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New norms for thermal plants may dent India’s emission targets: Experts

A new analysis by researchers shows that the new thermal power plant norms issued by the Union environment ministry last month, which allowed them flexibility in meeting certain criteria, could compromise India’s emission reduction goals that are part of efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The new rules, which came into effect on March 31, give an extension of 1 to 3 years to all thermal power plants to comply with emission norms that are mandated by the government. What makes it worse is that the penalty charged to companies for not complying with the extended deadline is even lower than the cost of complying with rules that are meant to reduce emissions, an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment has found. This means that thermal power plants can continue to pollute by paying a lower price for not installing pollution control devices. CSE’s analysis released on Thursday shows that while installing the equipment for pollution control will cost between ₹40-100 lakh/MW, the penalty that a 500 MW thermal power plant will have to pay to keep running without installing the equipment is only ₹5-11 lakh/MW as per the new amendment. Similarly, the maximum penalty imposed on non-compliant thermal plants is 20 paise per unit of electricity.

2-day digital conference to find ways to cut pollution

New Delhi: Delhi government will organise a two-day digital roundtable conference starting Monday to discuss ways to reduce air pollution levels in the city. Environment minister Gopal Rai said the government had set a target of reducing air pollution by one-third in the next five years. Based on suggestions from experts and organisations at the conference, the government will formulate a long-term action plan. “Delhi government under the leadership of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has been working for six years to reduce air pollution. The work done in this period has helped but is not enough. To solve the crisis, the CM has guaranteed to bring down air pollution level by a third in the next five years,” Rai said. After “World Air Quality Report, 2020” ranked Delhi as the 10th most polluted city and the top polluted capital city in the world, TOI, in March, had reported that the environment department would conduct a conference with experts from academic institutes, environment-related organisations and NGOs to discuss steps that could be taken to reduce air pollution. According to the report, Delhi, with an average annual PM2.5 concentration at 84.1 micrograms per cubic metre, topped the list of the most polluted capital cities in the world. The report added that the capital’s air quality improved by approximately 15% between 2019 and 2020. The experts participating in the conference include Mukesh Sharma from IIT Kanpur, Sagnik Dey of IIT Delhi, Sumit Sharma of Teri, Santosh Harish of Center for Policy Research, Anumita Roychowdhury from Centre for Science and Environment, Air Pollution Action Group Karthik Ganesan, representative from Council of Energy Environmental and Water, professor Gufran Baig from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and Siddharth Virmani of Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago.

New norms for thermal plants may dent India's emission targets: Experts

New norms for thermal plants may dent India's emission targets: Experts The new rules, which came into effect on March 31, give an extension of 1 to 3 years to all thermal power plants to comply with emission norms that are mandated by the government. A new analysis by researchers shows that the new thermal power plant norms issued by the Union environment ministry last month, which allowed them flexibility in meeting certain criteria, could compromise India’s emission reduction goals that are part of efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The new rules, which came into effect on March 31, give an extension of 1 to 3 years to all thermal power plants to comply with emission norms that are mandated by the government. What makes it worse is that the penalty charged to companies for not complying with the extended deadline is even lower than the cost of complying with rules that are meant to reduce emissions, an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment has found. This means that thermal power plants can continue to pollute by paying a lower price for not installing pollution control devices. CSE’s analysis released on Thursday shows that while installing the equipment for pollution control will cost between ₹40-100 lakh/MW, the penalty that a 500 MW thermal power plant will have to pay to keep running without installing the equipment is only ₹5-11 lakh/MW as per the new amendment. Similarly, the maximum penalty imposed on non-compliant thermal plants is 20 paise per unit of electricity. But the cost of retrofit of pollution control equipment to meet the new norms for these plants is estimated to be between 30 and 70 paise per unit of power generated. “The amended notification favours operation of old inefficient coal power stations, which can continue to run on paying a penalty – this can compromise India’s climate change goals. What is worse is that the deterrence penalty charged to companies for not complying with the emission norms in the extended deadline is in fact a license to pollute,” the CSE analysis said. A senior environment ministry official, however, said the cost of penalties will have to be borne by power companies but the cost of installing emission control devices can be passed on to the consumers. “The power ministry has already made provisions where the cost of compliance to new emission norms can be passed on to the consumer in the form of tariff but the penalty for not complying cannot be passed on, so this will be loss to the power generator. There are a limited number of suppliers of pollution control devices... [and] Covid also has caused delays. So we have tried to harmonise the process through this notification,” the senior environment ministry official said on condition of anonymity. The environment ministry’s notification dated March 31 replaces the Environment (protection) Rules, 1986, with the Environment (protection) Amendment Rules, 2021. It states that thermal power plants located within 10km radius of the National Capital Region (NCR) or cities with million-plus populations have to meet the emission norms by December 31, 2022. Thermal power plants within 10km radius of critically polluted areas or non-attainment cities (cities that did not meet the annual national standard for particulate matter emissions from 2011 to 2015) will have to meet the standards by December 31, 2023, it states. Thermal power plants that are not in these two categories and are not scheduled for retirement will have to meet the norms by December 31, 2024. Read more: India debates the net zero emission target— what is at stake The environment ministry had first notified superior emission standards for thermal power plants in December 2015 for implementation by the end of 2017. Later in 2017, this deadline was delayed to 2022 due to resistance from the industry. Last year, the Union power ministry approached the environment ministry requesting that the timeline to meet air quality norms be deferred on account of pandemic-linked economic slowdown and the inability to source flue gas desulphurization (FGD) systems, which help control sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. The environment ministry appears to have heeded to their demand. “The cost of non-compliance as per the new notification is miniscule compared to the cost of compliance, so why will companies comply?” asked Sunita Narain, director general, CSE. “Looking at the past track record of penalisation and stay (through courts) ensured by the non-complying power plants as well at the structure and formulation of current proposed penalty amount per unit of generation it is very evident that firstly it wouldn’t even be enforced and secondly rather than ensuring compliance, it will support non-compliance by polluting power plants in a power surplus market, where cost of non-compliance is negligible compared to amount they are paid as fixed costs,” said Sunil Dahiya, researcher at Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Over 40% of India’s greenhouse gas emissions come from its energy sector because of heavy dependence on coal, according to India’s biennial report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

