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All IMD Air High quality Monitoring Stations In Delhi Offline: Suppose Tank

Not one of the eight air high quality monitoring stations (AQMs) of the India Meteorological Division (IMD) in Delhi has relayed information to the central server within the final two months, the Centre for Science and Setting stated on Friday. The IMD stated the AQMs are useful however information just isn’t being relayed to the central server on account of a technical challenge. “Though Delhi’s monitoring community grew to 40 stations by the top of 2020, the variety of energetic stations has diminished to 32 as all of the IMD stations have gone offline,” the CSE stated. The IMD’s station at Burari crossing has been offline since December final yr, whereas the Ayanagar, CRRI Mathura Street, IGI Airport, Lodhi Street, North Campus DU, and the PUSA stations went offline on March 10, it stated. In actual fact, the IMD’s two different stations — Gwal Pahari, Gurgaon, and Noida Sector 62 — have additionally gone offline, the CSE stated. An IMD official stated the Central Air pollution Management Board has been knowledgeable in regards to the challenge, and it’s more likely to be resolved subsequent week. The issue couldn’t be mounted earlier because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he stated. Of the 40 AQMs in Delhi, 24 belong to the Delhi Air pollution Management Committee, six are of the CPCB and two of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.

2021 lockdowns not as effective as last year’s in cleaning Delhi-NCR air: CSE

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 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 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.

All IMD Air Quality Monitoring Stations In Delhi Offline: Think Tank

None of the 8 aerial prime monitoring stations (AQMs) of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) successful Delhi has relayed information to the cardinal server successful the past 2 months, the Centre for Science and Environment said connected Friday. The IMD said the AQMs are functional but information is not being relayed to the cardinal server owed to a method issue. "Even though Delhi's monitoring web grew to 40 stations by the extremity of 2020, the fig of progressive stations has reduced to 32 arsenic each the IMD stations person gone offline," the CSE said. The IMD's presumption astatine Burari crossing has been offline since December past year, portion the Ayanagar, CRRI Mathura Road, IGI Airport, Lodhi Road, North Campus DU, and the PUSA stations went offline connected March 10, it said. In fact, the IMD's 2 different stations -- Gwal Pahari, Gurgaon, and Noida Sector 62 -- person besides gone offline, the CSE said. An IMD authoritative said the Central Pollution Control Board has been informed astir the issue, and it is apt to beryllium resolved adjacent week. The occupation could not beryllium fixed earlier owed to the COVID-19 pandemic, helium said. Of the 40 AQMs successful Delhi, 24 beryllium to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, six are of the CPCB and 2 of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.

2021 की शुरुआत रही सबसे ज्यादा प्रदूषितः स्टडी

नई दिल्ली: 2021 के शुरुआती तीन महीने 2019 के बाद से सबसे अधिक प्रदूषित रहे हैं। यह दावा किया है सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरमेंट (सीएसई) ने। सीएसई की एक रिपोर्ट के अनसुार मार्च-मई 2020 और अप्रैल-जून 2021 दोनों लॉकडाउन के दौरान प्रदूषण में कमी आई। लेकिन स्प्रिंग सीजन में प्रदूषण के बढ़ने से यह साफ है कि गतिविधियों में आंशिक रोक के बावजूद प्रदूषण बढ़ रहा है। सीएसई की एग्जीक्यूटिव डायरेक्टर रिसर्च एंड एडवोकेसी अनुमिता राय चौधरी के अनुसार महामारी की दूसरी लहर के बीच प्रदूषण कम करने के लिए एक्शन कुछ कम हो गए थे, लेकिन अब इन्हें बढ़ाने की जरूरत है। महामारी के समय में प्रदूषण के बढ़ने से लोगों को काफी परेशानियां हो सकती हैं। सीएसई की प्रोग्राम मैनेजर अविकल सोमवंशी के अनुसार इस साल जनवरी से मार्च तक पीएम 2.5 का स्तर 2019 से अब तक का सर्वाधिक रहा। सीएसई की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार जनवरी से मार्च तक 2018 के मुकाबले 2019 में प्रदूषण 26 प्रतिशत कम हुआ था। 2020 में यह कमी 36 प्रतिशत की हो गई थी। वहीं मार्च 2020 में आंशिक लॉकडाउन भी इस कमी की वजह रहा। लेकिन यह ट्रेंड इस साल नहीं दर्ज हुआ। 2020 के मुकाबले शुरुआती तीन महिने इस बार 31 प्रतिशत अधिक प्रदूषित रहे। वहीं 2019 के मुकाबले यह 8 प्रतिशत प्रदूषित रहे। सीएसई के अनुसार 2021 के लॉकडाउन के दौरान में शाम के पीक आवर में एनओ-2 का स्तर 2020 के लॉकडाउन के मुकाबले 29 प्रतिशत तक अधिक रहा। लेकिन 2019 के मुकाबले यह 57 प्रतिशत तक कम रहा। वहीं मई इस साल पूरी तरह लॉकडाउन में रही। इस दौरान गाजियाबाद सबसे प्रदूषित रहा जहां औसत प्रदूषण 59 एमजीसीएम रहा। वहीं गुरुग्राम सबसे साफ 51 एमजीसीएम पर रहा। सीएसई की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार 2021 में फरवरी से मार्च के दौरान बेहद खराब दिनों की संख्या में मामूली इजाफा हुआ है। 2021 में इनकी संख्या 27 रही, लेकिन 2020 में यह 17 और 2019 में यह 12 थी। इस साल फरवरी मार्च में महज दो दिन प्रदूषण तय मानकों पर रहा। जबकि 2020 में ऐसे दिनों की संख्या 16 और 2019 में इनकी संख्या 6 थी।

