Greater water security, more jobs, lesser outmigration: what villages in Odisha and West Bengal have got from MGNREGA, finds Down To Earth survey Said Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and editor of the fortnightly, Down To Earth, here today, inaugurating a webinar.
Bathinda: A survey by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and its publication ‘Down to Earth’ (DTE) says that putting water conservation at its core, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has the power to transform India’s rural landscape and change the lives of the country’s poor. The unheralded success stories of rural India’s ‘jal jodhas’ (water warriors) were shared in a webinar on World Water Day, which highlighted report on villages that have made the transformation from drought to prosperity. The findings of a countrywide survey of the impacts of MGNREGA after 15 years of its implementation were released on Monday. The reports were filed from 16 villages in 15 states. “Finding the villages which had successfully executed MGNREGA was difficult as no records are kept of the sustainability of the works. The government only keeps a record of the number of works done, and of whether they have been completed. What is not known is if the structure built under MGNREGA has improved the water security of the village or contributed to livelihood improvements,” said CSE director general Sunita Narain The districts covered included Ananthapuramu (Andhra Pradesh), Jalaun (Uttar Pradesh), Tikamgarh and Sidhi (Madhya Pradesh), Balangir (Odisha), Pakur (Jharkhand), Bankura (West Bengal), Kaimur (Bihar), Jalna (Maharashtra), Palakkad (Kerala), Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu), Dungarpur (Rajasthan), Sirsa (Haryana), Chitradurga (Karnataka), Ranga Reddy (Telangana) and Sabarkantha in (Gujarat). Narain said, “With climate change, we will see more rain and more heat, and in this, the management of water will be our make or break. Water security is also crucial for livelihood security. It builds resilience and the ability to cope with weather adversities. The MGNREGA is the world’s largest social security and climate risk management programme.” DTE managing editor Richard Mahapatra said, “One of the big findings of the report is that villages have reaped economic and environmental benefits of water conservation works defying all odds. This has only been possible due to the persistence and diligence of water warriors in villages.” Full report on www.toi.in “MGNREGA is also the country’s largest water conservation exercise. The governments must now measure the potential harvested of these instruments. For this, it must turn its focus to track the impacts of water harvesting structures. As government data shows half of water structures are either left unfinished or turn defunct after a few years due to lack of maintenance. This is a wasted opportunity,” Mahapatra added. Sirsa example Barokhan village in Sirsa district of Haryana has been using MGNREGA labour to build systems to recycle grey water for irrigation. The village has built three-pond system to treat waste water from kitchens and bathrooms. The ponds, built under MGNREGA, are adjacent to each other, along the gradient of the land, and connected via pipes. Grey water of villages Barokhan, Bhavdeen and Jasania gets cleaned due to settlement of impurities as it moves down successive ponds. The villagers manage to save up to 66% on water charges and have reduced their dependence on groundwater too. Water assets created As per government records, since 2006 more than 30 million water conservation-related ecological assets have been created; this comes to 50 water structures in every village of India. Calculations show that these structures have potentially conserved roughly 29,000 million cubic meters of water in this period and have the potential to irrigate some 19 million hectares.
In the last 15 years, projects under programme have created conservation potential of nearly 29,000 million cubic metres Similarly, Barmani in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district, DTE reports, was virtually abandoned because of distress migration in 2006, but by 2021, it had 7 big ponds and 39 wells that had perennial water availability. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Catch the Rain campaign on Monday to mark World Water Day, the good news is that, over the past 15 years, the MGNREGA programme has helped bolster water sufficiency and management of precipitation in many villages as Down To Earth (DTE) magazine reports. The rural employment guarantee Act was amended in 2014 to ensure that at least 60% of the expenditure was on projects that benefit agriculture and allied activities; as a result, the rural development ministry had said in 2019 that 75% of the activities in the list of permissible activities under MGNREGA “directly improve water security and water conservation efforts”. In the last 15 years, DTE notes, 30 million water conservation-related works — that translates to 50 works/village — have been undertaken through MGNREGA, creating a water conservation potential of close to 29,000 million cubic metres of water. For perspective, that is nearly 17% of the capacity of the 123 reservoirs that are monitored for storage by the Central Water Commission. DTE reports several benefits from MGNREGA water projects for villagers in 16 villages in 15 districts across India. While Bandlapalli in Ananthapuramu district of Andhra Pradesh — the first village in India where MGNREGA was implemented — saw recurring drought and large-scale migration in 2006, in 2021, it has 900-plus water harvesting structures. The water-harvesting capacity helped it become drought-proof; in 2018-19, when the district reported the lowest rainfall in a century, the village was not impacted. Water harvesting has also helped many villagers to transition into cultivation of cash crops and dairy farming, and has caused a significant reduction in migration. Similarly, Barmani in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district, DTE reports, was virtually abandoned because of distress migration in 2006, but by 2021, it had 7 big ponds and 39 wells that had perennial water availability. While MGNREGA helped Pookkottukavu in Kerala go from being a water-scarce village to seeing dying water streams be revived —the village is also home to the country’s largest group of women well-diggers —residents of Himmatpura in Uttar Pradesh saw incomes rise by 10 times, with dependence on rains for agriculture reduced. The testimonies of the villages covered in the DTE report all speak of improved water and livelihood security because of the MGNREGA work executed. Read against the DTE testimonies, MGNREGA — which saw allocation fall in Budget FY22 (at Rs 73,000 crore, it was almost a third lower than the revised estimate for FY21, at Rs 1.1 lakh crore) — assumes new importance as far as India’s planning on developing climate resilience goes.