First Eco-bricks Bench Inaugurated in Dwarka’s Brahma Apartments

In today’s time and age, the society we currently live in needs a major change in the management of plastic waste. According to the Centre of Science and Environment, plastic waste is world’s most formidable environmental challenge and the COVID-19 pandemic has made matters even worse. However, citizens have already started to take the situation in their hands. On April 10, MLA Sushree Bhavna Gaur inaugurated a bench made from environment-friendly bricks in Dwarka’s Brahma apartments. The bricks were made from single-use plastic and multiplayer plastics like wrappers of chips, chocolates, biscuits etc which are small in quantity and are usually mixed with other garbage which cannot be fixed once mixed. All these plastics are put inside PET plastic bottles in which one plastic bottle weighs around 330 gm. In total, 8 kgs of single use plastic is prevented from polluting the environment. The initiative was only made successful by individual participation of all residents of Brahma apartments. Residents of other societies in Dwarka, including children, participated as well. The inauguration event was attended by the management of committee members and residents of Brahma apartments. The idea of the eco-bricks bench was proposed by Madhukar Varshney, founder of the Rise Foundation. “As a responsible citizen it is our duty to nurture and care for our habitat. Citizen and community participation is a must. We want people to be aware of the eco-bricks concept. We pitched this concept with Brahma apartments and conducted sessions with the residents. They actively contributed 100 eco-bricks,” Varshney said. Munish Kundra, secretary of Brahma Apartments said, “In continuation of our initiative of ‘Zero Waste Society’, we found making eco bricks is an easy way to handle plastic waste and avoid it being sent to the garbage landfill. This initiative is a good engagement with society residents. Our residents have contributed 100 eco bricks till now.” Vinod Kumar, president of Brahma Apartment said, “Proper management of our plastic waste is very important and eco bricks is a very easy way for this management. We have always encouraged such activities.”

Forest Fires Are Now Razing Uttarakhand, Did We Learn Anything From Similipal?

Uttarakhand is battling one of the worst forest fires the state has witnessed since its formation in 2000. According to forest officials, there are 40 active fire spots in the forests of the Garhwal and Kumaon regions, with Nainital, Almora, Tehri and Pauri districts being the worst-hit. Similar fires gripped Similipal National Park in Odisha last month and burned for over a fortnight. The massive fires in Odisha may have been doused by rain and hail, but the questions of environmental concern continue to burn. Mainstream television news channels, busy covering the campaigning for the assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam, ignored the fire. Some concerns were raised on social media about the fate of the indigenous tribes in the state, whose livelihood depends on produce from the forest. Down To Earth magazine reported that forest officials were intimidating the locals, accusing them of purposely setting the forest on fire. Several environmentalists and forest guards accused them of burning leaves that sparked the blaze, an allegation refuted by the tribal population. The Odisha government claimed there was no loss of life due to the fire, without clarifying whether it referred to the loss of human or animal life. But apart from the suspicion that many animals might have perished in the inferno, there were concerns that those that fled the forest to escape the flames could fall prey to hunters and poachers outside their protected habitat. India has already witnessed four major forest fires in 2021, but no one seems to be concerned. In January, forest fires in Himachal Pradesh’s scenic Kullu and Shimla districts burnt for days before being brought under control. In the east, forests along the Nagaland-Manipur border also raged for two weeks before NDRF and Army teams were sent to douse them. The fact that very few of us knew or cared about these massive fires underlines the fact that Indians are not really worried about climate change. Wildfires are an essential part of ecological systems in certain forest habitations that catch fire in the dry season. But this natural phenomenon has multiplied manifold in recent years due to the unusually hot dry spells sparked by Climate Change. Apart from this, fires are often deliberately lit to clear land for humans or drive animals out of a particular place and often go out of control, endangering entire species of animals. Massive wildfires have become an annual ritual across the globe. But while the Beirut Blast and Covid-19 pandemic come out as clear instances of threats to human life, the world seems unaware of the impending devastation that climate change will bring. Environmentalists who try to flag this clear and present danger have been asked to work on their “anger management problem” by world leaders. In India, the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Bill tabled in Parliament left environmentalists howling in protests. The bill aims at easing rules for industries that breach environmental laws, thereby putting economic development ahead of long-term environmental damage. This sheer ignorance of those who make laws on one of the most important 21st-century issues is perhaps due to lack of awareness, as shown by the general apathy both among the government and the public towards the fire in Similipal. Indians wake up to the news of an orange sky due to wildfires in California, fret over bushfires in Australia and express outrage over the Amazon forest fires on social media. But when fires burning for nearly a fortnight wipe out one-third of India’s revered national reserve, nobody seems to care. Many of the environmental challenges that threaten our world, including global warming, can be slowed down if not reversed if we humans, said to be the most intelligent animal species, paid more attention to how our daily activities affect our natural surroundings. We can initiate conversations in order to raise awareness and work on minimising our carbon footprint as early measures to reduce the harm already done. We can use social media to support the work of activists who highlight the worsening condition of our environment, thus raising awareness. And finally, we can use collective pressure and outrage to call out those who are exploiting our planet for short term gains without any concern for the long term damage. And we need to do it now before it is too late.

