गांवों पर ज्यादा रहा दूसरी लहर का असर : सीएसई
गांवों पर ज्यादा रहा दूसरी लहर का असर : सीएसई (For details see the attachment)
गांवों पर ज्यादा रहा दूसरी लहर का असर : सीएसई (For details see the attachment)
Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka contributed 50% of biomedical waste generated in May. These states were hit particularly hard by the second wave of the Covid-19 While India was busy dealing with an unprecedented healthcare crisis, a hazardous mess was piling in its backyard. The country produced biomedical waste to the tune of 2,03,000 kg per day as the coronavirus infection reached its peak and swamped hospitals, a report has revealed. The report titled 'State of India's Environment 2021', released by the Centre for Science and Environment, said the biomedical waste generated daily in May this year was roughly 33% of India's non-Covid biomedical waste. Further, the biomedical waste generated in May was 46% more than that in April when it had reached 1.39 lakh kg per day. In March, the daily figure was 75,000 kg. This is in line with data by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that said India 45,308 tonnes of Covid-19 biomedical waste between June 2020 and 10 May 2021. The report found that Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka contributed 50% of biomedical waste generated in May. These states were hit particularly hard by the second wave of the Covid-19. Drawing a comparison, the report informed that the biomedical waste generated per day in 2017 was 5.59 lakh kg and the quantity of waste treated daily was 519 kg. In 2019, 6.19 lakh kg biomedical waste was generated and 545 kg was treated daily. India still disposes of 12% of its hospital waste without any treatment with Bihar and Karnataka faring the worst, it said. "In 2019, India treated 88% of its biomedical waste, down from 92.8% in 2017," the report authored by Kiran Pandey and Rajit Sengupta, said. Biomedical waste includes cultures, stocks of infectious agents, associated biologicals, human blood and blood products, contaminated sharps, amputated body parts and isolation waste. Although it is a small proportion of the total waste generated (around 1%), it needs special handling due to its highly toxic contents that can pose a severe threat to human health, the report said.
From Assam floods, Uttarakhand Forest fires, to several severe cyclones like Amphan, Tauktae and Yaas, India has been ravaged by multiple natural disasters, as it struggled to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in the last year. However, like everything else, environmental concerns and natural disasters had also taken a backseat, as the mounting death toll, and overflowing hospitals took over the news and social media. While there was a minor moment of euphoria as we all began working from home, and the pollution level dropped, things quickly went back to the status quo when the lockdowns reopened. In an interview with News18.com, Sunita Narain, the Director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said that during the past year, we have failed to learn ‘any lessons about how to keep our air clean and our climate emission-free.’ Here are a few excerpts from the interview. How has the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the fight against climate change? To begin with, the fight against the virus has deflected attention from some very critical issues of our survival – and climate change is one of them. Public and policy attention has remained focused on fighting the enemy at hand – but climate change is a real risk that will not wait for anyone: it has been wreaking havoc, as could be seen during the recent cyclones. The pandemic triggered lockdowns and an economic slowdown, which have led to brief periods of reduction in emissions. However, the gain has been lost as swiftly as soon as economies reopened – we did not learn any lessons about how to keep our air clean and our climate emission-free. One of the biggest climate injustices is the fact that the poor and the marginalized often face the worst impact of climate change, despite using far fewer environment degrading resources. The repeated cyclones that hit both coasts of India the past year are obviously a sign of that. How can disaster management methods cater better to the poor? The IPCC points out that 50 million people are at risk of hunger due to changing climate. Millions are affected by extreme weather, and there is an increased toll on countries that already have a high burden of poverty and infectious diseases. Obviously, our disaster management plans must prioritise the poor and the vulnerable. We have to establish more efficient systems and models of predicting weather, climate and disasters – one of the key learnings from the ongoing pandemic has been the inability of nations to anticipate such disasters and their impacts. Community-based responses and protection strategies could also be a part of an overall strategy. Methane in the atmosphere reached record levels last year, according to the data from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. What kind of adverse effects can this have on the environment? What steps should be taken to mitigate the rise of methane in the atmosphere? Urgent action is required to bring methane back to a pathway more in line with the Paris goals. Implementation of technical advances made in the reduction of emissions of anthropogenic sources such as the fossil fuel industries and landfills needs to be implemented. In India, according to the Solid Waste Rules of 2016, landfills need to be upgraded to control GHG emissions, especially methane. Though the law and technical know-how exists, implementation is weak. According to the UNFCCC, measures to reduce methane include a shift to renewable energy, residential and commercial energy efficiency, and a reduction in food loss and waste, which can reduce methane emissions by a further 15 per cent by 2030. Attention also needs to be given to measures to reduce emissions from “intractable” (harder to mitigate) anthropogenic sources such as agriculture and biomass burning. These have traditionally received less attention and are also becoming more feasible, including removal from elevated-methane ambient air near to sources. Finally, developed economies such as the USA who are currently following the Obama era switch to natural gas (a great source of methane emissions) from the more polluting fossil fuels, need to switch to renewable energy. Most of the international climate change agreements/treaties signed by different countries are not legally binding. How can countries be made more accountable to reduce their emission rates? There are two sides of the spectrum: on one side are developed countries that are historical emitters of GHG and have greatly benefited from the industrial revolution. At the other end lie the developing and poor countries that have not contributed to the atmospheric GHG budget historically; these remain poor and unable to afford the technologies needed to counter climate change. Both types of countries have signed up to reducing their GHG emissions at the Paris Agreement. However, their capacities with regard to money, ability and opportunity is not equal. Therefore, the burden of reducing GHG emissions needs to fall more on historical emitters who have the resources and the capacity to do so. To ensure accountability of rich countries, it is essential that they stand up to their financial commitments — contribute to and replenish the Green Climate Fund, and support technology transfer to the poorer nations. Nations must realise that climate change is affecting everyone and each country: while cyclones ravage one region of the world, wildfires rage in other parts. Nations must understand the enormous cost that they are incurring as a result. They must accept that climate change is a clear and present danger, and has to be met collectively.