Over 300 dams are being built across the Himalaya, including in China. They pose a challenge to the future of the mountains. Hydro-projects mean that rivers are cleaned of their nutrients, critical for fish, dolphins and farmlands, and which are carried largely in soil and sediments in the water; otherwise, soil and stones would damage power-generating turbines. China has announced a mega project on Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, the lifeline of Assam and Bangladesh. Sanjoy Hazarika Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative The Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau are under siege across Asia as never before, from governments and humans, from one end of the great mountain range to the other. Time and again, the mountain system thunders out its response, but governments either are hard of hearing or determined not to heed or understand its message. There are many examples of these lessons, from the Garhwal Himalaya, and moving eastward, in an arc, across Nepal, Bhutan and even in Tibet. From the west to the east, the stories are similar and have everything to do with the extractive nature of humans, involving bureaucratic, political and business lobbies. And there is a deep-rooted resistance to learn — even at the cost of massive loss of human life and damage to environment as well as to existing and proposed infrastructure. On February 7, a disastrous glacier event in the Himalaya sent a roaring, massive wall of rock, water and mud hurtling down the narrow valleys of Rishiganga district of Uttarakhand. The tectonic power of that water surge tore apart two hydropower projects, as if they were little more than flimsy cardboard boxes. The final death toll has not yet been announced, though 72 were reported killed and over 100 missing. And, unsurprisingly, at a time of high-decibel elections, this news has vanished from TV studios and the news media. The Ganga is often referred to as Ganga Maiya (Mother Ganges); the Ministry of Water Resources coined the slogan Aviral se nirmal Ganga (continuous Ganga is clean Ganga). Yet the Ganga is being devastated by these projects. It has been seen, whether in Sikkim or Uttarakhand, how road construction and dam projects hurl debris into rivers, choking their free flow and disrupting their nourishing capacity. Last September, during a visit beyond Rishikesh, where dust hangs in the air, the boom of dynamite and the shudder of falling rock were common. One saw debris pushed by excavators and bulldozers down slopes into the Ganga. They were clearing roads which had been damaged by rubble falling from fragile hillsides and caused by this very construction activity. There is a strategic aspect to the ambitious Char Dham project; the criticality of good roads to enable security forces to move to and fro from the border with China, especially in the light of the recent confrontation. Yet, moving in haste can create more problems as the recent Chamoli tragedy has underlined. The Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau are regarded as the Third Pole. After the better-known poles, these are the custodians of the greatest volumes of frozen freshwater on earth. These are at risk due to massive construction, infrastructure boom and climate change. The Himalaya is a vast, delicate and interconnected web of environmental, geographic and social systems. The mountains are still growing as the Asian and Indian land masses grind against each other. The Tibetan Plateau and the Himalaya, though different, are umbilically connected to each other. It is no one’s argument that development is not needed. It is. But it needs to be understood that at a time of growing climate change, it can’t be business as usual. That the latest disaster comes eight years after the cataclysmic flood in 2013 which killed some 6,000 people shows that lessons have still not been learned. In 2014, a Central government committee report recommended that the Centre scrap at least 23 hydropower projects in Uttarakhand, especially in the highly vulnerable zones. It concluded that hydropower projects played a significant role in the 2013 floods and that there was an urgent need to improve the environmental governance of these projects. For this to happen, there needs to be a strong element of public consultation which has eroded over time. Before 2020, the Central government needed to conduct what was called an Environmental (and Social) Impact Assessment (ESIA). There was an added social dimension of dialogue with various stakeholder groups. Yet, this critical element of public inclusion is no longer there and undercuts the role of local communities who are custodians of knowledge and hold enormous experience, including a nuanced understanding of climate change. Their views matter for they are the real caretakers of the region. And they demonstrated this nearly 50 years ago with the famous Chipko movement led by women who stopped the cutting of their forests. It is about sustainability and carrying capacity by, as the environmentalist Sunita Narain says, “Keeping the river first and our needs next. Otherwise, the river will continue to teach us bitter lessons; it will be the revenge and rage of nature.” That is why it is important to ensure a minimum environmental flow (e-flow) that will enable the river to replenish itself and be self-sustaining. E-flow is the minimum volume of water that a river needs to ensure that aquatic species such as fish and dolphins can be sustained as well as the farms and communities which depend on it for irrigation, agriculture and fishing. In October 2018, the Centre enacted a law on e-flow which mandated the release of 20-30 per cent water from all major hydropower projects into the Ganga between Devprayag and Hardwar at different times. Experts say these levels are inadequate and an official review of different projects showed that most projects were not even meeting this minimum requirement. This underlines the well-accepted need to strike a balance between ‘growth’ and ecological sustainability. Over 300 dams are being built across the Himalaya, including in China. They pose a challenge to the future of these mountains which, according to Hindu belief, is the abode of Shiva. Hydroprojects mean that rivers are cleaned of their nutrients, critical for fish, dolphins and farmlands, and which are carried largely in soil and sediment in the water; otherwise, soil and stones would damage the power-generating turbines. On the Chinese side, the government there has announced a mega project on the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, the lifeline of Assam and Bangladesh. This is to be located in the deep, daunting and mystical Namcha Barwa Gorge, a huge area of biodiversity. The Chinese dismissal of environmental and downstream concerns should bring India and Bangladesh on a common platform. For, China’s hand will control the quality (not just the quantity) of water that will flow downstream. Indeed, as security analyst Brahma Chellaney has predicted, water, access to it and its control represent the next frontier of potential confrontation. In all this across the Himalaya, the greatest casualty is the river — and rivers have no voice, except when they strike back.