Reprieve likely for six thermal plants

New Delhi: Six thermal power plants, which are located within a 300-km radius of Delhi and are contributing to the capital’s pollution, are likely to receive relaxations for the next three years, states Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). In an analysis carried out by it, the NGO found the latest categorisation of thermal power plants — based on the Union environment ministry’s recent amendment to the 2015 notification for coal-based thermal power plants (TPPs) — will mean that over 72% of the total capacity of India’s thermal power plants will receive an extension in the deadline to comply with stringent emission norms. Norms to limit pollutants from TPPs were announced in 2015 and were expected to be adopted by 2017. The deadline for compliance was later extended till 2022. So far, a mere one-third of the plants have taken steps in order to switch to cleaner technology, claims CSE. “Instead of working to ensure implementation, the ministry has chosen to extend the deadline further, allowing a majority of the plants to pollute for another three to four years. However, extension is not the only matter to be worried about. What makes this a fatally flawed notification is that the deterrence provided in it for non-compliance actually gives the polluters a licence to pollute,” said Sunita Narain, director general at CSE. Power plants are falling into three categories — Category A, including TPPs in a 10-km radius of NCR or cities having a million-plus population as per the 2011 census; Category B that includes TPPs in a 10-km radius of critically polluted areas and non-attainment cities; and the rest of the TPPs are in Category C. TPPs in Category A have to meet the deadline by 2022, while those in Category B need to meet it by by 2023, and in Category C by 2024. CSE states flouting the deadlines is also easier because the penalty is less. “While installing the equipment for pollution control will cost between Rs 40-100 lakh/MW, the penalty that thermal power plants will have to pay to keep running without installing this equipment is roughly Rs 5-11 lakh/MW,” said the CSE analysis. “It is clear that thermal power sector is a major contributor to India’s pollution challenge – from air to water – and this notification nullifies all the work that was being done to improve performance of the sector,” says Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director, Industrial Pollution Unit, CSE. For those polluting Delhi, the six TPPs likely to receive extensions largely fall in Punjab. Earlier, they had to comply with the 2019 deadline.

Env ministry’s new deadlines for thermal plants will give them license to pollute indefinitely: CSE

The Centre for Science and Environment CSE on Wednesday said the environment ministrys decision to extend deadlines for thermal power plants TPPs to comply with new emission norms will give them a license to pollute indefinitely. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Wednesday said the environment ministry's decision to ''extend'' deadlines for thermal power plants (TPPs) to comply with new emission norms “will give them a license to pollute indefinitely”. Norms to limit pollutants from TPPs were announced in 2015 and were expected to be adopted by 2017. But the industry managed to delay implementation to 2022, it said. “It is 2021 now: with just a few months to go before the deadline, a mere one-third of the plants have taken any serious steps to comply with the norms,” the green think tank said in a statement. On April 1, the ministry had issued a notification allowing TPPs within 10 km of the national capital region and in cities with more than 10 lakh population to comply with new emission norms by the end of 2022, according to an official notification. TPP units in ''non-attainment cities'' and those within 10 km of critically-polluted areas are required to meet the emission norms by December 31, 2023. Coal-fired power plants in the rest of the areas have to comply with the new standards by December 31, 2024, according to the notification. “The ministry has chosen to extend the deadline further, allowing a majority of the plants to pollute for another three to four years. What makes this a fatally flawed notification is that the deterrence provided in it for non-compliance actually gives the polluters a license to pollute,” said Sunita Narain, the director general of CSE. It said that six TPPs that were adding to Delhi's air pollution issues are likely to be given a much extended 2024/2025 deadline based on the new categorisation. A majority of these plants are in Punjab. Earlier, they had to comply with the 2019 deadline. “The new notification undermines all efforts to 'clean' up dirty coal power plants. It is clear that thermal power sector is a major contributor to India's pollution challenge – from air to water – and this notification nullifies all the work that was being done to improve performance of the sector,” said Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director, Industrial Pollution Unit, CSE. The environment ministry 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. The power ministry had last year requested the environment ministry to extend the deadline to meet emission norms for all thermal plants from 2022 to 2024, citing delay due to various reasons, including the coronavirus pandemic and import restrictions. Major pollutants from coal-fired power plants are oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM). According to the CSE, TPPs account for more than 60 per cent of 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, according to an analysis by the think tank. A recent compliance report by the CSE showed that out of the 12 power plants located around Delhi, SO2 control technology was available only in two plants. PTI GVS RHL RHL