दिल्ली-NCR में मौसम विभाग के सभी स्टेशन ऑफलाइन, सीएसई ने बताई वजह

नई दिल्ली, जागरण संवाददाता। दिल्ली में मौसम विज्ञान विभाग (आइएमडी) के आठ वायु गुणवत्ता निगरानी स्टेशनों (एक्यूएमएस) में से किसी ने भी पिछले दो महीनों में केंद्रीय सर्वर को डेटा नहीं दिया है। हालांकि मौसम विभाग का कहना है कि एक्यूएमएस काम कर रहा है लेकिन तकनीकी समस्या के कारण डेटा केंद्रीय सर्वर पर नहीं भेजा जा रहा है। सेंटर फार साइंस एंड एनवायरमेंट (सीएसई) ने कहा, भले ही दिल्ली का निगरानी नेटवर्क 2020 के अंत तक 40 स्टेशनों तक बढ़ गया, लेकिन सक्रिय स्टेशनों की संख्या 32 हो गई है क्योंकि मौसम विभाग के सभी स्टेशन आफलाइन हो गए हैं। बुराड़ी क्रॉसिंग पर आइएमडी का स्टेशन पिछले साल दिसंबर से आफलाइन है, जबकि आयानगर, सीआरआरआइ मथुरा रोड, आइजीआइ एयरपोर्ट, लोधी रोड, नॉर्थ कैंपस डीयू और पूसा स्टेशन 10 मार्च को आफलाइन हो गए थे। सीएसई के मुताबिक आइएमडी के दो अन्य स्टेशन ग्वाल पहाड़ी, गुरुग्राम और नोएडा सेक्टर 62 - भी आलाइन हो गए हैं। आइएमडी के एक अधिकारी ने कहा कि केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड को इस मुद्दे के बारे में सूचित कर दिया गया है। अगले सप्ताह इस समस्या को हल किए जाने की संभावना है। उन्होंने कहा कि कोविड-19 महामारी के कारण समस्या को पहले ठीक नहीं किया जा सका। मालूम हो कि दिल्ली में 40 एक्यूएमएस में से 24 दिल्ली प्रदूषण नियंत्रण समिति के हैं, छह सीपीसीबी के हैं और दो भारतीय मौसम विज्ञान संस्थान, पुणे के हैं। दिल्ली एनसीआर की हवा को साफ करने में इस बार का लाकडाउन प्रभावी नहीं : सीएसई लाकडाउन ने इस साल भी दिल्ली-एनसीआर में वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार तो किया है, लेकिन पिछले साल की तरह प्रभावी ढंग से नहीं। वजह, 2021 के प्रतिबंध छोटे और कम कड़े होना। यह सामने आया है सेंटर फार साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) के एक आंकलन में। इस साल जो सुधार हुआ, उसके लिए भी मौसम का योगदान ज्यादा रहा। 2021 में यातायात की तीव्रता भी तुलनात्मक रूप से अधिक थी।

हवा स्वच्छ करने के मामले में लॉकडाउन पिछले साल जैसा प्रभावी नहीं : सीएसई

नई दिल्ली : सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एन्वायरमेंन्ट (सीएसई) के एक अध्ययन में बताया गया कि मौसम संबंधी स्थिति इस अंतर के लिए आंशिक तौर पर जिम्मेदार हो सकती है, लेकिन यह आंकड़ा इस बात को प्रतिबिंबित करता है कि प्रदूषण नियंत्रण संबंधी कदम इस शहर और क्षेत्र में कड़ाई से नहीं उठाए गए हैं. इस अध्ययन के अनुसार 2021 में यातायात आवाजाही भी पहले की तुलना में ज्यादा है. इस साल छह अप्रैल से दिल्ली में प्रतिबंध रात्रिकालीन कर्फ्यू और सप्ताहांत में लॉकडाउन से शुरू हुई और 19 अप्रैल से पूर्ण लॉकडाउन लागू किया गया. अध्ययन के मुताबिक, आंशिक लॉकडाउन से पीएम 2.5 प्रदूषक तत्व के स्तर में 20 फीसदी तक की कमी आई जबकि पूर्ण लॉकडाउन से इसके स्तर में 12 फ़ीसदी की और गिरावट आई. सीएसई ने बताया, 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 पीएम2.5 में 20 फीसदी की कमी आई जबकि कड़ाई से लागू लॉकडाउन से पीएम-2.5 का स्तर 35 फीसदी और कम हुआ. वायु गुणवत्ता निगरानी केंद्रों से नहीं मिल रहे आंकड़े सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरमेंट (सीएसई) ने शुक्रवार को कहा कि भारत मौसम विज्ञान विभाग के आठ वायु गुणवत्ता निगरानी केंद्र (एक्यूएम) में से पिछले दो महीने में किसी ने भी मुख्य सर्वर तक आंकड़े नहीं भेजे हैं. भारत मौसम विज्ञान विभाग (आईएमडी) ने कहा कि एक्यूएम काम कर रहे हैं लेकिन कुछ तकनीकी कारणों से मुख्य सर्वर तक आंकड़े नहीं पहुंच रहे. सीएसई ने कहा, 2020 के अंत तक दिल्ली में निगरानी नेटवर्क के स्टेशनों की संख्या बढ़कर 40 हो गयी लेकिन सक्रिय स्टेशनों की संख्या घटकर 32 हो गई. सीएसई ने कहा कि बुराड़ी क्रॉसिंग स्टेशन दिसंबर से ही आफलाइन है जबकि आयानगर, सीआरआरआई मथुरा रोड, आईजीआई एयरपोर्ट केंद्र, लोधी रोड, नार्थ कैंपस डीयू और पूसा केंद्र 10 मार्च से आफलाइन हैं.