As the world marks March 22 as World Water Day, here’s a quick lowdown on things to know about the day - what is the theme and why it is celebrated New Delhi: According to UNICEF, globally, more than 1.42 billion people, including 450 million children, live in areas of high, or extremely high, water vulnerability. UNICEF says this analysis means that 1 in 5 children worldwide does not have enough water to meet their everyday needs. Talking about India, as per Water.org, a non-profit organaisation, working to bring people together to create better policies for the future of water, 88 million people lack access to safe water. As the world marks World Water Day on March 22, here is a quick lowdown of things you should know about the day and why you should take a pledge to save the crucial resource. Also Read: Eco-friendly Toilets Can Eradicate Open Defecation And Help Manage Waste Effectively Why It Is Celebrated? The day is marked every year on March 22 in bid to make people aware about the need to preserve and conserve water. Mainly, the focus of the day is on universal access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in line with the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6. Back in 1992, March 22 was first officially added in the schedule 21 of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development as World Water Day in the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One year later, in 1993, the first World Water Day was observed. What Is The Theme For The Day? This year, the theme of the day is Valuing Water, to make people aware that the value of water is about much more than its price – as water has enormous and complex value for our households, food, culture, health, education, economics and the integrity of our natural environment. If we overlook any of these values, we risk mismanaging this finite, irreplaceable resource. Also Read: Clean Water Is Essential To Eliminating Neglected Tropical Diseases, Says The World Health Organisation How The Day Is Celebrated? World Water Day is celebrated across the world by the United Nations including all the member nations on March 22 by implementing the UN recommendations as well as promoting the global water conservation through the real activities like promotion of clean water conservation, governments’ plan of action for water conservation and publishing critical reports that highlights the statistics and data on water. How COVID-19 Has Put Limelight On Water Crisis When the world was facing the worst pandemic of its time – COVID-19, many experts in India feared access to clean water to maintain basic hygiene as the biggest challenge. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends hand hygiene (washing hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand sanitisers) is extremely important to prevent the transmission of the virus. However, WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund also estimate that 40 per cent of people across the world, that is, approximately three billion live without soap and water and are the most vulnerable and highest at risk of being left behind in the battle against COVID-19. In the recent analysis done by Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), around 20-40 litres of water is used in this new normal, every day, with the assumption that every person cleans their hands at least 10 times a day, instead of a usual average of five times a day. How We Can Save Water? One of the first approaches to start saving water is by taking a pledge of reusing water whenever and wherever possible. For instance, one can start conserving water at home by taking few simple steps – Collect wastewater from the ROs and use it further for the purpose of washing clothes and cleaning the house. One can also reuse the water used for the purpose of washing veggies, fruits and utensils by reusing it in your garden. Make sure, you are turning the tap off while performing daily rituals like brushing, washing your face, doing the dishes and so on is the major reason why around 600 million people are currently living in areas of high to extreme water stress. Another way in which you can prevent the ongoing water crisis is by preventing water wastage from running taps.
New Delhi: It may be news of worth for parents worried about their children from getting infected with coronavirus as Union Health Ministry has on Friday stated that children in the age group of 0-14 years are least affected by Covid-19. In a written reply, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan informed the Lok Sabha that the infections among children are mild and most of these children infected with Covid-19 remain asymptomatic. In reply to a question asked by JD-U members Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and Dinesh Chandra Yadav seeking details of the action plan to control and minimise the adverse effects of Covid-19 on such children, the Union Health Minister said, "No specific action plan has been formulated in the current response phase to minimise the adverse effects of Covid-19 on such children as the infections among children are mild and most of these children infected with Covid-19 remain asymptomatic." Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS, is documenting the long term effect of Covid-19 infection in children," the minister said. However, the Health Ministry has denied having any information about any report prepared by CSE regarding the effect of Covid-19 on children aged between 0-14 years in the country. In his reply, Vardhan said, "The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is a non-governmental organization working in the area of environmental issues and the Health Ministry is not aware of any report prepared by CSE regarding the effect of Covid-19 on children." Notably, the CSE in its annual state of environment report released in February had stated that around 375 million children (aged between 0-14 years) in India may suffer from the long-lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including malnutrition to loss of education and work productivity.
By 2050, at least 30 Indian cities will face a grave water risk, according to the WWF. The problems range from poor management of water sources, contaminated supplies, leaky distribution networks and vast volumes of untreated wastewater being poured into India's rivers. In the summer of 2019, Chennai’s reservoirs ran dry, forcing the government to truck in 10 million litres of water a day. For a city that gets an average of 1,400 mm of rainfall a year, more than twice what London receives, this was unprecedented. And not just Chennai, cities across India have been facing acute water shortages due to massive population growth and rapid, unplanned urbanisation. A 2018 study published in Nature projected that by 2050, Jaipur would have the second-highest water deficit in the world, with Chennai at #20. A 2020 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) projected that 30 Indian cities would face a ‘grave water risk’ by 2050 due to sharp increases in population. The situation is already alarming. In the 91 most important reservoirs tracked by the Central Water Commission, storage levels have never crossed more than half their total capacity in recent years. More alarmingly, the long-term, indiscriminate extraction of groundwater is making water tables fall rapidly in most Indian cities. According to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment, 48 per cent of India’s urban water supply comes from groundwater, and in seven of India’s 10 most populous cities, groundwater levels have dropped significantly over the past two decades. Urban dwellers also face a crisis because of limited supply networks. More than 34 per cent of India’s population lives in cities; however, 31 per cent of urban households, mostly those in unauthorised colonies and slums, lack access to piped water or public tap water. And the existing pipes are in danger of running dry. Most Indian cities can’t meet the per capita water supply limit set by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation, 135 litres per day. Even the quality of supplied water has been suspect. Samples collected last year from 21 cities across India failed to meet standards. A NITI Aayog report says that nearly 70 per cent of India’s water is contaminated, impacting three in four people. Responding to the situation, the Union ministry of Jal Shakti launched the Jal Jeevan Mission, aiming to expand the piped water network to all households in India by 2024. However, success depends on the states, as water is a state subject. While the WWF proposes nature-based solutions and enhancing the health of river basins, watersheds and wetlands to build resilience to water risks, these would tackle only the scarcity issue, not distribution. Another oft-quoted solution is rainwater harvesting, but progress in this has been abysmal. Most experts, therefore, propose an integrated approach, which includes increasing the efficiency of distribution networks and utilising waste water. Since water sources are finite, cities and citizens must focus on efficient and judicious use. That’s the first step towards a sustainable water conservation policy.
