• DTE - Web

Indian Agriculture's Enduring Question: Just How Many Farmers Does the Country Have?

There are multiple estimates, all of which come with significant policy implications, as it determines who benefits from government schemes, and who does not. In a speech last September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted that 85% of India’s farmers own small tracts of land. The timing of the address was crucial. Modi was defending the new controversial farm laws and trying to make a larger point on why collective contract farming – which one of the three laws seek to allow – would be beneficial for India’s farmers. But, if one was ever able to ask the Prime Minister the absolute number of farmers that the 85% he mentioned would translate to, you would be lucky to get a response. This is because the Indian government doesn’t quite know how many farmers there are in India, or indeed, who really is a farmer. In fact, last month, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare was asked in parliament this very pointed question: ‘How many farmers there are in India?’ The minister, Narendra Tomar, responded not by providing the number of farmers but by providing data for the number of operational landholdings in the country. That is also what Modi was referring to when he spoke about 85% of farmers owning small tracts of land. Both Modi and Tomar were providing data that the government of India often provides when it is asked for the number of farmers in the country – data on the number of operational landholdings, that is the number of farms. The operational landholdings data comes from the Agriculture Census of India of 2015-16 and it does not provide the number of farmers in the country. It is a proxy – at best – for the number of farmers in India. It provides the total number of landholdings in the country, that is the number of farms and not farmers. The number of farmers could be higher or lower, although most experts believe the former is more likely. “It might be more common in most parts to have more farmers than holdings,” says economist Sudha Narayanan, who is writing a paper on this very subject. Narayanan is an associate professor of economics at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) and specialises in agriculture economics. The agricultural census is not the only source of an estimate – or proxy – for the number of farmers in India. There are several. Different government departments and statistical organisations provide figures that vary quite a lot. In their upcoming paper, Narayanan and Shree Saha, who is a PhD candidate at Cornell University, provide a table that gives a snapshot of the different estimates of the number of farmers according to different arms of the government of India. There are as many as five different estimates and none of them provide a good answer to the question ‘how many farmers there are in India’. How various government estimates try to capture the number of farmers in the country. Credit: Narayanan and Saha. In fact, they don’t even agree on who is a ‘farmer’. Some seek to define those engaged in farming based on whether it is their main (what ‘main’ means is also different in different estimates) source of income, while some focus on whether agricultural land is owned. Some take both into account. Some seek to ascertain the number of individual farmers. Others want to know how many farming households there may be in India. One (the population census) is a complete population count exercise while the others are sample surveys. So, the first problem that needs to be addressed is to define who a farmer is. This is particularly important now as income support schemes gain currency and problems will emerge if a database of beneficiaries does not exist. That problem has already emerged under the hastily announced and implemented PM Kisan scheme, but more on that a little later. The National Commission on farmers set up in 2004 under M.S. Swaminathan sought to address the question of defining farmers. According to Narayanan and Saha’s paper that definition is “very broad and inclusive” as it did not seek to define a farmer based on ownership of land alone and paved the way for a tiller or cultivator to be classified as a farmer too. It also allowed for women to be characterised as farmers, something they continue to be deprived of as it is male members overwhelmingly who are landowners. Adoption of this definition would enable government policy to focus on the person practising farming rather than the land which is being farmed, as the current definitions overwhelmingly focus on. But, adoption has not happened 14 years after the Swaminathan report was submitted to the central government. Why is this important? How a farmer is defined in government papers has very practical implications. It determines who benefits from government schemes, and who does not. For instance, availing a loan under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC), in practise, requires land ownership title. That financial inclusion under KCC remains sub-par despite this, is another story. Those without a clear land title are excluded from the Pradahan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) too as it requires farmers to possess a KCC account. So, tenant farmers who are responsible for the sowing and the harvest, and the associated costs, do not have access to the KCC loans, that are supposed to serve crop loans – or working capital loans – and the PMFBY, which is supposed to be an insurance against crop loss. On the other hand, landowners who may not be doing the actual cultivating get the benefits. All this while the impact on women farmers is disproportionately worse. As many as 73.2% of women in rural India are engaged in agriculture, but women own only 12.8% of the total agricultural land holdings. Another flagship Central government scheme where those who do not own land are left out is the PM Kisan scheme. This is crucial because the policy direction appears to be moving in