दिल्ली-NCR की हवा स्वच्छ करने में लॉकडाउन पिछले साल जैसा असरदार नहीं'

दिल्ली-एनसीआर में इस साल लॉकडाउन की वजह से वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार तो देखने को मिला, लेकिन यह पिछले साल जैसा प्रभावी नहीं रहा क्योंकि 2021 में लगा लॉकडाउन पिछले साल की तुलना में छोटा और कम कड़ाई वाला था। सेंटर फॉर साइंस ऐंड एन्वायरमेंन्ट (सीएसई) के एक अध्ययन में यह बात सामने आई है। अध्ययन में बताया गया कि मौसम संबंधी स्थिति इस अंतर के लिए आंशिक तौर पर जिम्मेदार हो सकती है, लेकिन यह आंकड़ा इस बात को प्रतिबिंबित करता है कि प्रदूषण नियंत्रण संबंधी कदम इस शहर और क्षेत्र में कड़ाई से नहीं उठाए गए हैं। इस अध्ययन के अनुसार, 2021 में यातायात आवाजाही भी पहले की तुलना में ज्यादा है। इस साल छह अप्रैल से दिल्ली में प्रतिबंध रात्रिकालीन कर्फ्यू और सप्ताहांत में लॉकडाउन से शुरू हुई और 19 अप्रैल से पूर्ण लॉकडाउन लागू किया गया। अध्ययन के मुताबिक, आंशिक लॉकडाउन से पीएम 2.5 प्रदूषक तत्व के स्तर में 20 फीसदी तक की कमी आई जबकि पूर्ण लॉकडाउन से इसके स्तर में 12 फ़ीसदी की और गिरावट आई। सीएसई ने बताया 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 पीएम2.5 में 20 फीसदी की कमी आई जबकि कड़ाई से लागू लॉकडाउन से पीएम-2.5 का स्तर 35 फीसदी और कम हुआ। दिल्ली में मौसम विभाग के वायु गुणवत्ता निगरानी केंद्रों से नहीं मिल रहे आंकड़े सीएसई ने कहा कि भारत मौसम विज्ञान विभाग के आठ वायु गुणवत्ता निगरानी केंद्र (एक्यूएम) में से पिछले दो महीने में किसी ने भी मुख्य सर्वर तक आंकड़े नहीं भेजे हैं। भारत मौसम विज्ञान विभाग (आईएमडी) ने कहा कि एक्यूएम काम कर रहे हैं लेकिन कुछ तकनीकी कारणों से मुख्य सर्वर तक आंकड़े नहीं पहुंच रहे। सीएसई ने कहा कि 2020 के अंत तक दिल्ली में निगरानी नेटवर्क के स्टेशनों की संख्या बढ़कर 40 हो गयी लेकिन सक्रिय स्टेशनों की संख्या घटकर 32 हो गई। सीएसई ने कहा कि बुराड़ी क्रॉसिंग स्टेशन दिसंबर से ही ऑफलाइन है, जबकि आयानगर, सीआरआरआई मथुरा रोड, आईजीआई एयरपोर्ट केंद्र, लोधी रोड, नार्थ कैंपस डीयू और पूसा केंद्र 10 मार्च से ऑफलाइन हैं।

Air pollution up in smaller cities last year despite lockdown: CSE

Agra: Though several big cities witnessed reduction in air pollution last year, many smaller towns and cities experienced more “toxic” air quality compared to 2019 despite lockdown and closure of industrial and other commercial activities due to Covid-19. This has been revealed in a new analysis of winter pollution by Delhi-based think tank, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP). The 2020 average PM2.5 level in many cities has climbed up and breached average concentration recorded in 2019. Out of 25 IGP cities' data analyzed by CSE, seven recorded an increase of pollutants from 2019 level. The worst performer was Fatehabad with 34.7% increase from 2019 level, followed by Bhatinda at 17.7%, Agra 9.2%, Khanna 7.1%, Mandi Gobindgarh 5.9%, Moradabad 5.5% and Kurukshetra recorded a 0.6 % increase. Best performer was Sirsa that recorded a 43.5% decrease in PM 2.5 levels, Varanasi 31.2%, Gaya 27.4%, Muzaffarpur 14.6%, Delhi 12.8% and Hisar recorded a 12.3% reduction. Congratulations! You have successfully cast your vote Clean air gains of the lockdown and monsoon period were lost with the reopening of the economy and adverse meteorology in winter, leading to an increase in their annual average PM2.5 level, the study says. November was recorded as the “dirtiest” across most cities. As compared to the PM2.5 average in November 2019, last year, it was 310% higher in Fatehabad, 104% in Agra and 57% in Kaithal. Talking with TOI, CSE executive director, Research and Advocacy, Anumita Roy Chowdhury, said the increase in the annual average of PM2.5 level is due to a combination of meteorological conditions when air gets trapped due to low wind movement, stubble burning and local pollutants. This demands regional reforms and action to curb the pollution by adopting strategies like introducing new emission standards for vehicles, industries, scaling up public transport system, and managing waste disposal by burning, she added.

Delhi Pollution News: प्रदूषण कम करने में इस साल प्रभावी नहीं रहा लॉकडाउन, दिल्ली-NCR की हवा नहीं हुई साफ