Fly ash as one of the major contributors to particulate matter (PM) emission, its poor utilisation has triggered serious health hazards in and around thermal power plants affecting around 400 villages of Angul, Talcher, Dhenkanal, Sambalpur and Jharsuguda. Fly ash from various thermal power plants is dumped in hundreds of acres of land, near human habitations, roads and pools. In the hotter months, the pool dries out and winds blow the fly ash into homes. The particles of fly ash blow with the wind to surrounding areas of the thermal power plants, causing people in the vicinity to inhale it. This results in several respiratory diseases among the people. The ash enters the house and mixes with the food. It gets deposited on trees and plants and harms the animals. The ash particles also enter eyes, affecting eyesight of the villagers. When there is a storm, the ash enters the house and it becomes difficult to even breathe. The children and old persons are the worst affected. Civil society organisation, JANMAT members after a field visit and intensive study in fly ash affected areas of Odisha and Chhattisgarh expressed concern over massive fly ash pollution and urged the Government to ensure 100 per cent fly ash utilisation target. Recently, a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) study reveals that two decades after the MoEFCC regulations on fly ash and several NGT orders, 50 per cent of power plants still fail to meet the target of 100 per cent fly ash utilisation mandated by the Government. It suggests that enhancing fly ash use in cement and brick making will not only solve the problem of fly ash waste but will also lead to considerable GHG emissions reduction from these sectors. It recommends diverting more fly ash to roads and highway construction sites, which is another prudent method of utilisation. Odisha, Chhattisgarh, UP, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have accumulated the most ash in the last decade due to high generation and poor utilisation rates. These States together account for over 76 per cent of the total residual ash stocks generated over the last decade. The JANMAT urged the Government to strictly regulate the disposal of toxic fly ash from coal-fired power plants to minimise environmental and health risks to local communities. Notably, coal-fired power plants are the biggest sources of fly ash which contains toxic chemicals such as arsenic, barium, cadmium, nickel and lead, among others and cause cancer, lung and heart ailments and neurological damage, and contribute to premature mortality. Coal ash ponds are one of the biggest agents of air pollution .Communities living close by ash ponds are suffocated due to fly ash storms during the dry seasons. The JANMAT formed a high-level committee with Dr Sudhi Ranjan Das as its chairman to further study and take up the matter with various regulatory authorities and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on fly ash pollution.
PUNE, India — India, which was under stringent lockdown for most parts of 2020 to stop the spread of Covid-19, saved itself from topping a list of the world’s most polluted country — the tag for which was claimed by neighboring Bangladesh. But India could not save New Delhi from being tagged the world’s most polluted capital city. What’s more, the report “World Air Quality Report, 2020,” states that India is home to 22 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities. Prepared by IQAir, a Switzerland-based organization, the report states though New Delhi’s air quality improved by 15 percent from 2019 to 2020, it is among the top 10 most polluted cities. The most polluted city in 2020 was Hotan in China. “India has observed markedly improved air quality in 2020, but is still experiencing dangerously high pollution levels with severe health consequences,” states the report. “Every city in India observed air quality improvements compared to 2018 and earlier, while 63 percent [cities] saw direct improvements against 2019.” The air quality improved in 84 percent of all monitored countries due to Covid-19-related lockdowns in 2020. The cities which saw major improvements were Paris (-17 percent), Seoul (-16 percent), New Delhi (-15 percent), Chicago (-13 percent), and Beijing (-11 percent), according to the report. “The overall pollution levels are on a declining trend in India, especially New Delhi, for the past five years,” Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment, told Zenger News. “However, even after the decline, the levels are high, and more reduction is needed to meet cleaner standards. The current action plan underway in Delhi has restricted the problem and pulled the pollution curve downward, but the challenge is big in India.” “Progress is only marginally attributable to India’s flagship National Clean Air Programme introduced in January 2019, which targets Particulate Matter 2.5 reductions between 20 percent and 30 percent in 122 selected cities by 2024 from a 2017 baseline,” the report states. Particulate Matter 2.5 refers to fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. Exposure to it is considered the most important environmental risk factor for deaths globally, and it led to 4.2 million premature deaths in 2015. Stricter measures to fight air pollution in New Delhi and the National Capital Region were also laid down in a Graded Response Action Plan, which was put into action in October 2020. The action plan was first introduced in 2017. The report notes that “Delhi, the world’s second most populous city, is located southeast of India’s agricultural breadbasket, where open burning is common. It is