the direction of more income support schemes. The scheme was launched just a couple of months prior to the Lok Sabha polls of 2019 with retrospective effect so that one instalment could be transferred before polling. Under it, each ‘farmer family’ that owned less than two hectares of land was to be provided income support of Rs 6,000 per year. As the Centre did not have a database for the number of ‘farmer families’ in the country, it once again relied on the agriculture census of 2015-16. That census, as you would remember, does not provide data for the number of farmers or farmer families. Instead, it provides data for the number of farms, or operational landholdings in the country. So the Centre initially estimated that 12.5 crore farmer families would benefit from the scheme and that it would cost the taxpayer Rs 75,000 crore. After reelection in May 2019, Modi’s government decided to expand the ambit of the scheme to include all farmers in the country. That meant that all 14.5 crore farmer families in the country, or more precisely 14.5 crore farms in the country would be eligible to receive the Rs 6,000 a year under PM Kisan. One would think that given the increase in the number of beneficiaries, the total amount allocated for the scheme would also increase proportionately. But, that did not happen. In fact, the government quickly realised that it won’t even be able to spend the amount that had been initially allocated. For the benefit of the scheme to reach 14.5 crore farmer families, as the government claimed it would, it needed to spend Rs 87,000 crore in a year. In reality, in 2019-20, which was the first full year of the implementation of the scheme, the Centre only spent Rs 48,714 crore reaching around 8 crore farmers. In the next year, it spent around Rs 65,000 crore and the allocation for PM Kisan has now been reduced to that amount. That means the government has allocated only enough to benefit 10.83 crore farmers and not 14.5 crore. To put this into context, the extension of the scheme to ‘all farmers’ should have meant that the original Rs 75,000 crore allocation increased to Rs 87,000 crore as per the agriculture census database which the government was using. Instead, the allocation has been reduced by 13%. Some of the responsibility for this, according to the ministry of agriculture, has to lie with states as they have been slow in providing the database to the Centre. West Bengal has refused to participate in the scheme altogether. The chief reason for the curtailed spending, however, is the lack of a database for farmers. “We went in blind into PM Kisan with no idea who the beneficiary is,” a senior official at the ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare said. The problems with using operational landholding data to transfer amounts to beneficiaries who are individuals and not pieces of land have emerged under PM Kisan. Narayanan explains that the number of actual beneficiaries could be more in some states and less in some states than the number of landholdings. “If there are siblings in separate households with both names on the patta that they jointly farm, you would have 2 farmers and 1 holding. If the siblings live in a joint family, both names are on the patta, but they have informally demarcated land into two and each farms it independently of the other – they would be counted as 2 holdings and one farmer. So both are possible,” she says and adds, “In general, it might be more common in most parts to have more farmers than holdings.” Something similar was said by an agriculture ministry official speaking to Down to Earth magazine. “The database on the total number of farmers is poor. On one hand, landless farmers are excluded from the scheme and on the other hand, the number of such families could be more than what the records for operational landholdings show.” Most states have, so far, fewer farmers registered under PM Kisan than the number of landholdings in their states. “The process is not finished yet. More farmers are registering,” the agriculture ministry official we spoke to said. But, some states have registered more farmers than the number of landholdings in their state. For instance, from Punjab more than twice the number of farmers than the number of farms in the state have registered under PM Kisan. Gujarat has registered 6 lakh more farmers than the number of landholdings, while Uttar Pradesh has registered more than 5 lakh more. Mizoram and Manipur have more than three times the number of farmers than landholdings, as per the PM Kisan database. Explaining the unique problems with the northeastern parts of the country, the ministry official speaking to Down to Earth said, “Another issue, specifically in the north-eastern states, is that they have common property resources and the farmlands are owned by a community rather than one person. So, individual records are not maintained. Also, states have to take up the initiative of mobilising the farmers for registering with the scheme.” Yet another problem that has plagued PM Kisan is that of amounts being transferred to ‘ineligible beneficiaries’. This problem is also, at least partly, a consequence of the lack of a database of farmers. The Centre told Parliament last month that 32.91 lakh people who were not entitled, as per the PM Kisan guidelines, to be beneficiaries under the scheme ended up receiving the benefit. That is more than 3% of the total beneficiaries registered under the scheme. Some of the ineligible beneficiaries were those who were ‘income tax payees’ and were thus ineligible for PM Kisan. These were discovered when the PM Kisan database was linked with the income tax database. While some others were registered under the PM Kisan scheme when the computers of agriculture department officials were hacked. “Certainly, if the database of farmers was created first and the scheme was launched only after that, many of these problems would not have happened. But that would have taken time,” the ministry official who spoke to us said.