अध्ययन के मुताबिक, आंशिक लॉकडाउन से पीएम 2.5 प्रदूषक तत्व के स्तर में 20 फीसदी तक की कमी आई जबकि पूर्ण लॉकडाउन से इसके स्तर में 12 फ़ीसदी की और गिरावट आई. (सांकेतिक फोटो) Delhi Pollution Check: इस साल 6 अप्रैल से दिल्ली में नाइट कर्फ्यू और वीकेंड लॉकडाउन के बाद 19 अप्रैल से पूर्ण तालाबंदी की गई, फिर भी हवा की गुणवत्ता में सुधार नहीं दिखा. ताजा रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक पिछले साल की तुलना में इस बार ट्रैफिक की आवाजाही ज्यादा रही. नई दिल्ली. दिल्ली-एनसीआर में इस साल लॉकडाउन की वजह से वायु गुणवत्ता (AQI) में सुधार तो देखने को मिला लेकिन यह पिछले साल जैसा प्रभावी नहीं रहा, क्योंकि 2021 में लगा लॉकडाउन (Lockdown) पिछले साल की तुलना में छोटा और कम कड़ाई वाला था. सेंटर फॉर साइंस ऐंड एन्वायरमेंन्ट (सीएसई) के एक अध्ययन में यह बात सामने आई है. अध्ययन में बताया गया कि मौसम संबंधी स्थिति इस अंतर के लिए आंशिक तौर पर जिम्मेदार हो सकती है लेकिन यह आंकड़ा इस बात को प्रतिबिंबित करता है कि प्रदूषण नियंत्रण संबंधी कदम इस शहर और क्षेत्र में कड़ाई से नहीं उठाए गए हैं. इस अध्ययन के अनुसार 2021 में यातायात आवाजाही भी पहले की तुलना में ज्यादा है. इस साल छह अप्रैल से दिल्ली में प्रतिबंध रात्रिकालीन कर्फ्यू और सप्ताहांत में लॉकडाउन से शुरू हुई और 19 अप्रैल से पूर्ण लॉकडाउन लागू किया गया. अध्ययन के मुताबिक, आंशिक लॉकडाउन से पीएम 2.5 प्रदूषक तत्व के स्तर में 20 फीसदी तक की कमी आई जबकि पूर्ण लॉकडाउन से इसके स्तर में 12 फ़ीसदी की और गिरावट आई. लॉकडाउन से पीएम-2.5 का स्तर 35 फीसदी और कम हुआ सीएसई ने बताया, ‘‘ 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 पीएम2.5 में 20 फीसदी की कमी आई जबकि कड़ाई से लागू लॉकडाउन से पीएम-2.5 का स्तर 35 फीसदी और कम हुआ.’

How Getting a Vaccine in India Is a ‘Privilege’ Especially For Those in Rural Areas