India-US partnership to ensure renewable energy target is achieved by 2030

In its Biennial Update Report to the UNFCCC submitted in February, India said it has progressively continued decoupling of economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions The US and India are likely to collaborate on a clean technology agenda for 2030 to ensure India meets its target of 450GW renewable energy capacity. Soon after US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the PM announced on Wednesday that the two countries can collaborate on a 2030 agenda to facilitate affordable access to green technologies and requisite finance. Kerry also tweeted: “Thank you, @narendramodi, for the productive discussion. India has an ambitious 2030 climate agenda, having set a target of 450GW of renewable energy. Looking for shared solutions to drive progress faster.” On Tuesday, Kerry said in his address to the South Asia Women in Energy (SAWIE) Leadership Summit that it is already cheaper to build solar in India than anywhere else in the world. “That kind of urgency is exactly what we need to confront global climate change. We are in the decisive decade for action,” he said, adding that he sees India becoming the cleantech hub of Asia. Under the Paris Agreement, India has three quantifiable nationally determined contributions (NDCs), which include lowering the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35% compared to 2005 levels by 2030; increase total cumulative electricity generation from fossil free energy sources to 40% by 2030; create additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons through additional forest and tree cover. In its Biennial Update Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) submitted in February, India said it has progressively continued decoupling of economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. India’s emission intensity of gross domestic product (GDP) has reduced by 24% between 2005 and 2016. India is therefore on track to meet its voluntary declaration to reduce the emission intensity of GDP by 20-25% from 2005 levels by 2020. It is implementing one of the largest renewable energy expansion programmes globally with a target of achieving 175GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and later up to 450GW. Installed capacity of solar energy in India has increased by more than 14 times from 2.63GW in March 2014 to 36.91GW in November 2020. The new partnership with US on clean technology and finance is likely to accelerate the achievement of these targets so that India can enhance its ambition and NDCs in future, sources said. The details of the 2030 deal are yet to be spelt out. There has been a lot of speculation among officials and former diplomats that US may be nudging India to also announce a net zero emissions target by 2050. Senior environment ministry officials said one of the key objectives of Kerry’s visit is to get India to join the countries that have announced a target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. In September 2020, China announced that it will peak its GHG emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The White House announced on January 27 that President Joe Biden will take steps to put the United States (US) on an “irreversible path” to a net zero economy by 2050. Consequently, Biden has also called for a summit of major emitting nations on April 22 in order to persuade them to commit to ambitious mitigation targets. Independent experts have cautioned that India should do a careful balancing act when it comes to a net zero emissions target, keeping in sight India’s domestic circumstances. “A net zero target has no flesh to it. It is not real. It is an aspirational target. Firstly, developed countries considering their historical emissions, should have taken on advanced deadlines. Secondly, even if 2050 is the deadline for them to achieve net zero emissions, there are no pathways to it. The US will definitely miss the 2030 targets under the Paris Agreement. Net zero emissions target is a way to kick the ball in the future. India should demand credible action now. China has announced a net zero target for 2060 and is continuing to build coal power plants,” said Sunita Narain, director general at Centre for Science and Environment. “There is a lot of pressure on India to phase out coal. India had also planned to retire old thermal power plants but with a recent notification from the environment ministry that has gone for a six. India has not just extended the time period for thermal power plants to comply with emission norms but it has made it easy for thermal power plants to keep polluting. The cost of non-compliance as per the new notification is minuscule compared to cost of compliance,” added Narain. The environment ministry had issued a notification on March 31 with staggered timelines for thermal power plants to comply with emission norms. It also specified the environmental compensation to be paid by plants that don’t comply.

Env ministry’s new deadlines for thermal plants will give them license to pollute indefinitely: CSE