The poor and the farmers are the worst victims of climate change, says the environmentalist-activist who has been awarded Edinburgh Medal 2020 Over the last five decades, Sunita Narain has been striving to make environmental consciousness everybody’s business. Be it her work on rainwater harvesting, efforts to introduce CNG in Delhi, advocacy of pro-poor policies, or the fight for an equitable climate change agreement, the Padma Shri awardee has been a strong voice championing climate justice. When I speak with Narain, she is fielding calls and emails after the release of ‘Honeygate’, the Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) report on honey adulteration. Not many know that the investigation took all of three months and was done entirely during the lockdown. No mean feat for the environmentalist, who won Edinburgh Medal 2020 last month, awarded for significant contributions to science and technology and to the wellbeing of humanity. “COVID-19 is the result of our progressively worsening dystopian relationship with nature,” she said at the virtual awards ceremony, adding that the climate crisis was making the world’s poor even more marginalised and insecure. Excerpts from an interview: What led to the Honeygate investigation? We kept getting distress calls from beekeepers in North India who said the market price for honey had crashed and it wasn’t selling. On the other hand, there is anecdotal data that suggests COVID-19 has led to an increase in honey consumption because of its immunity-boosting and anti-inflammatory properties. We were intrigued with the beekeepers’ claims who, in literal Chinese whispers, spoke about a ‘Chinese syrup’ that was being used to adulterate honey. We went on to find the ‘designer’ syrup that could bypass Indian rules and also studied how they have been altered over the years. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been putting out notices about a similar ‘rice syrup’ being imported to India. When we spiked it with raw honey, it cleared all the lab tests. This was really scary. We then sent samples from 13 big brands for advanced testing to Germany and they failed the test. The business of adulteration is a sophisticated one. The bigger concern is the threat to bees. They are the harbingers of the ecosystem’s health and if not for them, you won’t have food productivity. It was the bee colonies’ collapse that pointed to the overuse of pesticides in large parts of the world and in India. As for the backlash from companies, this is a textbook case. The first response is to deny, then bring in scientific jugglery with test reports, followed by attacks on us as ‘foreign agents’. What we are expecting now is that they will use the government to target us and prove us wrong. They have huge ad spends to convince the customer and this worries us enormously. We have made our presentation to FSSAI and hope the regulator will take it forward. Is it too late to reverse the climate crisis? I will never say it is too late. But yes, we are running out of time. Climate change has been talked about, at least seriously, in international negotiations since 1991. Since then, the world has only procrastinated, prevaricated and delayed serious action — we are already seeing the consequences. There are no 10 ways to save the planet. But governments all over the world are certain that there are ways in which you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. No country has really made big-time investments to move out of fossil fuel yet. Some exceptions are the U.S. (shifted from coal to gas, which is still a fossil fuel), Germany (solar), the U.K., Norway and Denmark (offshore wind), and Sweden (biomass, hydro and nuclear). If you can reduce emissions from the energy sector, don’t increase it somewhere else. For instance, in the U.S., they have had a massive 30% reduction in energy-related emissions in the last decade, but the country’s consumption has increased as fuel is cheaper. Now, their emissions are higher than in 2016. We need to reduce energy-related emissions and also ensure that we bring change in every other field, particularly transportation. The poor and the farmers are the worst victims of climate change. They are not responsible for the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but are the victims of our excesses. World over, young people are urging us to take climate change seriously. We need to pay heed to those voices. These are interesting times from which we should learn and change the way we are doing things. Unfortunately, our governance systems are still wedded to the old ways and not ready to change. What are your views on the controversial draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 and the impact the proposed expansion projects, in Mollem and the Jolly Grant airport, for instance, will have on India’s environment? This is the final nail in a coffin. But you already have a coffin made out of the corruption of environmental clearance procedures. The scrutiny of projects is being done today by faceless committees who take no responsibility for their decisions. For instance, the Navi Mumbai airport proposal went through years of convoluted decision-making. Environmentalists opposed it, but the government finally cleared it with conditions. Once the airport is built, is there any way to check whether those conditions have been complied with? No, because there is no monitoring. The EIA notification has already been killed by successive governments, not just the current one. We should be demanding a better process of environmental clearance instead of clinging to the draft. You were part of the 22-year-old Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) that has been dissolved to give way to the Commission for Air Quality Management in the NCR and adjoining areas. How do you see the new body tackling the spiralling crisis? I’m very proud to have done the work we have done at EPCA. We have managed to take several tough, contested actions — be it control on the trucks or the closure of the last thermal power plant in Badarpur, New Delhi. We were able to do it because EPCA was a court-mandated authority. Today, the fact that the government has dissolved it and set up the commission is a good thing because we need a permanent body. The government has signalled that they are taking full charge of the issue, which I see as an important step ahead. Now, it’s about enforcement and making sure the local sources of pollution (stubble and garbage burning) are controlled. COVID-19 has reversed the ongoing war against single-use plastic. What are your thoughts on this? The pandemic has increased the amount of plastic waste and this should worry us tremendously because one crisis is adding to another. The politics of it is in the seemingly benign word, ‘recycling’, that the plastic industry uses to get us to use more. There’s a lot of plastic that cannot be recycled because it is not economically viable. It is the responsibility of us middle-class Indians, who use plastic, to be aware of the implications of our actions. Do you think the Biden-Harris team will change the way the U.S. has handled the climate crisis till now? The change of top leadership in the U.S. is important for the climate movement as the former president was so out of sync with reality and a climate-change denier. The Biden-Harris team has clearly stated that they are committed to climate change action, and we need them to take effective action. What the U.S. does is important for climate change negotiations because, in some sense, it’s an indicator species. If they are able to do things then the whole world will do it. In India, we need to do a lot more. There is an awareness among the top leadership of the need to do things, but I don’t think there is enough knowledge about the scale at which we need to act. When it comes to air pollution, for instance, I have been arguing that just like we had CNG for vehicles, we need to have natural gas for industries. It’s a win-win situation because you have industrial growth, but without pollution. But that requires a different taxation system. India needs what we call the co-benefit approach: we need economic growth but we need to do it in a way that lowers air pollution. Why is investing in energy access for the poor crucial in our fight against climate change? Climate change and air pollution are great equalisers, affecting the rich and the poor equally. If the poor are hit today, the rich will also be impacted eventually . And we are already witnessing that as wild fires and floods become frequent. The whole world is interconnected and interdependent. Whether we are willing to accept that and take the necessary steps is for our leaders to decide.