Indian states have been left to compete with each other in the global market for vaccine procurement. If the month of April was marked by images of endless rows of burning funeral pyres from major Indian cities, the images of floating bodies in the Ganges River near the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in May were a grim reminder of the unchecked spread of the virus in rural India where a majority of Indians, without access to basic health care, vaccines or infrastructure, have been fighting the virus. The second surge of the virus in India has wreaked havoc in the largely unconnected and inaccessible rural areas, and according to an analysis by Down to Earth, these areas have accounted for “more than half of India’s… COVID-19 deaths” in April. There is not only a lack of information and facilities provided by the government to the rural population on how to protect themselves against the virus but also a lack of access to medical facilities or even vaccines, which had led to the rural areas being left completely vulnerable to the virus. In India, efforts to vaccinate enough people to create the much-needed herd immunity and manage the number of infections and deaths in the country during the second wave have been marked by confusion and a lack of planning by the government, especially the BJP-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the center that has mostly left it to the states to figure out how to vaccinate their residents. The result is that vaccinations have become a privilege that seems mostly unattainable by the poor and marginalized populations of the country. According to a doctor that I spoke with, Dr. Harjit Singh Bhatti, “it is mostly a privilege vaccine meant for the rich and influential… the system is anti-rural and anti-poor.” The question those working on the ground in India are asking is how the vaccines will reach people, especially the poor—who in most cases have no access to the internet or do not have the digital know-how to book vaccine appointments. And even those with internet access and tech-savviness still face the difficulty of trying to register for a vaccine on the government’s CoWIN website, which is reported to be difficult to navigate and subject to technical glitches and long wait times. The Privilege of Getting Vaccinated Dr. Bhatti works in a private hospital in New Delhi where he has been responsible for treating COVID-19 patients. While treating them, one thing became clear to him: the system wasn’t set up to treat the poor and the marginalized. To help this section of society, he and some other doctors have started an initiative, DoctorsonRoad for rural India, to help create awareness about COVID-19 and vaccines and also provide basic facilities for rural Indians to fight the virus. Bhatti says India’s vaccine rollout is mostly meant for the privileged and that “the system wasn’t set up for the poor people who have to walk 100 kilometers to access health care. The irony of the situation is that, even when they reach [health care facilities], there isn’t any help available because these centers in rural areas don’t have the requisite resources or manpower or are not operational,” says Bhatti, who is also the national president of Progressive Medicos and Scientists Forum. According to him, there is a lack of adequate testing taking place in rural areas, which contributes to the undercounting of cases. Furthermore, even if the tests do take place, the results can come seven to ten days later, and Bhatti says that by then a patient may have passed away from the virus—but these deaths are not included in the official COVID-19 death count due to the lag in test results. “The vaccination policy wasn’t meant for the poor, underprivileged and those living in rural areas. Look at the government’s intention. There are two vaccine manufacturers [the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech], and Sputnik V will be manufactured by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories for about Rs 1,000 [almost $13], and we don’t know what price they will eventually sell it for and if the [state or central] governments who procure it will bear the entire cost for it. Can a middle-class or a poor family of five in India afford to pay so much for vaccinations when they don’t have a livelihood due to lockdowns? The system is anti-rural and anti-poor,” he says. In an interview with the Economic Times published on May 15, Dr. Anurag Agarwal, the director of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology and the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics, said, “Vaccination levels… [in rural areas] are not going to be good… I am not adequately informed to comment on the rural side, in terms of personal direct knowledge or insight or access to data. I know that India has very large hinterlands, I know that facilities there are very poor. Just like any other rational person, I would worry about rural India.” Talking about the lack of awareness about how to treat the virus, Bhatti says, “There is no proper death registration in rural areas, and no proper diagnosis of the virus is taking place, so many of the deaths due to the virus are not counted into the figures.” He adds that many people living in rural areas and slums in urban centers don’t have access to masks and soap and don’t know how to isolate a person who has been infected. For most of them, isolation is a privilege they cannot afford, with many family members living together in a small room. In Manipur, a hilly state in northeastern India, Sadam Hanjabam and his team from Ya All, a nonprofit organization working with the youth and the LGBTQI community, have been trying to organize medical aid for people there through crowdfunding. He talks about the difficulty in getting to a medical facility in the face of an emergency and the lack of clarity on vaccines. “The medical clinics—which in most cases are privately owned—are located in the city center, and to get there, people in rural areas have to take some sort of public transport. But during lockdowns, public transportation is not available, and getting medical help in such a scenario is increasingly becoming a challenge.” In India, while there is no national lockdown in place presently, various states have implemented lockdown measures. Hanjabam talks of the stigma attached to getting sick with COVID-19, leading to many in rural areas hiding the fact that they are sick. “This is accounting for the rise in deaths.” “I am not vaccinated. We were told that vaccinations for [people age] 18 and above would be available by May 17, but very few slots are available [in Imphal, Manipur]. I don’t think I will be vaccinated anytime this year,” he adds. “The vaccination centers are also not properly managed. The crowding at these centers by people waiting to get vaccinated has led to fear of getting infected by the virus from visits to these vaccination centers,” says Hanjabam. According to him, since there are very few shots available per center, those in rural areas who don’t know how to book appointments have already lost hope of getting vaccinated. Prime Minister Modi, meanwhile, issued a press release on May 15 and “asked for augmentation of healthcare resources in rural areas to focus on door to door testing and surveillance.” According to Down to Earth, while more than “65 percent of India lives in rural districts, as per the World Bank… only 37 percent of beds in government hospitals are in rural India, according to the National Health Profile 2019.” In urban India, the situation is no better. Ambalika Banerjjee, a senior lawyer who lives in Mumbai, has been trying to book an appointment to get vaccinated for most of May. “Why did the government open up the vaccinations for all adults if they didn’t have sufficient vaccinations?” Banerjjee says. “I have been spending three to four hours to get an appointment without much success. The CoWIN website is hard to navigate because you can’t move away from your laptop for a moment, otherwise you have to start the login process again. The right to a vaccine is a right of every citizen; instead, it is being treated as a privilege. I am willing to pay up to Rs 900 ($12) for a shot [administered through a private hospital]. It’s not even like it is being provided for free,” says Banerjjee. The pricing of the vaccines depends on many factors including a person’s age, the type of hospital it was administered by (whether public or private), and the way in which it was procured (whether it was purchased by the center, state, or private sector, and which vaccine manufacturer sold it). The Reality of the Vaccine Rollout India started its vaccination drive in mid-January, offering it to the priority groups of frontline and health care workers. The second phase saw the vaccination of people 60 years and over and those between 45 and 59 with underlying health conditions. By April 1, vaccination had opened up to all people 45 years and above, and by May 1, the country opened up registration for vaccinations to all adults over 18, in spite of facing vaccine shortages. In fact, many states have had to shut down vaccination centers in May with the shortage persisting. Currently, the center is responsible for providing the states with 50 percent of all COVID-19 vaccine doses produced by two private Indian manufacturers: Bharat Biotech, which, along with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology, developed Covaxin; and the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, which is producing Covishield (licensed from AstraZeneca). The center bought 50 percent of the vaccine supply to offer it to states for free, leaving the other 50 percent up to states and private hospitals to buy directly from the manufacturers. Out of the 25 percent of the vaccines being procured by private hospitals, however, “very little” is reaching the rural areas, according to an analysis by the Times of India. The crippling shortage of vaccines, meanwhile, has forced state governments to float global tenders for the procurement of vaccines, resulting in states being pitched against one another to ensure that their citizens are inoculated. Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has pointed out in a tweet how this procurement strategy portrays a “bad image” of the country, saying that the process should be centralized instead. If the global community of vaccine manufacturers and countries had been approached by a united “‘India’ rather than individual states, our bargaining power” would be much greater, he further tweeted, because the central government “has much more diplomatic space to negotiate with their countries.” Indeed, Pfizer and Moderna have reportedly refused to “deal with [the] Indian states for vaccines.” India’s vaccination program is hamstrung by its lack of centralization twofold—not only by how successful the central, state, and private sector are in procuring the vaccines, but also in the pricing offered by manufacturers to each buyer. Manufacturers are quoting different prices for the vaccines to the central government, state government and private hospitals. India’s highest court has questioned the “rationale” behind this “differential vaccine pricing.” The center while responding to this has maintained that “the difference in the prices fixed for Central government, state governments and private market are because of the volumes sought by them,” Business Today reports. While the majority of states have decided to provide free vaccines to adults, those getting a shot from a private hospital will most likely have to pay out of their own pocket, even as most countries have made vaccination free for their citizens. Talking about the implications of the differential pricing or the increase in prices for vaccines being provided to state governments and private hospitals, economist R. Ramakumar told Firstpost in an interview, “It will have major implications in the way that it will push and exclude millions of poor people in India out of access to this health measure.” The central government, while facing pressure on vaccinations, has come up with a new plan where it claims that it will have 2 billion vaccines available between August and December to vaccinate the whole population by the end of 2021, which seems ambitious to say the very least. How Lack of Action Has Cost Lives As of June 1, 3.3 percent of India’s population was fully vaccinated as against 40.7 percent of the population in the U.S. or 10.5 percent of the population in Brazil. India is reporting around 3,000 deaths per day and is second only to the U.S. in the total number of COVID-19 cases that have been reported from the country so far. Despite this, the central government’s messaging has focused on controlling its image rather than on taking charge of the health crisis. It has denied its own failure and has made no effort to share useful information to prevent the spread of the virus, with India’s health minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, even telling people to eat “dark chocolate to beat COVID-19 stress.” More recently, he tweeted to support a rebuttal of a recent Lancet report criticizing the handling of the crisis by the government. The misinformation and downplaying of COVID-19 by the right-wing Modi government is similar to that of America’s former President Donald Trump, who said that people should consume disinfectants to fight coronavirus, only to later say he was being “sarcastic.” Many other parallels can be drawn regarding the handling of the COVID-19 situation by Trump and the Modi government. The state governments in America were also left pleading with the federal government for basic medical facilities, as seen in India. Much like Trump, who was against calling for a national lockdown, Modi is now averse to the idea, even as experts feel it will help curb infection rates. This is mostly due to the criticism Modi faced of calling a lockdown on short notice during the first wave. Despite receiving a clear mandate, both the leaders squandered the faith of the people who voted them to power. Meanwhile, India and its slow vaccination rollout have become a cautionary tale for the rest of the world. “The tragedy in India does not have to happen here in Africa, but we must all be on the highest possible alert,” said Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa.