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Wednesday said the environment ministry''s decision to "extend" deadlines for thermal power plants (TPPs) to comply with new emission norms “will give them a license to pollute indefinitely”. Norms to limit pollutants from TPPs were announced in 2015 and were expected to be adopted by 2017. But the industry managed to delay implementation to 2022, it said. “It is 2021 now: with just a few months to go before the deadline, a mere one-third of the plants have taken any serious steps to comply with the norms,” the green think tank said in a statement. On April 1, the ministry had issued a notification allowing TPPs within 10 km of the national capital region and in cities with more than 10 lakh population to comply with new emission norms by the end of 2022, according to an official notification. TPP units in "non-attainment cities" and those within 10 km of critically-polluted areas are required to meet the emission norms by December 31, 2023. Coal-fired power plants in the rest of the areas have to comply with the new standards by December 31, 2024, according to the notification. “The ministry has chosen to extend the deadline further, allowing a majority of the plants to pollute for another three to four years. What makes this a fatally flawed notification is that the deterrence provided in it for non-compliance actually gives the polluters a license to pollute,” said Sunita Narain, the director general of CSE. It said that six TPPs that were adding to Delhi''s air pollution issues are likely to be given a much extended 2024/2025 deadline based on the new categorisation. A majority of these plants are in Punjab. Earlier, they had to comply with the 2019 deadline. “The new notification undermines all efforts to ''clean'' up dirty coal power plants. It is clear that thermal power sector is a major contributor to India''s pollution challenge – from air to water – and this notification nullifies all the work that was being done to improve performance of the sector,” said Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director, Industrial Pollution Unit, CSE. The environment ministry 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. The power ministry had last year requested the environment ministry to extend the deadline to meet emission norms for all thermal plants from 2022 to 2024, citing delay due to various reasons, including the coronavirus pandemic and import restrictions. Major pollutants from coal-fired power plants are oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM). According to the CSE, TPPs account for more than 60 per cent of 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, according to an analysis by the think tank. A recent compliance report by the CSE showed that out of the 12 power plants located around Delhi, SO2 control technology was available only in two plants. PTI GVS RHL RHL

On Covid-19 responses and their disastrous consequences

On Covid-19 responses and their disastrous consequences Lockdowns have violated three core tenets of public health policy: prioritising the long term over the short, focussing on the totality of health outcomes and not just on one disease and weighing both the harms and the benefits of medical interventions in the balance of decision-making. Responding to the article by James Allan on 20 March requiring five tests before imposing lockdowns, one reader dismissed lockdown-critical articles in The Spectator Australia as ‘mindless right-wing claptrap unsupported by evidence and common sense’. I can only conclude that income-protected members of the Zoom class who self-identify as socially progressive need to invent a right-wing bogey as a salve to their conscience for the immense harm done by lockdowns to the poorest and most marginalised and vulnerable peoples of the world. Dr Sebastian Rushworth, a practising physician in a Stockholm hospital who is so good that Amazon cancelled his book on Covid, writes in his internationally well-regarded blog: ‘Lockdowns are inherently racist and elitist, with unclear benefits but proven harms’. He reports on a new study from the Karolinska Institute using UN data that as many people have died as a result of lockdowns as of Covid. The latter have died mostly in rich countries and been old, while most of the former were younger people in poor countries who succumbed to malnutrition, lack of vaccination with childhood immunisation programs shut, and treatable diseases like tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. The face of Covid in rich countries is an elderly man with multiple co-morbidities; among the biggest victims of prolonged lockdowns are children in poor countries. On 18 March, the Pew Research Center reported that India’s middle class (earning US $10-20 per day) shrank by 32 million last year compared to pre-pandemic predictions, while the poor (under $2 daily) jumped by 75 million, accounting for 60 per cent of the global retreat on both measures. An April 2020 study from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health warned that, with health services disrupted by the obsession with Covid, infant mortality could go up by 1.2 million by October in poorer countries, and maternal mortality by 56,700. People ‘fear hunger may kill us before coronavirus’. According to a World Food Programme study last April, the number of people suffering from acute hunger would jump from 135 million pre-pandemic to 265 million by the end of 2020. Childhood death rates rose in 2020 for the first time in decades. Therefore the number of total years of life lost to lockdown is significantly greater than that lost to Covid-19. A UNICEF report published in October warned ‘the harmful effects… will not be distributed equally. They are expected to be most damaging for children in the poorest countries, and in the poorest neighbourhoods, and for those in already disadvantaged or vulnerable situations’. The additional deaths of children under five would climb over two million in just 12 months and there would be an extra 200,000 stillbirths. An additional 150 million children could be pushed into ‘multidimensional poverty’ by year’s end, with diminished access to education, health care, housing, nutrition, sanitation and water. School closures affected 1.6 billion children and youth globally, with 463 million without access to remote learning platforms. A follow-up report on South Asia on 17 March noted that against 186,000 people who had died with Covid, the disruption in health services had caused 239,000 maternal and child deaths. In India, which comprises 70 per cent of South Asia’s population, with 149,000 deaths Covid-19 was the 13th deadliest killer last year, with TB, diarrhoea and diabetes accounting for 2 to 4 times as many deaths. The 216,000 suicides killed 50 per cent more Indians than Covid and we can be certain that lockdowns were both a direct and indirect cause of suicides. Lockdowns have forced 500 million children around the world out of school and more than half of them are in India. Pointing this out on the release of a report on 25 February, Sunita Narain, director-general of the Centre for Science and Environment, said more than half the additional 115 million people pushed back into extreme poverty live in South Asia. India, she said, was all set to usher in a 375-million strong ‘pandemic generation’ of children up to age 14 likely to suffer long-lasting impacts like increased child mortality, being underweight and stunted and educational and work-productivity reversals. The New York Times had a long report on 3 August detailing lockdowns’ collateral harms. Dr Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO’s global malaria program, warned that with public health attention monopolised by Covid, disruptions to global supply chains for medicines and medical equipment and interruptions to immunisation programs and screenings, two decades of progress on TB, HIV and malaria was at risk of reversals. TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing around 1.5 million each year. TB diagnoses in South Africa, Mozambique, Mexico and India (which accounts for 27 per cent of the world’s cases) fell by 50-75 per cent after the pandemic struck. Just three months of lockdowns would increase TB cases by another 6.3 million over ten months and deaths by 1.4 million. Similarly, access to preventative drugs to stop HIV-positive pregnant women from passing the infection to their babies in the womb, if delayed by six months, could increase HIV infection in children by around 150 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa. On 1 February, BBC’s India business correspondent Nikhil Inamdar reported: ‘Covid-19 has ravaged the country, shrunk its GDP, sent unemployment soaring and added to the distress of a banking sector that was already in crisis’. Actually, no, Covid-19 doesn’t possess such omnipotent powers. Rather, lockdown measures to combat the disease proved deadlier than the disease itself. Meanwhile on 23 December, Forbes published a list of fifty doctors, scientists and healthcare entrepreneurs who’ve became pandemic billionaires. Covid business has boomed for cabinet cronies in the UK and for consulting firms in Australia. Amazon, Facebook and Google increased their share of US advertising dollars to more than half in 2020. The increased time and money spent on these platforms in turn fattens the consumer data collected by them and increases their market appeal for advertisers. This just might influence their decisions on censoring lockdown-critical commentary. Yet millions of Covidians are brainwashed enough to believe that opposition to all this is ‘right-wing claptrap’. Sigh.