Over two lakh kilograms of biomedical waste was generated each day last month by hospitals in India dealing with COVID-19 patients, a new report revealed on Friday. The report titled ''State of India''s Environment 2021'', released by the Centre for Science and Environment, said 2,03,000 kg of COVID-19 biomedical waste was produced daily in May this year and it was roughly 33 per cent of India''s non-COVID biomedical waste. It said the COVID-19 biomedical waste generated per day in May was 46 per cent more than in April when 1.39 lakh kg of such waste was produced daily. In March, the daily figure was 75,000 kg, according to the report. April and May witnessed a deadly second wave of coronavirus cases that swept through the country stretching the healthcare infrastructure to its limits. The report by the Centre for Science and Environment found that Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka contributed 50 per cent of COVID-19 biomedical waste generated in May. All these states were hit particularly hard by the second wave of the COVID-19 contagion. The report also said the biomedical waste generated per day in 2017 was 5.59 lakh kg and the quantity of waste treated daily was 519 kg. In 2019, 6.19 lakh kg biomedical waste was generated and 545 kg was treated daily. India still disposes of 12 per cent of its hospital waste without any treatment with Bihar and Karnataka faring the worst, it said. "In 2019, India treated 88 per cent of its biomedical waste, down from 92.8 per cent in 2017,” the report authored by Kiran Pandey and Rajit Sengupta, said. Biomedical waste includes cultures, stocks of infectious agents, associated biologicals, human blood and blood products, contaminated sharps, amputated body parts and isolation waste. Although it is a small proportion of the total waste generated (around 1 per cent), it needs special handling due to its highly toxic contents that can pose a severe threat to human health, the report said.
As many as 39 lakh people in India were displaced in 2020 due to climate disasters and conflicts, making it the fourth worst-hit country in the world to have such a high number of internal displacements, a new report said on Friday. The top three countries with high internal displacements last year were China, Philippines and Bangladesh, where over four million people were displaced, according to the State of India''s Environment Report 2021 released by the Centre for Science and Environment. The report stated that 76 per cent of the internal displacements globally in 2020 were triggered by climate disasters. It said 4.05 crore people were displaced in the world that year, out of which, 3.07 crore people were displaced due to climate disasters and 98 lakh due to conflicts and violence. In India, 39 lakh people were displaced in 2020 due to climate disasters, conflicts and violence, the report stated. However, most of the displacements occurred due to major climate disasters like avalanches and landslides in Jammu and Kashmir, flood in Tamil Nadu, glacial lake outburst in Uttarakhand, Cyclone Nivar in Puducherry and Cyclone Burevi in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it said. It also said that an average of around 3.73 million people a year were displaced between 2008 and 2020, the majority by flooding during the monsoon. “India is also prone to other sudden and slow-onset hazards, including earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, storm surges and droughts,” it said. The report projected that India could see 2.3 million internal displacements every year due to earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, cyclonic winds and storms. According to the report, the last decade saw the highest number of cyclonic storms over the north Indian Ocean since the 1970s. Between 1971 and 2020, 127 cyclonic storms hit India, out of which, the maximum cyclones (33) were recorded between 2011 and 2020. Five cyclonic storms occurred in 2020 alone. While Cyclone Amphan crossed the West Bengal coast over Sundarbans on May 20 this year and claimed 90 lives and about 4,000 livestock, Cyclone Nisarga crossed Maharashtra coast on June 3. It claimed four lives and 2,000 livestock. Cyclone Nivar crossed Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts close to north of Puducherry and claimed 12 lives and 10,836 livestock over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Lastly, Cyclone Burevi claimed nine lives and 200 livestock. Cyclone Gati made landfall over Somalia coast. The report stated that 21 major weather events claimed over 1,374 lives in 2020. Heavy rains, floods and thunderstorms were responsible for over 51 per cent of the deaths. Lightning was responsible for 33 per cent of the deaths. The data shared in the report revealed that out of the 1,374 deaths in the country, 300 people died in Bihar alone. In Uttar Pradesh, 189 people lost their lives, while 144 people died in Jharkhand due to extreme weather events. In Assam, heavy rain and flood took 129 lives in 2020, while 73 people died in Maharashtra and 72 each in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, it said. Other states where people died due to extreme weather events are Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan, the report added.