CSE releases State of India’s Environment in Figures 2021

Rural India worst hit by second wave compared to urban centres, says CSE’s new data compendium The COVID 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, says a new statistical report released here today by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down To Earth magazine. The report — State of India’s Environment in Figures 2021 — says community health centres in rural India need 76 per cent more doctors, 56 per cent more radiographers and 35 per cent more lab technicians. The report covers a wide swathe of subjects, from air pollution and climate change to biodiversity and COVID, and from agriculture and land to water and waste. Releasing the report — which is an annual compendium of statistics on environment and development — at a webinar organised by CSE, the Centre’s director general Sunita Narain said: “There is drama in numbers, especially when these numbers give you a trend – are things getting better or worse. It is even more powerful when you can use the trend to understand the crisis, the challenge and the opportunity.” Pandemic pointers The report’s analysis of the pandemic through numbers throws up an array of other interesting facts. Says Richard Mahapatra, managing editor, Down To Earth: “One of the key pieces of information that is emerging is that in the second wave, India has been the worst hit globally and rural India has been hit more badly than our urban areas. In May this year, India alone accounted for more than half of the daily global cases on six days. The peak was due to a surge in cases in rural districts.” Adds Mahapatra: “Along with climate-related risks, infectious diseases have entered the list of major global economic threats for the first time since 2006.” Pointing to the load of biomedical waste the country is grappling with as a result of the pandemic, the report says there has been a 46 per cent increase in COVID-19 biomedical waste between April and May 2021. At the same time, treatment of this waste has dipped: in 2019, India managed to treat 88 per cent of its biomedical waste — down from almost 93 per cent in 2017. The country has managed to fully vaccinate a mere 3.12 per cent of its population, which is lower than the global average of 5.48 per cent. The economic impacts have been – and will continue to be – very severe. Says Rajit Sengupta, one of the key writers of the report: “The pandemic’s spread to fragile rural districts means that the country will take longer to recover. This is likely to slow down the GDP growth next year.” While urban unemployment rate reached almost 15 per cent in May 2021, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act implementation witnessed massive payment lags – the states and UTs of Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh registered maximum payment delays. Climate change: A danger that cannot be overlooked The CSE report lays special emphasis on climate change. Says Narain: “Grappling as we are with a debilitating pandemic, we cannot lose sight of another clear and present danger that is threatening our very survival. That danger is climate change. Our report’s data amply illustrates the magnitude of the threat.” The report points out that India recorded 12 of its 15 warmest years in the period between 2006 and 2020: it also had its warmest decade on record. Extreme weather events continued their rampage across the country, which was the fourth worst hit in the world in terms of internal displacements due to disasters. Says Dr.Narain: “Data on migrants is sparse — and so every time there is a lockdown, governments are caught unprepared by the exodus from cities. This is compounded by the fact that there is out-migration – people are leaving their homes because of many reasons of economic and ecological distress, including extreme weather and natural disasters.” She adds: “This report tells us that in 2020, 76 per cent of internal displacements in the world were triggered by climate disasters. Between 2008 and 2020, some 3.73 million people per year were displaced because of floods, earthquakes, cyclones and droughts. The map of the significant weather events of 2020 is the new cartography of the country. Then add to this the fact that governments are spending massive amounts in repairing the damage from these not-so-natural calamities and you understand how the development dividend is being squandered with every such event.” Melting glaciers have exacerbated the threat. Says Kiran Pandey, CSE’s programme director for environmental resources and the lead writer of the report: “There are 39 glaciers that have seen a significant increase in their area and are highly disaster-prone.” The country’s response seems to be lagging, finds the report. Take the case of renewable energy: India’s ambitious renewable target, which was a commendable step towards going green, has slipped. With just 55 per cent of the target met, India is nowhere close to installing 175 GW of renewable capacity by 2022. The country also has a target of setting up at least 50 solar parks by 2021-22. So far, it has not operationalised even one of them. Says Dr.Narain: “At a time and age when the quality of data available to us is usually poor – it is either missing, unavailable publicly or of questionable quality – a collection like this can be immensely helpful, especially for journalists. Improving the quality of data can only happen when we use it for policy. Take the case of the ongoing pandemic. Just consider how we have suffered in this past year because we do not have sufficient or accurate data on tests, or the number of deaths, or serological surveys, or genomic sequencing of the variants. In each case, data would have been (and is) critical for policy making.” She adds: “Data collection is important – it is part of the art of governance – but it is equally important that entire data sets are shared and worked upon so that they can be critiqued and through this process used and improved upon.”

