or regions that first meet the national standard can look at meeting the interim targets and WHO guideline,” explained Balakrishnan. Central Pollution Control Board’s National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) data indicates that the annual average PM2.5 levels in Delhi last year ranged from 114-145µg/m³ in three stations considered by CPCB. Thus, Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution was at least 22 times higher than the new WHO guideline in 2020. NAMP data also indicates large parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plains region, including several cities in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, had very high concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10. The State of Global Air (SOGA 2020) estimated that over 116,000 infants in India died within a month after their birth due to exposure to severe air pollution in 2019. The report by US-based Health Effects Institute and Global Burden of Disease said that India had the highest burden of infant deaths due to air pollution followed by Nigeria (67,900), Pakistan (56,500), Ethiopia (22,900), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (1,200). Despite some improvements in air quality, the global toll in deaths and lost years of healthy life has barely declined since the 1990s. While air quality has markedly improved in high-income countries over this period, it has generally deteriorated in most low- and middle-income countries, in step with large-scale urbanization and economic development, the executive summary of WHO Air Quality Guidelines 2021 said. These guidelines are not legally binding on countries, but are meant to provide guidance to help reduce levels of air pollution in order to decrease the health burden, the summary said. “Only evidence assessed as having high or moderate certainty of an association between a pollutant and a specific health outcome was used to define the recommended AQG levels,” the report added. These guidelines do not include recommendations about pollutant mixtures or the combined effects of pollutant exposures. In everyday life, people are exposed to a mixture of air pollutants that varies in space and time. “The WHO Air Quality Guidelines were last updated in 2005, and since then, the body of evidence on the health effects of air pollution has grown substantially. In 2019, air pollution was responsible for more than 1 in 9 deaths globally. Development of these new guidelines was led by an international expert group, and the team considered all available global evidence on this topic,” said Pallavi Pant, senior scientist at the US based Health Effects Institute. “Air pollution has been linked with lung and heart diseases as well as cancer, diabetes and serious health risks for newborns. As India continues the implementation of the national clean air programme (NCAP) and revises its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), it will be important to align with the WHO Air Quality Guidelines, including the interim targets for various air pollutants, and identify and implement policies that will help bring clean air to all,” Pant added. “India has aligned with the WHO when it comes to CO and 8 hour standard for Ozone (O3). What WHO is trying to tell us is that there can be a steep rise in health impacts even at very low concentrations of certain pollutants. India may not be able to get to 5 micrograms per cubic metres in PM 2.5 concentrations but it should set out stringent and achievable targets. There is a wide variation in pollution levels across the country so strategies should be different. The southern and western states can strive and look at the WHO guideline,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, Centre for Science and Environment. India released its National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in January 2019. NCAP does not have a legal mandate but aims to achieve a 20% to 30% reduction in PM 2.5 concentrations over 2017 annual levels in over a hundred cities by 2024. So far, ₹375.44 crore have been released to 114 cities during FY 2019-20 and 2020-21 for initiating actions under city action plans to control air pollution. Further, ₹4,400 crore has been released to 42 cities with million plus population as per recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission report for FY 2020-21.