The report stated that 76 per cent of the internal displacements globally in 2020 were triggered by climate disasters. NEW DELHI: As many as 39 lakh people in India were displaced in 2020 due to climate disasters and conflicts, making it the fourth worst-hit country in the world to have such a high number of internal displacements, a new report said on Friday. The top three countries with high internal displacements last year were China, Philippines and Bangladesh, where over four million people were displaced, according to the State of India's Environment Report 2021 released by the Centre for Science and Environment. The report stated that 76 per cent of the internal displacements globally in 2020 were triggered by climate disasters. It said 4.05 crore people were displaced in the world that year, out of which, 3.07 crore people were displaced due to climate disasters and 98 lakh due to conflicts and violence. In India, 39 lakh people were displaced in 2020 due to climate disasters, conflicts and violence, the report stated. However, most of the displacements occurred due to major climate disasters like avalanches and landslides in Jammu and Kashmir, flood in Tamil Nadu, glacial lake outburst in Uttarakhand, Cyclone Nivar in Puducherry and Cyclone Burevi in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it said. It also said that an average of around 3.73 million people a year were displaced between 2008 and 2020, the majority by flooding during the monsoon. "India is also prone to other sudden and slow-onset hazards, including earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, storm surges and droughts," it said. The report projected that India could see 2.3 million internal displacements every year due to earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, cyclonic winds and storms. According to the report, the last decade saw the highest number of cyclonic storms over the north Indian Ocean since the 1970s. Between 1971 and 2020, 127 cyclonic storms hit India, out of which, the maximum cyclones (33) were recorded between 2011 and 2020. Five cyclonic storms occurred in 2020 alone. While Cyclone Amphan crossed the West Bengal coast over Sundarbans on May 20 this year and claimed 90 lives and about 4,000 livestock, Cyclone Nisarga crossed Maharashtra coast on June 3. It claimed four lives and 2,000 livestock. Cyclone Nivar crossed Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts close to north of Puducherry and claimed 12 lives and 10,836 livestock over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Lastly, Cyclone Burevi claimed nine lives and 200 livestock. Cyclone Gati made landfall over Somalia coast. The report stated that 21 major weather events claimed over 1,374 lives in 2020. Heavy rains, floods and thunderstorms were responsible for over 51 per cent of the deaths. Lightning was responsible for 33 per cent of the deaths. The data shared in the report revealed that out of the 1,374 deaths in the country, 300 people died in Bihar alone. In Uttar Pradesh, 189 people lost their lives, while 144 people died in Jharkhand due to extreme weather events. In Assam, heavy rain and flood took 129 lives in 2020, while 73 people died in Maharashtra and 72 each in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, it said. Other states where people died due to extreme weather events are Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan, the report added.
Days meeting the air quality standard also plummeted this spring to just two Lockdowns have improved the air quality in Delhi-NCR this year as well but not as effectively as last year due to the 2021 curbs being shorter and lesser stringent, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found in a study. Meteorology would be partly responsible for this trend, but it could also be a reflection of weakening of pollution control-measures and efforts in the city and region, it said. Traffic intensity was also comparatively higher in 2021, it added. This year, restrictions in Delhi started on April 6 in the form of night-curfews and weekend lockdowns, with complete lockdowns being imposed on April 19. The imposition of partial-lockdown lowered PM2.5 pollutant levels by 20 per cent; while the complete lockdown brought the average down by further 12 per cent, according to the CSE analysis. "In 2020, partial lockdown started on March 12 with hard lockdown kicking in on March 25, which was lifted in phase-wise manner from May 18. Then the partial lockdown also brought PM2.5 levels down by 20 per cent, but the hard lockdown reduced it by another 35 per cent," the CSE said. Lifting of restrictions from May 18 had led to a 28 per cent rise in PM2.5 levels, it said. The green think-tank also said the lockdown summers in 2020 and 2021 have been 25 to 40 per cent cleaner as compared to the summer of 2019. It also said that spring of 2021 (January-March) has recorded the highest pollution levels for the season since 2019. Normally, PM2.5 levels have a seasonal cycle, with winter being the most polluted and monsoon season being the cleanest. Spring (January to March) acts as a transitional period between the two extremes – winter and summer A significant drop in PM2.5 levels happens as the weather warms up and wind picks up speed during spring. "There was a 26 per cent drop between winter of 2018 and spring of 2019. In 2020, this drop increased to 36 per cent due to pollution control measures in place and also imposition of partial lockdowns in March 2020. But this downward trend in spring pollution did not continue this year, with the seasonal drop limited to 18 per cent," the report said. "In fact, spring this year has been 31 per cent dirtier than 2020 and 8 per cent dirtier than 2019," it said. The CSE analysis also showed that there were 27 "very poor" days in terms of air quality this February-March compared to 17 in 2020 and 12 in 2019. Days meeting the air quality standard also plummeted this spring to just two. The year 2020 had 16 and 2019 had six days when the standard was met, it said.
India's rural areas have seen surge in infections in the second wave and a more distressing scenario is emerging from the rural hinterland than the urban centres, according to a report by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). CSE in its report named 'pandemic pointers' said that the rural areas are worst hit and over half of daily global cases happened in India on six days in May – triggered due to the surge in cases in rural districts or towns. The report, as compiled by Times of India says that the pointers show that 53% of new cases and 52% of deaths in the country last month were recorded in rural districts. Flagging the gaps in existing health infrastructure</a>, it said, “The community health centres in rural India need 76% more doctors, 56% more radiographers and 35% more lab technicians.” Noting that India accounted for every other new Covid-19 case and every third death due to the infection recorded globally in the first 26 days of May, the report said, “What escaped everyone’s notice is that every second new case and death reported from India in May was from the rural districts. This means every fourth case reported in the world that month was from rural India.” Emphasising on the need to have enough data to take right policy decisions and make intervention on time to minimise the severity of crisis, CSE director general Sunita Narain said, “It is accepted today that one of the reasons we missed out on the virulence and speed of the second wave is because the model for predictions did not have adequate data on the immunity surveys on the populations.” Pointing to the load of biomedical waste the country is grappling with as a result of the pandemic, the report said there had been a 46% increase in Covid-19 biomedical waste between April and May 2021. “At the same time, treatment of this waste has dipped,” it said, noting that hospitals dealing with Covid-19 patients produced 2 lakh kg of biomedical waste per day in May which was roughly 33% of India’s non-Covid biomedical waste. Referring to available data, the report flagged a worrying picture, saying India managed to treat 88% of its biomedical waste in 2019 compared to almost 93% in 2017. “India still disposes 12% of its hospital waste without any treatment. Bihar and Karnataka fare the worst,” it said.