estimated that as much as 20-40 percent of Delhi’s air pollution originates from Punjab farm fires.” Of the 22, apart from Bhiwari in the western state of Rajasthan and Muzaffarpur in the eastern state of Bihar, the rest are located in the northern parts of India. Apart from New Delhi, the other Indian cities on the list are Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Bisrakh Jalalpur, Noida, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Agra, and Muzaffarnagar in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Faridabad, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad, Bandhwari, Gurugram, Yamuna Nagar, Rohtak, and Dharuhera in Haryana. Chowdhury said that a multi sector effort is needed to reduce air pollution in India, with the availability of the latest technology to meet the emission standards. “Vehicles, industries, power plants, waste burning, and construction activities are the main sources of air pollution in India,” she said. “We must use clean fuels to reduce the pollution and scale up the usage of cycles. The waste burning can be prevented if there are strong municipal systems for waste collection, segregation, and disposal.” In 2019, a study published in the peer-review scientific journal “The Lancet” reads that deaths and disability caused due to air pollution cost India $36.8 billion. The study, “Health and economic impact of air pollution in the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019,” reveals that 1.67 million people died in India due to air pollution. The majority of these deaths were from ambient particulate matter pollution (0.98 million) and household air pollution (0.61 million). The deaths due to indoor air pollution caused by household items for cooking decreased 64.2 percent between 1990 and 2019, those due to outdoor air pollution went up 115.3 percent, and that due to ambient ozone pollution increased 139.2 percent. “The Particulate Matter 2.5 when gets inside the lungs is harmful because there is an inflammation of the lungs,” Sandip Mondal, a Kolkata-based consultant pulmonologist and independent medicinal practitioner, told Zenger News. “There are various dust and chemical particles in Particulate Matter 2.5 emissions that heavily react with the fluids of the lungs.” Mondal claimed that there are not many deaths due to direct air pollution. Still, it can act as an add-on factor that makes the lungs more vulnerable to certain diseases such as lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. “World Air Quality Report, 2020,” states that India is home to 22 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities. (Alexander Tsang/Unsplash) “In India, we observe that lung-related diseases are more due to air pollution than smoking cigarettes,” he said. “Pollution must be controlled, especially in the densely populated area. People living in cities should wear a mask to avoid such congestion in lungs.” South Asia was the most polluted region globally, with India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh comprising 42 of the 50 most polluted cities, according to the IQAir report. The response to tackle air pollution in low-economic countries has not been sufficient. As per IQAir, many countries in the Middle East, South America, and Africa lack the equipment to monitor and report air pollution. “Breathing should not be deadly,” said Frank Hammes, chief executive officer of IQAir, in a statement. “The fact that poor air quality claimed an estimated 160,000 lives in the five largest cities alone should give us pause, especially in a year when many cities were seeing lower air pollution levels due to less economic activity. Governments, corporations and individuals must do more to eliminate the sources of air pollution and make our cities better places to live.” The report is based on the Particulate Matter 2.5 data measurements from 106 countries measured using ground-based monitoring stations from 2019-2020. Of the data sources, 66.6 percent were operated by governmental agencies, while the others were managed by residents, non-profit organizations, and companies.
We Indians seem more concerned about fires in Australia and California than the ones ravaging our forests. And it'll cost us. The massive forest fires that recently ravaged Simlipal National Park in Odisha may have been doused by rain and hail, but the questions continue to burn. The 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 are intimidating the locals, accusing them of purposely setting the forest on fire. Several environmentalists and forest guards have accused them of burning leaves that sparked the blaze, an allegation refuted by the tribal population. The Odisha government claimed there has been no loss of life due to the fire, without clarifying whether it was referring to the loss of human or animal life. But apart from the suspicion that many animals might have perished in the inferno, there are 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 three 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 the impact of 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 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. anger. 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 fuelled by the lack of awareness, as shown by the general apathy both among the government and the public towards the fire in Simlipal. 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. A lot 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 the power of social media to support the work of activists who highlight the worsening condition of our environment, and thus raise 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.