Delhi Has Taken More Air Pollution Control Measures Than Any Other City But There Is Still A Long Way Ahead: CSE Report

According to a new report by the Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi has implemented the most ambitious clean fuel policy that has also outlawed coal but it still needs more than 60 per cent cut in annual PM2.5 concentration to meet the national ambient air quality standards New Delhi: Experts have repeatedly highlighted that air pollution is one of the leading threats to people’s health which can lead to various ailments like respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, heart diseases among others. IQAir, a Swiss group that measures air quality has recently revealed that India is home to 22 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities with Delhi being the most polluted capital in the world. In Delhi and the larger National Capital Region (NCR), air pollution levels have consistently remained so high that the region has been at the centre stage of the battle against the rising levels of pollutants. A new report titled ‘Capital Gains-Clean Air Action in Delhi NCR: What next?’ by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi based think tank states that the capital city has done more to curb air pollution than other cities in the country and that has resulted in a reduction of a major pollutant called Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 (particles that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter) by almost a quarter. However, the report highlights that this is far from enough and Delhi still needs to reduce PM 2.5 further by at least 60 per cent. The report said that to reduce air pollution, Delhi has taken steps like closing coal power plants, stopping dirty fuels, scaling up industrial use of natural gas, putting the entire public transport and commercial fleets on compressed natural gas (CNG), banning old vehicles, restricting truck entry, pushing for electric vehicles and skipping a Bharat Stage standard (emission standards instituted by the Government of India to regulate the output of air pollutants from) and adopting BS VI, tightening control on construction, promoting bio-decomposer developed by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) that dissolves the farm residue into manure, and many other such steps. Ms. Roychowdhury said that Delhi’s clean air action is an unfinished agenda. It still requires deep action to restrain vehicle numbers and usage, scale up integrated public transport, strengthen city-wide waste management, eliminate use of dirty fuels in small and medium scale units and households among others and all the measures will have to be uniformly scaled up across the NCR, she said.

Smoke from fires in Uttarakhand worsens Delhi’s air quality

At 279, Delhi’s air quality was in the “poor” category overall on Tuesday, which according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app means “breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure.” The Capital’s air quality index (AQI) has moved from moderate to poor to very poor over the past four days, the result of raging forest fires from Uttarakhand (and to a lesser extent, Himachal Pradesh) and winds blowing in from the northern state that has lost around 200 acres of forest to fires in the past few days. At 279, Delhi’s air quality was in the “poor” category overall on Tuesday, which according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app means “breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure.” “Delhi’s air quality is on the poor zone as suddenly the dispersal of pollutants has gone down and pollutant load has increased because of many reasons and forest fires is probably one of them,” said Anumita Roy Choudhary, an air quality expert with Centre for Science and Environment. It isn’t just Delhi, several cities in the northern plains are facing the same problem. For example, Sharanpur in Uttar Pradesh recorded AQI of 331 on Tuesday and Yamunanagar in Haryana AQI of 289. And some areas in the foothills of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh witnessed haze like conditions on Tuesday. A CPCB official, who asked not to be named, said that till the last week of March the wind direction was taking the smoke from forest fires towards the north, thereby not contributing much to the air pollution levels in the plains. According to an Uttarakhand pollution control board official, there has been an increase in pollution levels in even within the state because of the forest fires. “We will be able to provide the data on the increase after few days as raw data was being analysed,” the official said. “There are some forest fires in Uttarakhand, but air quality hasn’t declined in NW India only because of that. Winds are northwesterly here. Air quality is in poor category mainly because of dust and lack of moisture. It will improve later today because a western disturbance is expected to bring rain,” said VK Soni, scientist in IMD’s air quality division.