• Director General Office

Agenda for Stockholm+50

As we approach Stockholm+50, we are looking at an increasingly inequitable world; where poverty and marginalisation are growing Sunita Narain It’s been a generation since global leaders met in Stockholm in 1972 to discuss environmental challenges. Then the concerns were for the local environment; there was no talk of climate change or even the depletion of the ozone layer. All that came later. In 1972, the discussion was on the toxification of the environment as water and air were foul. Anil Agarwal, Centre for Science and Environment’s founder-director, was in Stockholm for this first ever UN Conference on the Human Environment, and he spoke often about how the lakes of this city were so polluted with industrial effluents that you could develop a camera film in the waters. These lakes are now pristine. So, you could argue that much has changed in the past 50 years. But not really. The toxification of the environment is still a pressing concern; countries have indeed cleaned up locally but added to the emissions in the global atmosphere. Now, we are out of time as climate change impacts are spiralling out of control. This is why as we approach Stockholm+50, we are looking at an increasingly inequitable world; where poverty and marginalisation are growing and where climate change risks are reaching not just the homes of the poor but also the rich. We need, therefore, to change paths; to re-configure not just our language but also our approach to, what we can call, our common future. This is why next year when the world marks the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm conference, it must stand differently — not to state the problem but to show the way ahead. This is also why we need to discuss consumption and production. We cannot sidestep this anymore. This is the most inconvenient of all discussions. The fact is when we stitched up the global ecological framework in terms of the many agreements — from ozone, climate, and biodiversity to desertification and hazardous waste — the world realised that the actions of one country exceeded its boundaries. It had to act globally and cooperatively as we live in an interdependent world. During this time, we also signed another agreement on free trade — the economic globalisation agreement. But we never really understood how these two frameworks — ecological and economic globalisation — would counteract each other. As a result, we have worked to build an economic model based on discounting the price of labour and of the environment. We have pushed production where these costs are cheaper; we have built for overproduction as goods have become cheaper and more disposable. But we have also made sure that all countries are now vested in this model of growth. All countries want to be part of the global factories that produce goods as cheaply as possible. This comes then at the cost of environmental safeguards and labour conditions. The poor in the world are on the aspirational ladder to get richer with more goods and more consumption and more waste. Today, Covid-19 has disrupted this out-of-control journey to produce as cheaply as possible and to consume as much as possible. But as the world builds back, it has the choice to do things differently. This is also because Covid-19 has brought us lessons that we must not forget. One, we have understood the value of labour — migrant labour — that was invisible and unwanted; today it has become important for industry. We have seen how labour returned home — not just in India but across the world. And how this impacted production. We can see already that industry is working hard to bring back its workers; it is offering them better pay and better working conditions. This will increase the cost of production. Two, we understand today the value of blue skies and clear lungs — we know that the lockdown resulted in lowered pollution and we value this now. This investment in the environment will increase the cost of production as well. Three, we understand the value of investing in land-agriculture-water systems. People who went back to their villages are rebuilding their livelihoods. It is time to secure resilient futures there with food production systems that are sustainable, nature-friendly, and good for health. Four, we are now in the world of work from home; even when the new normal comes, we will want to have hybrid systems that will allow us to work remotely, reduce travel stress, and also have interactions and collaborations that enrich our world. This will change consumption patterns as well. And five, governments are financially strapped. They have to spend much more and, therefore, cannot waste. This is where they will want to invest in circular economies — find ways of making resources out of waste; do more with less. All this has the potential to change the way we consume and the way we produce. So as the world meets again next year to mark 50 years of when the conversation started on human beings and their impact on the environment, we have an opportunity to do it right by nature this time. This time, we have the existential crisis of climate change staring us in the face. We cannot waste more time talking the talk anymore. It’s not an option. Not anymore. The writer is at the Centre for Science and Environment | sunita@cseindia.org | Twitter: @sunitanar