Delhi was also ranked the 10th most polluted of the 50 cities from where data was analysed. Of the top 30, 22 were located in India. Delhi was the most polluted capital city in the world in 2020 for the third consecutive year, according to a report by a Swiss group that ranked cities based on their air quality measured in terms of the levels of ultrafine particulate matter (PM 2.5) that can enter the organs and cause lasting damage. Delhi was also ranked the 10th most polluted of the 50 cities from where data was analysed. Of the top 30, 22 were located in India. In the overall city ranking, China’s Hotan topped the list while Ghaziabad in NCR was ranked second. All cities between rank 2 and 14 were Indian. The World Air Quality Report, 2020 by IQAir that was released globally on Tuesday showed that Delhi recorded an annual average PM 2.5 concentration of 84.1ug/m3. Delhi was followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh) with the annual concentrations of 77.1ug/m3 and then Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) recording 46.6ug/m3 of PM 2.5 levels last year. The WHO states that while no level of PM2.5 exposure is free from adverse health effects, annual average exposure below 10 μg/m³ minimises risks. The ambient air quality standards in India prescribes an annual average of 40ug/m3 as the safer limit for PM 2.5. According to the report, data was sourced from government monitoring and privately owned stations. Delhi has been at the centre of India’s air pollution crisis for years now, which particularly worsens every winter season. The landlocked demography of the national capital also puts it at a disadvantage, as winds carrying pollutants from neighbouring states also impacts its air. Experts have time and again pointed out that sharing a common air shed with the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the issue of Delhi’s pollution cannot be tackled in isolation, and the governments will have to come up with a holistic plan to bring down emissions in the entire region. According to the region wise analysis for central and south Asia, the report showed that top 14 of the 15 most polluted cities were in India with Ghaziabad ranked one and Delhi ninth. Ten of the top 14 most polluted cities in the region were in Delhi-NCR. The report said improvement in air quality during the Covid-19 lockdown was only short-lived. “Cities with higher average PM2.5 levels and denser populations tended to observe the most significant PM2.5 reductions from Covid-19 lockdown measures. Delhi (-60%), Seoul (-54%) and Wuhan (-44%), for example, all observed substantial drops during their respective lockdown periods as compared to the same time frame in 2019,” the report that was released on Tuesday said. “By the end of 2020, rebounds in industry and transport resulted in smaller average annual reductions. In Delhi, the overall reduction after the Covid-19 lockdown reopening was 15%, Seoul (South Korea) it was 16%, in Wuhan it was 18%. In Los Angeles, there was an overall increase was 15%,” it said. Air pollution caused an estimated 54,000 premature deaths in New Delhi in 2020, according to another study by IQAir and Greenpeace Southeast Asia released recently. The report released Tuesday also highlighted how Delhi’s air quality during the onset of winters, starting October, worsens because of external factors such as crop residue burning carried out in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. As the burning of crop stubble peaked last year, Delhi’s PM2.5 levels averaged 144 ug/m3 in November, and 157 ug/m3 in December, the findings show. “Delhi’s most polluted months correlate with the agricultural burning season, which spans October through December. During these months, the average pollution exposure often exceeds the WHO (World Health Organization) annual target 10 ug/m3) by more than 14 times,” the report said. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said most cities in the world saw an unprecedented reduction in the pollution levels last year because of the global Covid-19 pandemic. “We are reducing pollution concentrations, but Delhi still has a long way to go. Cities bouncing back from the lockdown is an indicator of the high impacts of local and regional pollution. We need to strengthen our reform strategy to address vehicular pollution, emissions from industry and power plants, etc.,” Roychowdhury said. IQAir is a Swiss air quality technology company that specialises in developing air quality monitoring and air cleaning products. It also operates AirVisual, a real-time air quality information platform. The report acknowledged contributions by Greenpeace, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and the UN environment programme.
Senior Aam Aadmi Party legislator Atishi on Monday slammed the Centre for not tabling the Commission for Air Quality Management ordinance in the Parliament. She said the Commission has become defunct in the last few months, but the BJP-led Central government did not take the matter seriously to resolve the air pollution in Delhi. The AAP legislature from Kalkaji said that Delhi has two main sources of pollution - one which emanates from within the city and the other from the neighbouring states. "The Delhi government has taken consistent steps to control pollution in the city. Even the Centre for Science and Environment has said that pollution in Delhi has reduced by 25 per cent. With adequate electricity, the dependency on generators has reduced. The electric vehicles policy launched recently is also one the measures introduced in this direction," she said. She further said that Delhi has become the only state where thermal power plants are completely shut. "I would like to ask the Central government, what is it doing to control pollution generating from states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan? Why has the Central government not taken any step to control pollution," she asked. "Some time ago, we discovered that ever since the Commission was formed, it has not been given any office space or any office staff. This shows how serious the Central government is when it comes to curbing pollution," Atishi said. She further said that whenever an ordinance is brought forth, it must be tabled in the Parliament within six weeks of a session. "The Budget Session began on January 29, but no bill towards this has been presented yet, and thus the ordinance has lapsed," she said. Delhi's air quality was in the poor category on Monday morning. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed that the hourly air quality index (AQI) at 7 am stood at 201. On Sunday, the average 24-hour AQI was 209. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor, and 401-500 is severe.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a draft notification to disallow re-registration of government vehicles older than 15 years. The Ministry has invited suggestions or objections to its proposal for the next 30 days, and if it is able to sail smoothly, the rule is proposed to become effective from April 1, 2022. If approved, the rule will come into effect from April 1, 2022 India could have over 2 crore ELVs by 2025 Scrappage policy for government vehicles has been approved in January As per the proposal, all vehicles belonging to the Central and State governments, Union Territories, local government institutions, PSUs, STUs, and other autonomous bodies with the Central and State governments, have been put under the ambit of this new proposed amendment to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (1989). There are more than 10 million old and polluting vehicles in India and this move is expected to get rid of police vans, postal vans, state transport buses and ambulances older than 15 years, to name a few. While reducing pollution, the need to replace older vehicles will also drive demand for the domestic automobile industry in terms of supplying new vehicles. Recently, the ministry announced a 5 percent rebate on new cars under the scrappage scheme. Vehicle scrappage policy in India According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), by 2025, India will have a monumental load of over 2 crore old ‘end of life vehicles’ (ELVs). These, along with other unfit vehicles, will cause huge pollution and environmental damage. This step by the ministry then is understood to be in line with the recently announced Scrappage Policy for government vehicles, which aims to take old and higher polluting vehicles off the road for environmental protection. A ‘Green Tax’ will also be levied on vehicles that continue on the road after 15 years (8 years for transport vehicles) to de-incentivise their use for being a greater contributor to pollution. In a recent interview with our sister publication, Autocar Professional, Nishant Arya, executive director, JBM Group, commented on the Scrappage Policy and said, "The Scrappage Policy, specifically on the commercial vehicle side, would give a boost to the sector and therefore, people are viewing it positively. These are primarily BS-II and BS-III vehicles which would be moving out of the roads and thus reducing vehicular pollution as well."