US wants technical cooperation with FSSAI

In submission to WTO, says India should withdraw, defer order till ‘less burdensome’ alternatives are found The US wants to engage in technical cooperation with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to develop alternatives to the ‘non-GM (genetically modified) origin and GM free certificates’ that have been mandated by India for certain agricultural imports. It has sought withdrawal of the order or a delay in its implementation till “less burdensome’’ alternatives could be discussed. “The US notes that, after numerous requests for India to revoke the order, on January 27, 2021, the US Department of Agriculture proposed technical cooperation to develop alternatives to the non-GM origin and GM-free certificate and we are optimistic that the FSSAI will agree to this opportunity,” the US noted in a recent submission to the WTO Committee on Sanitary & Phytosanitary measures. Washington requested that India withdraw the mandatory certification order, implemented on March 1 2021, and if not, should at least delay it to January 2022 to allow for further technical engagement between the FSSAI and trade partners. This would allow less burdensome alternatives to be developed that could meet the order’s stated food safety goals, it said. In August last year, the FSSAI published an order specifying that every consignment of 24 identified food products, which include pineapples, apples, wheat, rice, tomato, potato, maize, melon, plum, papaya, potato, egg plant, bean, among others, need to be accompanied by a non-GM-origin-cum-GM-free certificate issued by Competent National Authority of the exporting country. The order was to be implemented on January 1, 2021, but was deferred by three months. Check on imports The FSSAI’s action followed a growing demand from several quarters for increased check on imports after studies carried out by research and advocacy body Centre for Science and Environment in 2018 found that about 32 per cent of samples of food items such as edible oils, processed and packaged food and infant food items, produced locally and imported, contained GM ingredients. Of greater concern was the finding that about 46 per cent of imported items were positive. The US argument against the order is that GM or GE (genetically engineered) products are not harmful. It is of the opinion that through reports by the National Academy of Science and the WHO, among others, the international scientific and regulatory community has reached a consensus that GE products available on the international market are as safe as their conventional counterparts. It also pointed out that it was not aware that India had carried out any risk assessments on GE products to show that they were less safe. Referring to FSSAI’s clarification published on February 8, 2021, establishing a 1 per cent tolerance for presence of GE in imported food consignments, the US requested India to provide the scientific justification for establishing the tolerance at this level and provide any relevant risk assessments or international standards on which this tolerance is based.

Pandemic, fund crunch halt Delhi parking policy implementation

Delhi has at least 10 million registered vehicles including 7.9 million two-wheelers and 3.3 million four-wheelers. With 67,50,00 vehicles on an average added to Delhi roads annually, the parking woes continue to grow Haphazardly parked vehicles on roads and often pavements are a common sight in Delhi. Counted among the cities with poor parking facilities globally, Delhi continues to struggle to streamline its parking management despite a policy in place. Almost two years after the government notified the Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, 2019, it has been put on the backburner by the three municipal agencies tasked with its implementation. The Covid-19 pandemic, fund crunch, lack of resources, poor enforcement, resistance from market associations have been cited as the reasons for it. Delhi has at least 10 million registered vehicles including 7.9 million two-wheelers and 3.3 million four-wheelers. With 67,50,00 vehicles on an average added to Delhi roads annually, the parking woes continue to grow. As per the policy, civic agencies were to make area-specific Parking Management Area Plans (PMAPs), regulate pricing, identify spaces for overnight parking of commercial vehicles, manage on-street parking and ensure charging facilities for electric vehicles. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) started the implementation of the policy in Lajpat Nagar-III on a pilot basis in January 2020. It prepared a PMAP under which lanes were marked for parking and non-parking purposes. Signage was installed to indicate no parking zones, tow-away zones, one-way lanes, and roundabouts. Vehicles of residents were to be provided green stickers while those of visitors red ones.