Mary Robinson: We 'are not on a safe course' in relation to the environment

Ireland's former president has said we “are not on a safe course” in relation to the climate crisis. Mary Robinson was among a number of notable speakers who shared their views at The Business Show sustainability summit 2021 online on Wednesday. In a fireside chat with Sunita Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and the Environment, Robinson outlined her five parts for environmental justice in a conversation about what Narain described as the “existential threat in front of us”. As President, Robinson never made a speech on climate change Mrs Robinson admitted that as Ireland’s seventh and first female president: “I never made a single speech on climate change.” It wasn’t until she started work on human rights issues around the world that she “saw visibly... the injustice of the impacts”. And now it is firmly on her radar as adjunct professor for climate justice at Trinity and chair of The Elders - an independent group of global leaders first brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007. “We have the IPCC report - we understand that the threat is imminent and irreversible in some senses. How do you see the issue of climate justice playing out in the world?” Ms Narain asked her. Layers of climate injustice Ireland’s 1990-1997 leader said: “I have been talking about it for two decades and really have identified about five layers of injustice. “First of all, that climate change has disproportionately affected the poorest countries, poorest communities, small island states, indigenous peoples. They also happen to be the black and brown people in the world so there’s a racial injustice as well. “Secondly, within that, the gender injustice. The roles of women, the difference in access to power - to rights. Yet women are often the ones building resilience in their communities. “The third layer is the one that young climate activists and school children have been calling us out on - that is the intergenerational injustice and they are perfectly right. “The fourth injustice is a subtle one and I don’t think we talk about it enough. Industrialised countries like Ireland, [across] Europe and the United States - we built our economies on fossil fuel. “Now our challenge is to wean ourselves off far more quickly than we’re doing and just transition for the workers that helped us to build our economies, that they and their communities are part of the move to green solutions and are helped in this. “For developing countries, they have to bring themselves out of poverty.” Robinson says as special envoy to the Secretary General, she saw many poorer countries say they want to go as green as possible, but needed investment. “We haven’t shown enough solidarity and that’s part of the dilemma,” she added. “In Copenhagen there was a promise of €100 billion a year to help developing countries to adapt and to have the space to do so. We still haven’t got that €100 billion and I think Covid has taught us that when the rich world needs money, the money is there - more than billions, if necessary trillions." “The fifth injustice is to nature herself,” Robinson added. “This terrible loss of biodiversity, the extinction of species that we are responsible for and the worsening situation.” Speaking about the recent IPCC report, Robinson said it was really important that it came out when the northern hemisphere was suffering terrible wildfires. “Now the rich world is being hit,” she added. “It’s unfortunate it’s had to take that for people to really understand how urgent the problem is. Collective behaviour is going to have to change dramatically if we are going to have a safe world - by which I mean consumerism,” she added. “This rampant buying in a throwaway context - that has to change. I think there’s a lot of focus now on slow food, slow fashion - it’s beginning to be part of people’s thinking - changing diets etc." Net Zero and Cop26 Sunita Narain said she worried about the hype around ‘net zero’. “Net zero as an aspirational goal is very important but when you look at the IPCC ad science of net zero - it says that the world has to actually reach 50 per cent reduction. Should we not really be pushing for action by 2030 and holding our governments accountable?” “I do very much agree,” added Robinson “That’s why the Cop in Glasgow is so important. "That’s where countries are going to have to step up and set a course - we are not on a safe course at the moment - set a course towards 1.5C. That is doable technically, scientifically and economically. But it will take drastic action.” Eamon Ryan: "we can and could go quicker" The Business Show’s sustainability summit also examined issues like how companies are driving change and using their influence to accelerate the implementation of strong climate policies. Minister Eamon Ryan was among the academics, policy makers and business leaders talking about how Ireland can make a difference. He kicked off with a frank admission that “we can and could go quicker” when asked if going carbon neutral by 2050 in Ireland will be enough. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications said: “That target, and also the target for halving emissions in the next decade, was done on the back of the recommendations or the science contained within the Paris Climate agreement - needing a halving of emissions from 12 countries in this decade. “My sense is we should achieve the halving in the next decade and then we will be in a much better position to achieve carbon neutrality quicker. It’s no small challenge but it’s one I think will create a better economy. “It will give us better security, help address biodiversity and the pollution crises that we also have to address. “If I was to focus on one thing, I think it’s on the implementation, the urgency of halving emissions in this decade.” "An unsustainable pathway for our human civilisation" UK climate expert and Centre for Climate Repair founder David King spoke of the need for climate repair now. He says as the icecaps melt they no longer reflect sunlight making the North Pole “one of the warmest regions of the northern hemisphere”. The Cambridge University professor also told how he would like to see our built environment “converted to wood taken from managed forests” and our seas restored to their former glory. Sir King told The Business Show sustainability summit: “We believe we have already gone past the point where tipping points are being passed,” he said. “The current level of greenhouse gases in the air are already on an unsustainable pathway for our human civilisation going forward. Repair is the word we use to indicate that we are trying to do is return the global biosystems [and] ecosystems to something like they were two or three hundreds years ago. “We are also very keen to see that we try to manage the current state of crises with all of the extreme weather events occurring around the northern hemisphere and whether we can return those to normality by operating in a full repair mode, for example attempting to refreeze the arctic sea. “In essence, we believe we have already created that world that is unmanageable and the centre is here to try to set up a global collaborative process to meet these challenges.”