CSE releases State of India’s Environment in Figures 2021

Rural India worst hit by second wave compared to urban centres, says CSE’s new data compendium News Stardom : Kolkata, 5th. June 2021. The COVID 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, says a new statistical report released here today by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down To Earth magazine. The report — State of India’s Environment in Figures 2021 — says community health centres in rural India need 76 per cent more doctors, 56 per cent more radiographers and 35 per cent more lab technicians. The report covers a wide swathe of subjects, from air pollution and climate change to biodiversity and COVID, and from agriculture and land to water and waste. Releasing the report — which is an annual compendium of statistics on environment and development — at a webinar organised by CSE, the Centre’s director general Sunita Narain said: “There is drama in numbers, especially when these numbers give you a trend – are things getting better or worse. It is even more powerful when you can use the trend to understand the crisis, the challenge and the opportunity.” Pandemic pointers The report’s analysis of the pandemic through numbers throws up an array of other interesting facts. Says Richard Mahapatra, managing editor, Down To Earth: “One of the key pieces of information that is emerging is that in the second wave, India has been the worst hit globally and rural India has been hit more badly than our urban areas. In May this year, India alone accounted for more than half of the daily global cases on six days. The peak was due to a surge in cases in rural districts.” Adds Mahapatra: “Along with climate-related risks, infectious diseases have entered the list of major global economic threats for the first time since 2006.” Pointing to the load of biomedical waste the country is grappling with as a result of the pandemic, the report says there has been a 46 per cent increase in COVID-19 biomedical waste between April and May 2021. At the same time, treatment of this waste has dipped: in 2019, India managed to treat 88 per cent of its biomedical waste — down from almost 93 per cent in 2017. The country has managed to fully vaccinate a mere 3.12 per cent of its population, which is lower than the global average of 5.48 per cent. The economic impacts have been – and will continue to be – very severe. Says Rajit Sengupta, one of the key writers of the report: “The pandemic’s spread to fragile rural districts means that the country will take longer to recover. This is likely to slow down the GDP growth next year.” While urban unemployment rate reached almost 15 per cent in May 2021, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act implementation witnessed massive payment lags – the states and UTs of Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh registered maximum payment delays. Climate change: A danger that cannot be overlooked The CSE report lays special emphasis on climate change. Says Narain: “Grappling as we are with a debilitating pandemic, we cannot lose sight of another clear and present danger that is threatening our very survival. That danger is climate change. Our report’s data amply illustrates the magnitude of the threat.” The report points out that India recorded 12 of its 15 warmest years in the period between 2006 and 2020: it also had its warmest decade on record. Extreme weather events continued their rampage across the country, which was the fourth worst hit in the world in terms of internal displacements due to disasters. Says Dr.Narain: “Data on migrants is sparse — and so every time there is a lockdown, governments are caught unprepared by the exodus from cities. This is compounded by the fact that there is out-migration – people are leaving their homes because of many reasons of economic and ecological distress, including extreme weather and natural disasters.” She adds: “This report tells us that in 2020, 76 per cent of internal displacements in the world were triggered by climate disasters. Between 2008 and 2020, some 3.73 million people per year were displaced because of floods, earthquakes, cyclones and droughts. The map of the significant weather events of 2020 is the new cartography of the country. Then add to this the fact that governments are spending massive amounts in repairing the damage from these not-so-natural calamities and you understand how the development dividend is being squandered with every such event.” Melting glaciers have exacerbated the threat. Says Kiran Pandey, CSE’s programme director for environmental resources and the lead writer of the report: “There are 39 glaciers that have seen a significant increase in their area and are highly disaster-prone.” The country’s response seems to be lagging, finds the report. Take the case of renewable energy: India’s ambitious renewable target, which was a commendable step towards going green, has slipped. With just 55 per cent of the target met, India is nowhere close to installing 175 GW of renewable capacity by 2022. The country also has a target of setting up at least 50 solar parks by 2021-22. So far, it has not operationalised even one of them. Says Dr.Narain: “At a time and age when the quality of data available to us is usually poor – it is either missing, unavailable publicly or of questionable quality – a collection like this can be immensely helpful, especially for journalists. Improving the quality of data can only happen when we use it for policy. Take the case of the ongoing pandemic. Just consider how we have suffered in this past year because we do not have sufficient or accurate data on tests, or the number of deaths, or serological surveys, or genomic sequencing of the variants. In each case, data would have been (and is) critical for policy making.” She adds: “Data collection is important – it is part of the art of governance – but it is equally important that entire data sets are shared and worked upon so that they can be critiqued and through this process used and improved upon.”

Delhi govt moves SC seeking closure of 10 polluting thermal power plants in city's vicinity

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Thursday said it has filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking closure of 10 coal-fired power plants in the vicinity of the city using outdated polluting technology. The 10 thermal power plants in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have been contributing significantly to air pollution in Delhi-NCR, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said. The Delhi government had written to the Central government requesting their cooperation on pollution from these TPPs, but "no help has been received so far. We hope the Supreme Court will take necessary steps and direct closure of these plants on an urgent basis", he said in a statement. The 10 power plants are - Dadri NCTPP, Harduaganj TPS, GH TPS (Lehra Mohabbat), Nabha TPP, Ropar TPS, Talwandi Sabo TPP, Yamunanagar TPS, Indira Gandhi STPP, Panipat TPS and Rajiv Gandhi TPS. A 2018 study by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Automotive Research Association of India says 60 per cent of the PM 2.5 pollution in Delhi originates from sources outside the city, it said. Various studies have highlighted the effects of the pollutants from such coal-fired power plants on the health of communities. The ill-effects are more pronounced for vulnerable individuals, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and persons suffering from asthma and lung diseases, the Delhi government said in the statement. On April 1, the Union Environment Ministry had issued a notification with amended rules allowing thermal power plants within 10 kilometers of the National Capital Region (NCR) and in cities with more than 10 lakh population to comply with new emission norms by the end of 2022. It had revised emission norms for particulate matter (PM), sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen for TPPs in December 2015, requiring them to install emission control systems by December 2017. The deadline was pushed to December 2022 for all the power stations in the country in view of implementation issues and challenges. However, power stations in the national capital region were required to comply with the revised norms by December 2019. According to the new notification, non-compliance by these TPPs will not lead to the closure of the polluting units but they would continue to pollute subject to the payment of penalty, the Delhi government said in the statement. According to Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), TPPs account for more than 60 per cent of the total industrial emissions of particulate matter; 45 per cent of SO2; 30 per cent of NOx; and more than 80 per cent of mercury, in the country. These are also responsible for 70 per cent of the total freshwater withdrawal by all industries, as per an analysis by the green think tank. A recent compliance report by CSE showed that out of the 12 power plants located around Delhi, SO2 control technology was available only in two plants. According to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, the delay in installation of the SO2 and NOx control facilities are leading to more than 13 deaths and a loss of Rs 19 crore daily in the region around Delhi-NCR at 2018 operational levels, it added.