Aangbadpratidin | June 5, 2021 সংবাদ প্রতিদিন ডিজিটাল ডেস্ক: প্রকৃতির সহ্য শক্তি অসীম। কিন্তু তাকেও চ্যালেঞ্জ করে বসেছে মানব সভ্যতা! প্রকৃতির পালটা রোষের মুখে কার্যত দিশেহারা জীবন। বাঁচার পথ খুঁজতে প্রতি বছর ৬ জুন ঘটা করে বিশ্বজুড়ে পালিত হয় বিশ্ব পরিবেশ দিবস। আয়োজিত হয় নানা সম্মেলন, বৈঠক। নিরন্তর গবেষণা চলে প্রকৃতিকে শান্ত করার প্রচেষ্টায়। কিন্তু, বদলায় কি কিছু? উত্তর, না। কিছু যে বদলায় না, তার অন্যতম বড় প্রমাণ ২০২০ সালে কেবল ভারতেই (India) প্রকৃতির রোষে গৃহহীন হয়েছেন অন্তত ৩৯ লক্ষ মানুষ। প্রকৃতির পালটা মারে বিশ্বের চতুর্থ ক্ষতিগ্রস্ততম দেশ হল ভারত। প্রথম তিন ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত দেশ হল চিন (China), ফিলিপিন্স এবং বাংলাদেশ। সেন্টার ফর সায়েন্স অ্যান্ড এনভায়রমেন্টের (Centre for Science and Environment) সমীক্ষার রিপোর্টে এমন কথাই জানানো হয়েছে। প্রতিবেদনে উল্লেখ করা হয়েছে, ২০২০ সালে বিশ্বব্যাপী অভ্যন্তরীণ বাস্তুচ্যুতির ৭৬ শতাংশ জলবায়ু বিপর্যয়ের কারণে ঘটেছে। জম্মু-কাশ্মীরে হিমানী সম্প্রপাত, ভূমি ধসের মতো ঘটনা, তামিলনাড়ুর ভয়াল বন্যা, উত্তরাখণ্ডে হিমবাহ হ্রদের বাধভাঙা প্লাবন বা নিভার, বুরেভির মতো সামুদ্রিক ঘূর্ণিঝড় আসলে জলবায়ু পরিবর্তনেরই ফলাফল। ২০০৮ থেকে ২০২০ পর্যন্ত বছরে গড়ে ৩৭ লাখের বেশি মানুষ বাস্তুচ্যুত হয়েছেন প্রকৃতির তাণ্ডবে। জলবায়ু পরিবর্তন ভারতে ভূমিকম্প (Earthquake), সুনামি, ঘূর্ণিঝড়, বন্যা, খরার মতো দুর্যোগের সম্ভাবনা বৃদ্ধি করেছে। সংস্থার সমীক্ষায় দেখা গেছে, এই ধরণের বিভিন্ন প্রাকৃতিক দুর্যোগের কারণে প্রতিবছর ভারতে গড়ে ২৩ লক্ষ মানুষ মাথার ছাদ হারান। ১৯৭১ সাল থেকে ২০২০ সাল পর্যন্ত ভারতে সরাসরি আঘাত হেনেছে মোট ১২৭টি সামুদ্রিক ঘূর্ণিঝড় (Cyclone)। তারমধ্যে ২০১১ থেকে ২০২০-র মধ্যে ৩৩টি ঘূর্ণিঝড় এসেছে। শুধুমাত্র ২০২০ সালেই ঘূর্ণিঝড়ের সংখ্যা পাঁচ। [আরও পড়ুন: মহাশূন্যে বসেই চা-কফি, টাটকা আপেল, লেবুর স্বাদ পাবেন নভোচররা, পৌঁছে দেবে রকেট] আমফানের দুঃসহ স্মৃতি এখনও টাটকা। গত বছর ২০ মে অতি প্রবল ঘূর্ণিঝড় প্রায় ৯০ জনের প্রাণ কেড়ে নিয়েছিল। চার হাজারের বেশি গবাদি ও গৃহপালিত পশুর মৃত্যু হয়েছিল। দক্ষিণবঙ্গের জনজীবন কার্যত তছনছ করে দিয়েছিল আমফান। ঘূর্ণিঝড় নিভারের দাপটে তামিলনাড়ু, অন্ধ্রপ্রদেশে মৃ়তু্য হয়েছিল ১২ জনের। প্রায় ১১ হাজার পশুসম্পদ নষ্ট হয়েছিল। বুরেভির দাপটে মৃত্যু হয় ন’জনের। দু’শোর বেশি পশুসম্পদ নষ্ট হয়। ঘূর্ণিঝড় গতি ভারত মহাসাগর থেকে ছুটে গিয়েছিল সুদুর সোমালিয়ায়। সমীক্ষায় দেখা যাচ্ছে ২০২০ সালে ২১টি মূল প্রাকৃতিক দুর্যোগ প্রাণ কেড়েছে কমপক্ষে ১,৩৭৪ জনের। এর মধ্যে অতিবৃষ্টি, বন্যা, স্থানীয় ঝড়ের জেরে মৃত্যুর ঘটনা ৫১ শতাংশের বেশি। বজ্রাঘাত ৩৩ শতাংশের ক্ষেত্রে মৃত্যুর কারণ। সবথেকে বেশি বিহারে ৩০০ জনের মৃত্যু হয়েছে। উত্তরপ্রদেশে ১৮৯ জন এবং ঝাড়খণ্ডে ১৪৪ জনের প্রাণ গিয়েছে প্রকৃতির রোষে। অসমের বন্যা কেড়েছে ১২৯টি প্রাণ। এছাড়াও মহারাষ্ট্রে ৭৩ জন এবং মধ্যপ্রদেশ, কেরলে ২১ জন করে প্রকৃতির বলি হয়েছেন। ঘূর্ণিঝড়ের তাণ্ডে ফি বছর আমাদের রাজ্যের ক্ষতির পরিমাণও কম নয়। বাদাবন কখনই মনুষ্য বাসযোগ্য ছিল না। নির্বিচারে পৃথিবীর বৃহত্তম ম্যানগ্রোভ অরণ্যর যে নিধনযজ্ঞ শুরু হয়েছে, সুন্দরবনের প্রান্তিক শ্রেণির মানুষ প্রতিমূহুর্তে তার মাশুল দিচ্ছে। ঘন বাদাবন আবহমানকাল ধরে বহু সামুদ্রিক জলোচ্ছ্বাস ও ঘূর্ণিঝড় প্রতিহত করেছে। কিন্তু আজ তার বড় যত্নের প্রয়োজন। তা না হলে, সুন্দরবন সহ কলকাতারও বড় বিপদ আসন্ন। ঘোড়ামারা দ্বীপের নিমজ্জিকরণ কিন্তু শুরু হয়ে গিয়েছে!