Guwahati’s water woes

From a recent study of the Guwahati Jal Board’s official website, what is fathomable is that most of the existing water supply plants have already outlived their intended utilities and, as such, they need their immediate replacement. But the authorities concerned were allegedly hemming and hawing to do so. One single but most crucial issue that immensely influences our day-to-day life is water because it is our life. We need water for life just as food does. We can survive without food at best supposedly for a month, but we cannot survive without water for long. It is also required for many other purposes such as sanitation, irrigation, to mention a few, in our day life. Civilization thrives around a region where water supply is steady and regular. So it is as plain as a pikestaff that water plays a very significant role in our life. But most countries in the world are currently suffering from the acute crisis of safe drinking water. In India too, it is really frustrating that even after the long 75 years of the country’s independence, drinking water still continues to be one of the biggest crises with close to 70% of the country’s citizens, as per a survey, having no access to piped drinking water, though the civic authorities’ could have managed to harness and preserve water from rainfall or make its judicious and frugal use. Some parts of Chennai were faced with acute water shortages way back in 2019 when all the four reservoirs ran dry after the onset of the delayed monsoon. The resultant crisis could have well been surmounted had it been judiciously and meticulously utilized when it was known that there was mounting pressure of an increasing population in Chennai as in other cities. What must have taken one by surprise is how a country which can send Chandrayaan for lunar exploration could have come a cropper in tiding over the brewing water crisis. If the situation is further allowed to drift without seriously attempting to develop ways to address the growing crisis, the problem is only likely to aggravate with a growth of population and indiscriminate extraction of surface water making water tables fall sharply in most cities in the country. Depressingly, what is literally happening is that Indian cities are growing at a faster pace than the civic authorities could provide access to safe water to the people, in water-scarce and water-starved urban zones in particular, a phenomenon that must be looked into. It has been reported that in urban areas, 50 million people in as many as 15 cities have no access to safe, affordable water. Look at Guwahati. Nestling on the edge of the mighty Brahmaputra flowing majestically along its entire stretch, the city, until before the shifting of the State capital to Dispur from Shillong in 1971, had abundance of water resources with innumerable marshy and water bodies almost all around it. But the city started facing acute scarcity of pure drinking water supply since the last two decades or so. A growing population and large-scale exodus to Guwahati from various parts of Assam and the north-eastern region over the past two decades, for higher education, better employment opportunities and relatively improved healthcare facilities, as well as the rapid haphazard growth of the city, have unsurprisingly served only to take a heavy toll on the existing limited civic amenities in the city. Resultantly, shortage of drinking water, water-logging, traffic snarls, flash floods, encroachment of pavements have snowballed into major problems in the city. With water turning out to be an elusive commodity, the bounden duty of the civic authorities is to put in place a judicious and economic water use mechanism. It is a matter of concern that they have been unable to provide at least 40% of Guwahati’s taxpayers access to safe, clean drinking water despite the Brahmaputra flowing through the State. From a recent study of the Guwahati Jal Board’s official website, what is fathomable is that most of the existing water supply plants have already outlived their intended utilities and, as such, they need their immediate replacement. But the authorities concerned were allegedly hemming and hawing to do so. Although currently, over 30% of the city-dwellers have access to piped water, yet the supply is reportedly almost unsteady and its quality is poor with seeping of polluting groundwater during flooding in particular, through worn-out, broken, old and aging distribution pipes. As a significant section of the Guwahatians has no access to piped water, they have to bank on their own bore-wells. But in the past few years in many localities of the city, such as Christian Basti, parts of Anil Nagar, Nabin Nagar, Ulubari, Lachit Nagar, etc., to name a few, the bore-wells have dried up with the abnormal rise in the residential and commercial buildings around. The consequent shortage of drinking water has, therefore, compelled the residents to purchase water delivered by private tankers at exorbitant prices. But nobody is sure about if it is fluoride- and arsenic-free water which is known to cause cancer. Excessive fluoride in water can result in dental fluoride. It is reported that toxic substances like fluoride and arsenic contents are present in the groundwater pumped out by residents in some localities of the city. What must cause one concern is a survey report conducted a few years ago by an organization called Antodaya, which found after 120 water samples collected in different parts of the city that about 20 were fluoride-contaminated. Panjabari, to exemplify, is a locality that was identified as heavily fluoride-contaminated. The situation has further worsened by the existent poor drainage system and inadequate sanitation facilities that have also contributed to groundwater contamination and exposed the inhabitants in Guwahati to a number of water-borne diseases. In spite of a major chunk of its residents risking their lives by consuming contaminated water year after year, some politicians who are contesting for the East Guwahati seat, far from promising to address the water contamination issue on getting elected, rather skirted to make it a major poll plank during their recent tenacious campaigns for the seat. Yet another major irritant is groundwater depletion. A study undertaken by the Centre for Science and Environment discovers that 48% of India’s urban water supply comes from groundwater. It also reveals that in seven of the country’s 10 most populous cities, groundwater levels have dropped significantly over the past two decades. In Guwahati, the real estate boom for the past two decades has hastened groundwater depletion process. Given the seriousness of the emerging situation, the State Government should be sensitive to the legitimate needs of the citizens and pop up with some innovative approach to resolve the brewing crisis. As the Brahmaputra is flowing along the northern part of Guwahati, introducing an effective water supply system is the crying need.

Delhi govt plans long-term action plan to beat air pollution: Gopal Rai

A cyclist rides a bicycle near India Gate covered with a thick layer of smog as the air quality deteriorates due to air pollution, in New Delhi on Thursday. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday said the city government will soon come up with a long-term action plan to curb air pollution. He held an online round table conference with experts that focused on formulating measures to reduce air pollution in Delhi. Rai said the Arvind Kejriwal government does not wish to wait till September when air pollution increases in Delhi. With the help of experts, we want to create a long-term action plan to combat air pollution throughout the year, a statement quoted him as saying. "Talking about environmental pollution only during the winter months, starting from October when air quality becomes severe, is not a solution. We are, in the next few days, going to come up with an action plan to further better the AQI of Delhi, he said. The minister also requested the experts to submit their presentations for further study. On the first day of the round table conference, the discussion centered on road dust resuspension, dust pollution due to construction and demolition activities, and industrial pollution control. The key speakers were Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment; Mukesh Sharma of IIT Kanpur; Gufran Beig of Indian Institute Of Tropical Meteorology; Deepak Agarwal of IL&FS; Partha Basu of Environmental Defence Fund; Siddharth Virmani of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago; Brikesh Singh of Clean Your Collective; and Akshima Ghare from Rocky Mountain Institute.