India’s experience with waste to energy plants has been lacklustre until now India’s waste-to-energy sector, which kicked off in 1987, is still searching for a successful role model even after tens of millions of dollars of investment. The Narendra Modi government’s quest for an efficient solid waste management (SWM) system has prompted it to look westward, where countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Germany manage their waste with clockwork precision. Sweden’s sophisticated system that handles waste and convert them into energy, is so good that it has run out of waste to feed the plant. But hype aside, Sweden does a pretty impressive job of keeping its municipal solid waste (MSW) — household garbage — out of landfills because it receives largely segregated, high calorific value wastes to feed its waste-to-energy (WTE) plants that is easy to manage. So, why are WTE plants struggling to survive in India while they are doing reasonably well in Sweden? India’s experience with WTE has been lacklustre until now. The progress of the WTE sector in India is hampered by multiple issues including poor quality of municipal waste, high operation and maintenance cost of WTE plants and lack of successful projects. According to a recent study by the Centre for Science and Environment, nearly half of India’s WTE plants are defunct. The fundamental reason is the quality and composition of waste. generates around 5,000 tonnes of waste on a daily basis. In a bid to solve garbage-related issues in Bengaluru, the BBMP is set to establish five WTE power plants in public-private partnership model in and around the city as part of Swacch Bharat Mission as well as Atma Nirbhar mission. The first WTE power plant being set up in Bidadi would generate 11.5 MW power using 600 MT processed waste every day - built at a cost of Rs 260 crore - followed by other four projects around Bengaluru. Separating solid waste management from BBMPThere are many challenges and speed bumps in the efficient operation of the existing WTE projects. One of the biggest challenges encountered in MSW-fired boilers are the increased tendency for bed agglomeration and increased fouling of convective heat transfer surfaces, associated with increased corrosion due to their ash constituents such as sulphur, chlorine and phosphorous. This is one of the reasons for the unforeseen shutdown of the MSW-fired boilers resulting in constant repairs thereby adding to the running cost. These problems can be eliminated by avoiding the use of mixed waste and totally eliminating the presence of chlorinated hydrocarbons like PVC and paying attention to the materials used in the boiler. Union Power and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh said in a written reply in Parliament: “The compositional characteristics of waste in India are very distinct compared to those in developed countries. Waste generated in the country has more organic components, more moisture content and low calorific value compared to waste generated in developed countries, which has a direct influence on the efficiency of electricity generation. Smells emanating from the landfill have also triggered widespread opprobrium among citizens when the plant location is not isolated. Hence, the waste should be stored in an enclosed area with a negative pressure, which prevents unpleasant odours from escaping and the air drawn from the storage area is sent into the boiler Heap of garbage The crashing down of massive heap of garbage has sometimes been fatal. On September 1, 2017, a massive heap of garbage came crashing down from the Ghazipur landfill site near Delhi, killing two people on the spot and sweeping away several vehicles. This incident captures the seriousness and importance of the subject of MSW management. The presence of chlorinated hydrocarbons like PVC in waste results in are extremely difficult and costly to measure. They are known to be carcinogenic. SWM Rules 2016 require that PVC be phased out in incinerators by April 2018. But it is impossible to identify and remove PVC beverage labels, from mixed waste streams. As a preventive measure, the National Green Tribunal directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to consider the phase-out of such single-use short-life PVC by July 2017. Their failure to do so till date is inexcusable. Appropriate efficient filtering mechanisms need to be installed to prevent the emission of dioxins and furans.There will be wastewater discharge as leachate from waste collection, storage and processing areas and effluent from the power generation process to avoid groundwater pollution which invites public protest demanding the closure of the plant. Leachate management is very critical and appropriate filtering mechanisms need to be installed Did you know? Each person in India wastes 50 kg of food per year, says UN reportThe total amount of ash produced by WTE plants ranges from 15% to 25% by weight of the original quantity of waste and the fly ash amounts to about 10% to 20% of the total ash. The fly ash, by far, constitutes more of a potential health hazard than does the bottom ash because fly ash contains toxic metals such The bottom ash may or may not contain significant levels of health hazardous materials. Hence, ash is tested for toxicity before disposal in landfills. If ash is found to be hazardous, it can only be disposed of in landfills which are carefully designed to prevent pollutants in ash from leaching into underground & aquifers. In the above context of existing WTE projects, the state government should give due consideration to the above challenges. Rather than blindly ape Sweden, we should try to learn from the Swedish example and adapt the learning to the Indian context. If the government fails to initiate corrective measures to alleviate the root cause or causes while executing the project, the government will not only fail to appease the local residents, which may exacerbate the situation, but also may fail in the successful operation of the projects.