• Down To Earth

India must strive to catch the ecological bus

A re-invigorated biodiversity management policy is India’s survival strategy. At this point in our development trajectory, we don’t pay any heed to either biodiversity or landscape conservation. India has been ablaze with devastating forest fires in Uttarakhand and in Orissa’s Similipal. Why aren’t these being discussed with the same intensity as the Tapovan catastrophe in February? Several scientists have been reported saying that the dramatic fall in rainfall this season has a directly co-relation with these fires in Uttarakhand. This may be a fact, but the absence of rainfall is caused by climate crisis. India has to gear up to protect its spectacular biodiversity from the many cataclysmic events that are bound to attack our country as climate change intensifies. A re-invigorated biodiversity management policy is India’s survival strategy. At this point in our development trajectory, we don’t pay any heed to either biodiversity or landscape conservation. We can only grow if we avert an ecological and environmental collapse. We cannot afford expenditure on disaster relief and rehabilitation, instead of innovation, education and health. Let’s go back to the drawing board for every single project, with new focus on biodiversity. India must rapidly build and nurture grassroots-based habitat monitoring and governance. Incentives can make or break this. Well known conservationist, Bishwajit Mohanty from Orissa, points out in Down to Earth magazine, how local women can be involved in sweeping forest floors in specific seasons to prevent fires and Van Panchayats can be incentivised to catch poachers. Locals, not politicians, must co-own the forest more than they do, along with the forest department. The bus for a stable, sustainable future is moving on. Let’s race and catch it.

• Down To Earth

Odisha: Similipal Fires Continue While Govt Claims Situation Under Control

Located in Mayurbhanj district, the forest fires in Similipal—India’s largest and Asia’s second- largest biosphere reserve—have spread across 21 ranges. India’s largest biosphere reserve, Similipal, located in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha is currently witnessing enormous forest fires which have reportedly spread across multiple ranges for over 10 days. The reserve is home to over 300 species of birds, varieties of reptiles, fish among others, including the endangered Bengal tiger. While Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar claims that the fires have been brought under control, satellite pictures of NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System have showed that the fires continue to rage over Odisha and Similipal. Talking about the extent of the forest fires, Aditya Panda, a wildlife conservationist based in Odisha, told NewsClick, “I'm on my way back from the interior hill districts of the state to the capital and there wasn't a single forest or hill during the 300 km journey that wasn't on fire.” Similipal, which derives its name from ‘Simul’ (silk cotton) tree, spans over 5,569 sq km, and the area is inhabited and surrounded by adivasi population. The transition zone of the reserve has 1,200 villages with a total population of about 4.5 lakh. Tribals constitute about 73% of the population. Reportedly, the fires began after local residents set fire to the dry leaves, which snowballed into the current crisis. Aditya Panda explained, “The fires are set off by the people for the harvest of mahua flowers and fruit, tendu leaves and for bushmeat poaching. The early onset of summer this year has started these practices sooner than usual. The Forest Department should have anticipated this and taken precautions well in time. There are set SOPs for fire prevention and a Rs 50 crore budget available for this." Also read: Odisha: ‘Ease of Doing Business’ at Cost of Tribal Land and Livelihood The local adivasi communities burn down the dry leaves in order to protect the mahua trees from moths and animals that attack the sweet fruit. Another reason, is that the fires help poachers who benefit from the animals running towards the outer areas away from the fires. However, activists and researchers have said that simply putting the blame squarely on the adivasi communities dwelling in the area cannot absolve the state from taking its responsibility. Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of the Wildlife Society of Odisha, writing for Down to Earth magazine pointed out, “It is now believed that the annual fire control budget for Odisha is Rs 50 crore. This includes temporary fire squads equipped with air blowers, vehicles and safety wire. A state-level toll free number can also be used to inform the administration of fire occurrences. Unfortunately, despite several requests by the writer, the number is publicised only through print or electronic media. Thereby, a majority of forest-dwelling communities remain unaware of the service.” He added, “Several measures should be taken to control forest fires which involve community participation. Women NTFP collectors can be trained to sweep fallen leaves under mahua trees and burn them in a controlled manner, which will prevent the fire entering forest areas.” Reiterating that the state needs to take up the responsibility, Sricharan Behra of the Centre for Survival and Dignity (CSD) said, “The forest fires in the area are not new. The adivasis living in the area are usually held responsible for the fires. While they are being blamed completely, the real issue is that the forest officials who should be preventing these fires are escaping their responsibility.” “Instead of accusing those officials, the authorities are running behind the adivasi communities. Every year this happens, so the responsibility of the department needs to be questioned. As the soil dries up and the area becomes fire prone, there is a greater need to look into the bigger lacunae of the system, while involving the local adivasis in the preventive measures,” Behra added. As the fire continues to engulf more areas, the focus is moving towards more involvement of the local communities in the preservation practices as well as sensitisation of the forest department towards indigenous practices. However, how far these measures will be implemented remains to be seen.