Delhi breathes easy as Covid-19 lockdown lowers pollution levels again

Due to a lockdown implemented during the second wave of Covid-19 starting mid-April, Delhi's air quality improved and was similar to that of 2020. Covid-19 lockdown in the national capital may not be good news for many but it has definitely helped clear the air in Delhi. Due to closure of markets, malls, industries, and construction works during the second wave of Covid-19 starting mid-April, the air quality this year is similar to that of last year, when a nation-wide lockdown was implemented in March. The average PM2.5 for May of both the years is almost identical at about 55-56 ug/m3. However, this value is about 42 per cent lower than the value in May 2019, when there was no lockdown. In May 2019, the average PM2.5 level recorded was 95 ug/m3, suggesting that lockdown had a significant impact on reducing Delhi’s PM 2.5 level. Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) describes fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller. If we dig deeper into the data, some more interesting findings come to the fore. The air in 2020 is almost 33 per cent cleaner than 2019 and 2021 if we compare the overall average of pollution levels for the first five months from January to May. The average PM2.5 for the first five months (Jan to May) in 2021 is 121ug/m3. This is 33% higher than the corresponding period in 2020 when it was recorded at 91 ug/m3 and almost identical to the pre-pandemic year 2019 level when the average PM2.5 level was recorded at 122ug/m3. The concerning point is that this average is higher this year despite the lockdown in April-May. Which means, if the lockdown would not have happened this year, then the average air quality for the first five months could have been worse. Anumita Roy Chowdhary, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy with Center for Science and Environment (CSE) said, "It was a much-needed relief for the Delhi air in the form of lockdown. The first three months of 2021 were more polluted compared to the first three months of previous three years. The average level of PM2.5 concentration was 204 ug/m3 in January, 159 ug/m3 in February, 100 ug/m3 in March, but it came down significantly to 89 ug/m3 in April and 55 ug/m3 in the month of May." A more granular look at the weekly data for the year shows that the air in February and March this year was 20% dirtier than what was observed in 2019. Even though in 2020, lockdown was implemented at the end of March, the first three months were much cleaner in comparison to 2019 and 2021.

Editor's Choice : The real oximeter

What we need is an evergreen revolution that secures livelihood, provides for energy security and combats climate change CELEBRATING WORLD Environment Day in the time of an ongoing horri�c health pandemic is di�cult to contemplate. In this time of immense human grief and loss, what does the environment even count for? But take a moment to re�ect. The most important element that we gasped for in the past month was oxygen. Think of the hours and days we spent �nding oxygen for our loved ones; how we saw patients collapse and die because hospitals did not have oxygen in the tanks; how the courts stepped in to regulate the transportation of oxygen from industries across the country; how we learnt about the business of oxygen concentrator—a machine that sucks in air and gives us oxygen on demand. Our desperation cannot be recounted without pain. We saw the gasp for each breath—and just how precious it is. This then is what we must remember this World Environment Day. The oxygen that we get from nature is about increasing green cover and ensuring that our air—our every breath—is not polluted. Something we talk glibly about and yet discount with our next move. The theme of this year’s World Environment Day, celebrated every year on June 5, is ecosystem restoration. Increasing the tree density and repairing the ecosystem health means the world will sequester carbon dioxide— that is �lling up our atmosphere and leading the world to an inexorable downward spiral of climate change impacts—and release oxygen. It’s a win-win. But what we need to understand is that planting trees or restoring ecosystems will require us to �rst restore our relationship with nature and society. The fact is trees are about land—who owns it; who protects and regenerates it, and who has the rights over the produce. In India, the forest department has the “ownership” of vast areas of common forest land. But countries like India do not have “wilderness”. Instead, we have habitats where people coexist with wild animals in forests. These are the same forest districts classi�ed as the most backward and poorest. It is also a fact that using all the legal and administrative, and sometimes, muscle power, the country’s forest department has kept the tree cover somewhat intact. It works hard every day to keep people and their animals out. It shu�es �les between the bottom rung of guards and the top bureaucrats to minimise the cutting of trees for “development” projects—from mining to dams. But “growing” trees needs people to take ownership of its management; so that livestock is kept out; so that the saplings survive. More importantly, trees have a value—whether for their ecosystem services or for timber—which needs to be paid to the grower. This would then make for a tree-based renewable future—where timber can be used for making houses and wood for generating energy. This will be an evergreen revolution that puts money in the hands of the poor; secures livelihoods; and at the same time provides for energy security and combats climate change. Today the entire world is talking about nature-based solutions—what I have described above—but without putting the poor community at the centre of the solution. The reason is not di�cult to understand. It is about the political economy of land tenure; the power of the most voiceless and marginalised; and about the cost of growing trees when people matter. In this scheme the value of land and labour needs to be paid for, not in terms of the cheapest options for mitigating carbon dioxide from the air but in terms of livelihoods that this solution will provide. This will make the entire idea of buying cheap carbon o�sets unfeasible. Then, of course, there is the challenge when with every breath we inhale poison and not oxygen. We discuss this every year, when winter comes and the pollution gets trapped in the heavy air and moisture. We feel it then. We scream. But then we forget. So, just as winter ended this year, the Indian government decided to change the rules for coal-based thermal power plants to give them a licence to pollute. Simply, it said, you can pay for noncompliance and this penalty will be lower than what you would spend on pollution control equipment. The rules are oxygen for the power companies and death by breath for the rest of us. The fact is our oxygen cannot be secured in a cylinder or by an oxygen concentrator machine that I suspect every rich Indian household will now buy and keep. It cannot even be secured by the air puri�er that we already have bought and installed in our houses and o�ces. Instead, oxygen needs us to value it as the most important and critical life-support system of our world. So, this World Environment Day, when the ravages of the pandemic have left us angry and shattered, let’s not beat around the bush any more. We know today, more than ever before, that talking the talk does not save lives. We need to walk the talk. The oxygen in this battle for a greener and more inclusive tomorrow is our common anguish—this is our �ght for survival. Nothing less. (downtoearth.org.in) (https://www.downtoearth.org.in/) DTE @sunitanar