For centuries, women have been playing an important role in social transformation and community development. An educated woman forms the basis of an educated family and an educated community. Like most countries across the world, India too has been facing the scourge of man-made environmental degradation. Rising pollution levels in the air, dipping water quality and soil contamination are affecting quality of life in urban areas. Saalumarada Thimmakka These new challenges need innovative solutions and a grassroots approach. Women have, over the years, contributed immensely in eradicating social evils and preserving the environment. In traditional communities, especially among tribals, nature and its elements are worshiped. Women of the household have been the caretakers of the environment through such rituals and ceremonies. In modern society, women are using ‘modern’ tools and skills to create environmental awareness. So, women from all walks of lives are not only advocating though legal and administrative processes to create change in law and policy, women scientists are designing ‘green’ products and technology and developing ‘sustainable’ processes and enterprises for a greener planet. Unassuming green warriors Karnataka’s 107-year-old Saalumarada Thimmakka is an Indian environmentalist who never planned to be one. She became an environmentalist by chance and received a Padma Shri for her contribution. The environmentalist could not have children, so she and her husband started spending their evenings planting trees and taking care of the saplings. ‘Saalumarada’ means rows of trees in Kannada. She has planted more than 8,000 trees including 400 banyan trees that were easily available in her village and protecting them on a four km stretch between Hulikal and Kudur. Thimmakka, with her husband, began grafting saplings from these trees and started planting them along the roads. In November 2020, she was awarded a doctorate by the Central University of Karnataka (CUK). Sugathakumari Indian poet and environmentalist, Kerala’s Sugathakumari has been leading the feminist and environmental movements in Kerala and was a prominent figure in the Silent Valley protest – one of the first environmental movements in Kerala in the 1970s. It was a crusade to protect the Silent Valley forest in Palakkad district of Kerala from a proposed dam over Kunthipuzha, a tributary of the Bharathapuzha. She was the founder secretary of the Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi, an organisation for the protection of nature. She was also very close to the tribals and worked closely with them to take their issues with the government. Highlighting the important of keeping the biodiversity intact for human survival, Sugathakumari would regularly talk to children to teach them about environmental biodiversity, rivers, ponds, groves, forests, etc. Tackling the menace of waste In Assam, in the villages surrounding the Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, plastic waste was a big problem. A native of the area, Rupjyoti Saikia Gogoi, devised a creative solution to the plastic waste problem by weaving it in traditional handlooms and creating daily use and home products such as table mats, handbags, door mats, etc. Rupjyoti Saikia Gogoi Through her enterprising venture, Rupjyoti also trained women of nearby villages in the plastic weaving technique. Rupjyoti’s initiative has not only helped tackle the plastic waste problem but has also helped thousands of women earn a livelihood. As an Assamese woman, she was trained in handloom weaving since childhood, a skill she used to upcycle plastic waste. She used the same weaving technique used in weaving bamboo by integrating plastic with cotton threads to weave on a traditional handloom. Disturbed by the sight of waste lying around in her village, she thought of doing something. Trained in handloom weaving, a skill known to Assamese women since childhood, Rupjyoti uses the same technique used in weaving bamboo and integrates plastic with cotton threads to weave on a traditional handloom. Annuradha Bhatt is an active member of Project Waste Management in Goa’s Assagao. An initiative by a local NGO, the project aims to tackle the problem of waste management. Owing to it being a tourist destination, solid waste management is a big problem in Goa due to lack of awareness and waste collection and disposal facilities. Through this initiative, Annuradha generates awareness among the locals about waste segregation and proper and environmental-friendly waste disposal. She has been actively working to make the locals understand the importance of waste management. Preserving biological biodiversity A leading conservation scientist and environmentalist, Dr Krithi Karanth’s focus areas include researching on ways in which humans and wildlife can peacefully coexist. She has been working for more than 20 years in the area of wildlife conservation and studying the impact of human activity on the environment. Dr Purnima Devi Barman from Assam is one of the most prominent environmentalists in India. Popularly known as Hargila baido, she has been awarded the Nari Shakti Purashkar by the President of India which is the highest civilian award for Indian women for her work as a conservation biologist. Leading from the front Sunita Narain Director General of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in New Delhi and publisher of Down To Earth magazine, Sunita Narain is an Indian environmentalist and political activist. She’s also a major proponent of the Green concept of sustainable development. Starting her career in the 1980s, Sunita has been awarded the Padma Shri for her work. She has chaired the Tiger Task Force for conservation in 2005 and is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Climate Change and National Ganga River Basin Authority (which employ practices to clean the river). In 2005, 2008 and 2009 she was featured on the world’s 100 public intellectuals list generated by US journal Foreign Policy. Her focus areas include climate change, water conservation and resource management. Eco feminist and Delhi-based environmentalist Vandana Shiva is known the world over for her efforts to protect forests. A Gandhian, she has organised women networks to conserve local biodiversity. The TIME Magazine identified her as an environmental hero in 2003. She is the director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy in Dehradun. She created Navdanya, a national movement to protect the diversity of living resources in 1991 through which more than 2000 varieties of rice have been conserved and 34 seed banks have been established in 13 states nationwide. Maneka Gandhi is one of the most prominent and popular environmentalist in India. A politician and Indira Gandhi’s daughter-in-law, Maneka has been a champion for animal rights. In 1994, she founded People for Animals, the largest organisation for animal welfare in India. She was appointed chairwoman of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) in 1995. She has filed Public Interest Litigations in the area of animal rights. Her PILs have achieved the replacement of the municipal killing of homeless dogs with a sterilisation programme (Animal Birth Control programs, commonly abbreviated as ABCs), the unregulated sale of airguns and a ban on mobile or travelling zoos. For her revolutionary work, she has received several prestigious awards globally. Grassroots activist trigger change A native of Chamoli in Uttarakhand, Gaura Devi came to prominence in 1974 when she organised the women to hug trees to prevent their cutting. She and 27 other women confronted the local loggers who were cutting the trees. The men of the village were hoodwinked and sent out of the village. Gaura Devi was the head of the Mahila Mangal Dal at the Reni village. She and her women guarded the trees all night until the loggers surrendered and left. News of the movement soon spread to neighbouring villages and people joined in. Women are leading from the front to fight the menace of pollution, preserve biodiversity and generate sustainable living alternatives.