Activists like teenager Ridhima Pandey regularly find themselves at odds with the government as well as powerful corporate lobbies Indian women often manage natural resources at the family and community levels, underlining their role in environmental protection Ridhima Pandey was just nine years old when she filed a petition against the Indian government over its lack of action to mitigate climate change . She recalls her horror in 2013 when her home state of Uttaranchal was devastated by floods. “Watching people’s homes being swept away and thousands of people and animals dying was scary, and a wake-up call for everyone to do something about it,” she said. “Global warming is a real threat, so we need to pay close attention to it.” Now a veteran activist at 13, Pandey has also lobbied India’s National Green Tribunal to address climate change. When her petition was dismissed, she took her cause to the Supreme Court. She also joined a group of other young activists from around the world to file a complaint with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child against Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey over their failure to manage the climate crisis. As the world marks Environment Day on June 5, Pandey has emerged as one of several Indian women at the forefront of her country’s conservation movement , regularly taking on the government as well as powerful corporate lobbies. Sunita Narain, 60, leads the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, which monitors air pollution levels around the country and studies the effects of climate change. Listed in 2016 by Time magazine as one of the world’s “100 most influential people”, Narain first rose to prominence by criticising soft drink giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi for the toxic levels of pesticides in their products. The use of local seeds and the promotion of biodiversity are among the most pressing issues for Indian environmentalists. “Local seeds are of more value to farmers because they are better adapted to local conditions and are more pest-resistant,” said Dr Shreeram Khanvilkar, a former professor at the Delhi-based Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment. “They grow organically with just air and water and don’t need chemicals and fertilisers making them healthier for the environment and human consumption.”
देश में कोरोना(Corona) महामारी के कारण हर ओर हाहाकार मचा हुआ है, लोग जब शहरों की स्थिति से बौखला जाते थे, तो दो पल सुकून के बिताने के लिए अपने अपने गांव (Village) की ओर रुख करते थे. क्योंकि ऐसा माना जा रहा था कि शहरों की अपेक्षा गांवों में कोरोना नहीं है. इसी के कारण गांव सुरक्षित माने जाते थे. लेकिन अब ऐसा नहीं रहा है. कोरोना की दूसरी लहर ने गांवों को भी अपनी चपेट में ले लिया है. शहर की अपेक्षा गांव में कोरोना के केस ज्यादा मिले है. सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एंवायरमेंट (Center for Science and Environment) ने अपनी रिपोर्ट में बताया गया है कि पिछले महीने देश भर में 53 फीसदी नए मामले और 52 फीसदी मौतें ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में दर्ज की गईं थी. कोरोना के ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में बढ़ते हुए केस को देखते हुए सीएसई ने कहा, “कोविड महामारी ने भारत की स्वास्थ्य प्रणाली को गंभीर रूप से उजागर कर दिया है. भारत में शहर की खराब स्थिति सुर्खियों में रही है. वहीं ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में फैल रहा संक्रमण एक और अधिक चिंताजनक विषय है. ग्रामीण भारत में सामुदायिक स्वास्थ्य केंद्रों को 76 फीसदी अधिक डॉक्टरों, 56 फीसदी अधिक रेडियोग्राफरों और 35 फीसदी अधिक लैब तकनीशियनों की आवश्यकता है.” एक रिपोर्ट के अनुसार मई के पहले 26 दिनों में दुनियाभर में कोविड से हर दूसरा एक नया केस और तीसरी मौत भारत में हो रही थी है. इनमें से अधिकतर केस ग्रामीण क्षेत्र से आ रहे थे. अर्थात उस महीने दुनिया में दर्ज किये रिकार्ड में हर चौथा मरने वाला केस भारत के ग्रामीण इलाके से था. इस बार दिल्ली में लॉकडाउन के कारण वायु की गुणवत्ता को सुधरते देख गया. लेकिन गत वर्ष ये जितना प्रभावी था वो इस साल ना रहा क्योंकि 2021 में जो लॉकडाउन लगाया गया वो पिछले साल की तुलना में छोटा था और इस वर्ष सख्ती भी कम की गयी. इसके बारे में सेंटर फॉर साइंस ऐंड एन्वायरमेंन्ट (सीएसई) ने अपने एक अध्ययन के दौरान बताया है. सीएसई ने कहा कि, ‘2020 में आंशिक लॉकडाउन 12 मार्च से शुरू हो गया था और 25 मार्च से कड़े लॉकडाउन लागू थे, जिसे 18 मई से चरणबद्ध तरीके से हटाया गया. पिछले साल आंशिक लॉकडाउन के दौरान पीएम 2.5 में 20 फीसदी की कमी आई जबकि कड़ाई से लागू लॉकडाउन से पीएम-2.5 का स्तर 35 फीसदी और कम हुआ.’