• Water Programme

To save wetlands, Hyderabad needs to improve its drainage system

The major findings of the study are that city of Hyderabad as well as Telangana do not have disaster management plans. HYDERABAD: Hyderabad urgently needs to expand and remodel its drainage system. Besides lakes and canals, wetlands and watersheds play a vital role in absorbing excess rainfall, but regrettably, rapid urbanisation in the twin cities has resulted in the loss of a large portion of the wetlands, according to a Niti Aayog report. The major findings of the study are that city of Hyderabad as well as Telangana do not have disaster management plans. They are not fully utilising the doppler radar, which can give advance and precise warnings. It recommended that the focus should on disaster response, even while allowing unplanned growth. Niti Aayog’s “Report of the Committee Constituted for Formulation of Strategy for Flood Management Works in Entire Country” has an exclusive chapter on the Hyderabad floods-2020. An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment in 2016 revealed that 3,245 hectares of water bodies were lost in Hyderabad between 1989 and 2001, the report said. In the long run, the effects of flooding due to deluges can only be mitigated if urban planners take into account the hydro-geology of cities and ensure that construction, development and land occupation do not take place in a way that reduces the area of wetlands, the report concluded. The engineering solutions like linking all the 185 tanks in and around Hyderabad city with modern technology to divert flow of water during deluge, coupled with measures to 50 control flood (rainwater) flow by restoring nalas and removing encroachments would help prevent flooding and inundation. Delineate nalas, drains One major suggestion made by report is that nalas, drains and watercourses should be clearly delineated and boundaries fixed while planning new developments. Overflowing lakes led to maximum damage during floods, says report During last year’s unprecedented rains and floods in Hyderabad, much of the damage was caused by the overflowing of lakes, in particular the Hussainsagar in the heart of the city and the breaching of stormwater drains, according to Niti Aayog’s ‘Report of the Committee Constituted for Formulation of Strategy for Flood Management Works in Entire Country’. The report identified construction over lake beds and encroachments of drainage channels as some of the problems that have exacerbated flooding and inundation in the city. The report recommends that an underground drainage system should be constructed to flush rainwater from any place, whether it is at a high or low elevation, till the final place of discharge, like the Musi river in Hyderabad’s case. According to estimates, in the last few decades, water bodies have drastically come down from one lakh to 185 within the Greater Hyderabad Capital Region. Of the 185 lakes, the surplus weirs and courses are completely closed for 75 lakes. These lakes used to work as flood sink of the city. In absence of these, city is more vulnerable to any natural disaster On October 14, 2020, after a night-long rain, the daily rainfall recorded at the weather monitoring station of the IMD was 19.2 cm. The water drowned the roads and inundated homes worth crores in upmarket localities like Manikonda, Gachibowli, Rajendranagar and Madhapur in the western part of the city. As per the GHMC data, parts of the Nadeem Colony abutting Shah Hatim Talab had water rise to 12 feet after the downpour on October 13. Devi Nagar and Chudi Bazaar colonies in Goshamahal saw the water rise to 10 feet. Similar were the scenes in several other colonies like Hafiz Baba Nagar, Al Jubail Colony, Ghazi-e-Millat Colony, Chandrayangutta, Ghouse Nagar, Moin Bagh, Edi Bazar, Talab Katta and Riyasat Nagar in the Old City area. All these localities witnessed water rise to four feet. Close to two dozen colonies around LB Nagar too faced a similar fate. Thirty-three lives were lost in the city, with the GHMC estimating that at least 37,409 families were affected. The Municipal Administration ministry pegged the city’s losses at Rs 670 crore.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Green score in Delhi hit by persistent poor AQI