एशिया-साउथ अफ्रीका प्रशिक्षण में गिरिडीह की सुमन दूसरे स्थान पर

गिरिडीह : ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में मल-कीचड़ प्रबंधन विषय पर आयोजित अफ्रीका-साउथ एशिया आनलाइन कानक्लेव एंड ट्रेनिग में गिरिडीह का डंका बजा है। स्वच्छ भारत मिशन के तहत गिरिडीह में कार्यरत जिला परामर्शी सुमन कुमारी को दूसरा स्थान प्राप्त हुआ है। टाप फाइव में धनबाद के भी जिला परामर्शी शामिल हैं। प्रशिक्षण के दौरान दिए गए कार्यों को समय पर करने और बेहतर प्रदर्शन के कारण सुमन का चयन दूसरे स्थान पर किया गया है। 25 देशों के 100 प्रतिभागियों ने लिया भाग : सेंटर फार साइंस एंड इंवायरेनमेंट नई दिल्ली की ओर से हुए प्रशिक्षण में भारत के अलावा बांग्लादेश, फिजी, अफ्रीका, इथोपिया सहित करीब 25 देशों के सौ प्रतिभागियों ने भाग लिया था। सभी प्रतिभागी अपने-अपने देश में पेयजल एवं स्वच्छता पर काम कर रहे हैं। प्रशिक्षण के दौरान सीएसई की डायरेक्टर जनरल सुनीता नारायण, इंवायरेनमेंटल हेल्थ, सैनिटेशन एंड हाईजीन सेक्शन मिनिस्ट्री आफ हेल्थ, कम्युनिटी डेवलपमेंट तंजानिया के असिस्टेंट डायरेक्टर खालिद मस्सा, यूनिसेफ के वाटर, सैनिटेशन एंड हाईजीन विशेषज्ञ सुजोय मजूमदार, मलेशिया के इंटरनेशनल एफएसएम कंसल्टेंट दोराई नारायण ने जूम मीटिग में जानकारियां दीं। वाट्सएप एक्सपर्ट सेशन व वीडियो क्लिप से ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में मल-कीचड़ प्रबंधन, शौचालय का रख-रखाव, ठोस एवं तरल कचरा का प्रबंधन, ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में आसान एवं उपयोगी शौचालय निर्माण तकनीक, शौचालय तक पानी की पहुंच पर विस्तार से बताया। रोज होता था क्विज : सुमन ने बताया कि प्रतिदिन अध्ययन करना था। अध्ययन के बाद किसी एक विषय पर क्विज होता था। उसमें भाग लेना था। सभी विषयों का प्रशिक्षण समाप्त होने पर फीडबैक फार्म एवं असाइनमेंट 15 सितंबर तक जमा करना था। सभी कार्यों का निष्पादन समय पर किया। प्रशिक्षण में उनका अच्छा प्रदर्शन रहा, जिस कारण टाप फाइव में दूसरे स्थान पर आ सकी। सभी विजेता प्रतिभागियों को सेंटर फार साइंस एंड इंवायरेनमेंट की ओर से प्रकाशित पत्रिका डाउन टु अर्थ का एक साल के लिए सब्सक्रिप्शन दिया जाएगा। इधर, पेयजल एवं स्वच्छता प्रमंडल-दो के कार्यपालक अभियंता मुकेश कुमार मंडल ने इस उपलब्धि पर सुमन को बधाई दी है। कहा कि सुमन ने पूरे झारखंड का मान बढ़ाया है।

What WHO’s new air quality guidelines say, and what it means for India

WHO's latest global air quality norms indicate that air pollutants are harmful to health at much lower levels than what was understood in 2005. After a gap of 15 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) released an updated version of the Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) which outlines the recommended air quality levels to protect the health of populations based on the latest scientific evidence from across the world. Since WHO’s last update in 2005, there has been a marked increase of evidence that shows how air pollution affects different aspects of health and makes continued exposure to it as deadly as other major global health risks such as unhealthy diet and tobacco smoking. Every year, exposure to air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million premature deaths globally. WHO’s new guidelines recommend air quality levels for six pollutants — particulate matter (PM), ozone (O₃), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) — that are not just health hazards but they also give rise to other damaging pollutants. The health risks associated with particulate matter equal to or smaller than 10 and 2.5 micrometers in diameter — known as PM 10 and PM 2.5 respectively — are of particular concern. These can penetrate deep into the lungs. PM 2.5 can even enter the bloodstream, leading to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The 2021 guideline stipulates that the annual average for PM 10 should not exceed 15 micrograms per cubic metre of air, while the 24-hour average should not exceed 45 micrograms per cubic metre. Compared to this, the earlier limit was 20 micrograms per cubic metre annually and 50 micrograms per cubic metre in a day. Similarly, the recommendation for PM 2.5 is that the annual average should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic metre, or 15 micrograms per cubic metre in a day. The earlier limit was 10 micrograms per cubic metre annually and 25 micrograms per cubic metre in a day. Other recommendations say the ozone levels average should not exceed 100 micrograms per cubic metre over a 24-hour period, nitrogen oxide should not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic metre, sulphur dioxide should remain below 40 micrograms per cubic metre and carbon monoxide levels should not exceed more than 4 micrograms per cubic metre over the same time period. Urgent need to improve air quality Anumita Roychowdhury, an executive director at the Centre for Science and Environment, said the key consideration in these guidelines was the effect on health and not the feasibility of achieving these levels. “What scientific evidence is now showing is that these air pollutants are harmful to the health at much lower levels than what was understood in 2005,” she told ThePrint. Going by these standards, most Indians breathe unacceptable levels of pollutants. To put these numbers in context, Roychowdhury pointed out that the average annual PM 2.5 levels in Delhi in 2020 was 98 µg/m3. “This was after Delhi has made huge improvements in its air quality levels over the last three years. But we need to continue to incrementally improve the air quality,” she added. Other Indian cities, which feature in the list of the world’s most polluted cities, have PM 2.5 levels much higher than the 2005 recommendations. This includes Ghaziabad, where the annual average for PM 2.5 levels was over 110 microgram per cubic metre in 2019. Noida and Gurgaon’s annual averages were 97 and 93 microgram per cubic metre respectively. In children, pollutants may reduce lung growth and function, cause respiratory infections and aggravated asthma. In adults, heart diseases and stroke are the most common causes of premature death, attributable to outdoor air pollution, and evidence is also emerging of other effects such as diabetes and neurodegenerative conditions. “WHO’s new Air Quality Guidelines are an evidence-based and practical tool for improving the quality of the air on which all life depends. I urge all countries and all those fighting to protect our environment to put them to use to reduce suffering and save lives,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.