Rural areas were worst hit by the second wave of COVID compared to urban centres and India accounted for over half of daily global cases for six days in May due to surge in infections in rural districts, said the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in its ‘pandemic pointers’ released on Friday. As part of its new data compendium on overall environmental issues, released on the eve of the World Environment Day, the pointers show that 53% of new cases and 52% of deaths in the country last month were recorded in rural districts. “The Covid-19 pandemic has severely exposed India’s healthcare system. While the abysmal state of preparedness in urban India has been in the limelight, a more distressing scenario is emerging from the rural hinterland,” said the CSE in the new statistical report — State of India’s Environment in Figures, 2021. Flagging the gaps in existing health infrastructure, it said, “The community health centres in rural India need 76% more doctors, 56% more radiographers and 35% more lab technicians.” Noting that India accounted for every other new Covid case and every third death due to the infection recorded globally in the first 26 days of May, the report said, “What escaped everyone’s notice is that every second new case and death reported from India in May was from the rural districts. This means every fourth case reported in the world that month was from rural India.” Emphasising on the need to have enough data to take right policy decisions and make intervention on time to minimise the severity of crisis, CSE director general Sunita Narain said, “It is accepted today that one of the reasons we missed out on the virulence and speed of the second wave is because the model for predictions did not have adequate data on the immunity surveys on the populations.” Pointing to the load of biomedical waste the country is grappling with as a result of the pandemic, the report said there had been a 46% increase in Covid biomedical waste between April and May 2021. “At the same time, treatment of this waste has dipped,” it said, noting that hospitals dealing with Covid-19 patients produced 2 lakh kg of biomedical waste per day in May which was roughly 33% of India’s non-Covid biomedical waste. Referring to available data, the report flagged a worrying picture, saying India managed to treat 88% of its biomedical waste in 2019 compared to almost 93% in 2017. “India still disposes 12% of its hospital waste without any treatment. Bihar and Karnataka fare the worst,” it said.
एक नई रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, भारत में अकेले अस्पतालों द्वारा पिछले महीने हर दिन दो लाख किलोग्राम से अधिक बायोमेडिकल कचरा उत्पन्न हुआ था। इसमें संबंधित जैविक, मानव रक्त और रक्त उत्पाद, दूषित शार्प, शरीर के कटे हुए अंग और अलगाव अपशिष्ट शामिल हैं। नई दिल्ली। महामारी कोरोना वायरस की वजह से कई प्रकार की परेशानियों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। इनमें से एक बायोमेडिकल कचरे की की मात्रा में तेजी से वृद्धि हुई है। फेस मास्क से लेकर स्वास्थ्य कर्मियों द्वारा इस्तेमाल किए जाने वाले पीपीई किट और परीक्षण के लिए एकत्र किए गए नमूनों से देश में बायोमेडिकल कचरे की मात्रा में भारी वृद्धि हुई है। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट की एक नई रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, भारत में अकेले अस्पतालों द्वारा पिछले महीने हर दिन दो लाख किलोग्राम से अधिक बायोमेडिकल कचरा उत्पन्न हुआ था। इसमें संबंधित जैविक, मानव रक्त और रक्त उत्पाद, दूषित शार्प, शरीर के कटे हुए अंग और अलगाव अपशिष्ट शामिल हैं। मई में प्रतिदिन 2 लाख किलोग्राम से अधिक बायोमेडिकल वेस्ट रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, भारत में 2021 में मई में प्रतिदिन 2,03,000 किलोग्राम बायोमेडिकल अपशिष्ट का उत्पादन किया गया था और यह भारत के गैर-COVID बायोमेडिकल कचरे का लगभग 33 प्रतिशत था। इसने कहा कि मई में प्रतिदिन उत्पन्न होने वाला COVID-19 बायोमेडिकल कचरा अप्रैल की तुलना में 46 प्रतिशत अधिक था, जब प्रतिदिन 1.39 लाख किलोग्राम ऐसे कचरे का उत्पादन किया जाता था। इसकी अत्यधिक जहरीली सामग्री के कारण मानव स्वास्थ्य के लिए एक गंभीर खतरा पैदा हो सकता है। मार्च में रोजाना 75 हजार किलो कचरा सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक मार्च में रोजाना का आंकड़ा 75,000 किलोग्राम था। अप्रैल और मई में कोरोनोवायरस मामलों की एक घातक दूसरी लहर देखी गई, जो देश भर में स्वास्थ्य सेवा के बुनियादी ढांचे को अपनी सीमा तक ले गई। मई के महीने में 5 राज्यों ने 50 प्रतिशत कचरा उत्पन्न हुआ। रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, केरल, गुजरात, महाराष्ट्र, दिल्ली और कर्नाटक ने मई में उत्पन्न COVID-19 बायोमेडिकल कचरे का 50 प्रतिशत योगदान दिया। मार्च में रोजाना 75 हजार किलो कचरा सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट की रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक मार्च में रोजाना का आंकड़ा 75,000 किलोग्राम था। अप्रैल और मई में कोरोनोवायरस मामलों की एक घातक दूसरी लहर देखी गई, जो देश भर में स्वास्थ्य सेवा के बुनियादी ढांचे को अपनी सीमा तक ले गई। मई के महीने में 5 राज्यों ने 50 प्रतिशत कचरा उत्पन्न हुआ। रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, केरल, गुजरात, महाराष्ट्र, दिल्ली और कर्नाटक ने मई में उत्पन्न COVID-19 बायोमेडिकल कचरे का 50 प्रतिशत योगदान दिया।
कोरोना वारस की दूसरी लहर की चपेट में शहरी क्षेत्रों के ग्रामीण क्षेत्र आये. सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड इनवायरनमेंट की ओरे जारी रिपोर्ट में इस बात का खुलासा हुआ कि कोरोना मई के छह दिनों में जो सबसे अधिक दैनिक मामले आये उनमें भारत के ग्रामीण जिलों का सबसे अधिक योगदान था. विश्व पर्यावरण दिवस को लेकर जारी किये गये रिपोर्ट में CSE के आंकड़ों के मुताबिक पिछले महीने देश में 53 फीसदी नये मामले और 52 फीसदी मौतें ग्रामीण जिलों से दर्ज की गयी. सीएसई ने नई सांख्यिकीय रिपोर्ट स्टेज ऑफ इंडियाज इनवायरमेंट इन फिंगर्स 2021 में कहा कि कोरोना महामारी ने देश की लचर स्वास्थ्य व्यवस्था की पोल खोल दी है. इसने ग्रामीण भारत में महामारी के चिंताजनक हालात को दिखाया तो शहरी क्षेत्रों में भारत की तैयारियों की दयनीय स्थिति को दिखाया. रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि भारत के ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में मौजूदा बुनियादी स्वास्थ्य ढांचा का मजबूत करने की जरूरत है. ग्रामीण भारत के सामुदायिक स्वास्थ्य केंद्रों में 76 फीसदी से अधिक डॉक्टर्स , 56 फीसदी से अधिक रेडियोग्राफर्स और 35 फीसदी से अधिक लैब तकनीशियनों की आवश्यकता है. रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि मई महीने की 26 दिनों में जो विश्व स्तर पर मामले दर्ज किये गये. उनमें हर दूसरा मामला भारत का था और हर तीसरी मौत भारत में हुई थी. जो ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में कोरोना के दूसरी लहर के कारण हो रही थी. इसे अगर देखे तो दुनिया में दर्ज किया गया हर चौथा मामला ग्रामीण भारत से था. सीएसीई की महानिदेशक सुनीता नारायण ने कहा कि यह समय नीतिगत निर्णय लेने का है और संकट को खत्म करने के लिए आंकडों के अनुरुप काम करने का है. उन्होंने कहा कि आज यह माना जा रहा है कि चूक हुई है. क्योंकि दूसरी लहर की भविष्यवाणी के बीच देश की आबादी का प्रतिरक्षा सर्वेक्षण का पर्याप्त डाटा मौजूद नहीं था. सीएसई ने बॉयोमेडिकल कचरे का भी हवाला दिया है. रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि कोरोमा महामारी के कारण देश में अप्रैल और मई 2021 के बीच कोरोना वायरस के चलते बॉयोमिडकल कचरे में 46 फीसदी वृद्धि हुई है. क्योंकि इस समय इस कचरे का निपटारण बंद हो गया था. जबकि यह ऐसा समय था जब देश के अस्पतालों में कोरोना से जूझ रहे मरीज हर रोज मई के महीने में दो लाख किलो कचरा उत्पन्न कर रहे थे. जो भारत के के नॉन कोविड बॉयोमेडिकल वेस्ट का 33 फीसदी है.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India has been generating nearly 146 tonnes of bio-medical waste everyday due to diagnostic activities and treatment of Covid-19 patients. Biomedical waste is a threat to global public environmental health and with ‘plastic footprint’ becoming larger by the day due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, concerns on plastic waste choking the planet are mounting. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India has been generating nearly 146 tonnes of bio-medical waste every day due to diagnostic activities and treatment of Covid-19 patients. Between June 2020 and May 10, 2021, India produced 45,308 tonnes of Covid-19 biomedical waste. This is in addition to the 615 tonnes of biomedical waste a day being produced before Covid-19, the pollution control board's data showed. This is an increase of almost 17% in biomedical waste generation solely because of the pandemic. "There has been a general increase and since it is a crisis situation, we are not thinking of plastic but general prevention. The focus is no longer plastic, so that is a problem," news agency PTI quoted Ravi Agarwal, founder-director of the environmental non-profit Toxics Link, saying. Agarwal also noted that a lot of biomedical waste like face masks, PPE kits are being generated from normal households and it is also contributing to the problem significantly. "These things are finding their way across ecosystems. A lot of these things like masks can be seen on beaches, in coral reefs etc," he also said. Apart from Covid-related medical waste, what is also contributing to plastic waste is people using home delivery services for essential and non-essential shopping more than before. Lack of Covid-waste disposal mechanisms is also a major contributor to the problem. Under the existing rules by CPCB, biomedical waste is segregated into four categories. While the yellow category is for waste that is classified as “highly infectious” — such as human, animal, anatomical, and soiled — red is for contaminated recyclable waste generated from disposable items like tubing, bottles tubes, syringes. Sharp objects like needles, syringes with fixed needles are segregated into the white category and broken or discarded and contaminated glassware, including medicine vials are categorised into the blue category. However, as the Covid waste is considered potentially infectious, it is tagged yellow and incinerated. "We never know the extent of pollution we are doing... We are converting our land-based pollution to water or air pollution. That’s what we end up doing,” said Siddharth Singh, deputy programme manager at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), as per PTI.