Environment was one of the metrics under the Sustainability Pillar on which Delhi scored 56.02, slightly above the national average of 53.63, securing the 28th rank. Consistent poor air quality and high levels of microscopic particulate matter pollutants have got Delhi 42nd rank in the environment category among 49 cities with a million or more population in a survey by the Union housing and urban affairs ministry for the Ease of Living report that was released on Thursday. Environment was one of the metrics under the Sustainability Pillar on which Delhi scored 56.02, slightly above the national average of 53.63, securing the 28th rank. According to the report, for ranking the cities on environment indicators such as water quality, total tree cover, hazardous waste generation and air quality index (measuring SO2, NO2, and PM10) were considered. Despite steps by local and central agencies, Delhi’s city’s air quality takes an annual plunge every winter, with the air quality hitting ‘emergency’ levels on the AQI scale, especially between December and January. The cold conditions and low wind speed often contribute to worsening the pollution levels. A CSE analysis released on Wednesday showed that in 2020 even though the severity and duration of smog episodes were lower, the seasonal average levels of PM 2.5 was higher.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi Witnessed Higher Pollution Levels, Fewer Smog Episodes This Winter: CSE Analysis

Every winter season, the National Capital Region records a spike in air pollution levels. And instead of going down owing to various measures from governments and citizens, the pollution levels have only increased year-on-year. In the winter season of 2020-2021, the pollution has notched higher levels once again, as per the latest analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The overall city-wide average pollution was recorded at 186 micrograms per cubic metre i.e., 7% higher than the 2019-2020 winter months, reveals the CSE analysis. “This demands quicker and more ambitious regional reforms to curb pollution from all sources with the scale with speed,” says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research and advocacy, CSE. More pollution, less seasonal peaks Despite a year-on-year increase in pollution levels, the seasonal peak in pollution levels witnessed a reduction by 8% as compared to last winter owing to the meteorological conditions and change in the farm stubble burning patterns. This could be the reason for the reduced number of emergency-level pollution episodes across the national capital region this winter. Delhi recorded at least 23 ‘severe’ air quality days this winter season. The capital city had recorded 25 ‘severe’ days in 2019-2020 and 33 such days in 2018-19. At the same time, the number of days with the ‘poor’ category of AQI had increased between October 15, 2020, to February 1, 2021. “Winter season is always a special challenge when inversion and cool and calm weather traps and spikes daily pollution. But this is also the bar to understand the effectiveness of round-the-year action in reducing long-term pollution in the region. Despite the declining trend (year-on-year basis) due to action taken over the last few years on clean fuels for industry and transport, power plants, trucks, old vehicles etc, the winter PM2.5 concentration has bounced back, unmasking the impacts of local and regional pollution” said Anumita Roychowdhury. The analysis indicates that north Delhi and east Delhi recorded the highest concentration of the PM2.5 level pollutant in the entire capital city during the winter season. Jahangirpuri was designated as Delhi’s prime pollution hotspot in the season, with an average PM2.5 level of 256 micrograms per cubic metre. Apart from this, Alipur, DTU, ITO, Nehru Nagar, Patparganj, Sonia Vihar and Vivek Vihar also registered higher seasonal averages. Among the neighbouring regions of the capital, Ghaziabad recorded a higher spike in pollution levels. Fewer smog episodes One of the other main findings of the analysis was the reduction in the severity of smog—a mix of smoke and fog—episodes this year. This winter season, the capital city recorded only two continuous smog episodes, which were of shorter duration as compared to the previous year. The first occurred on November 3 and lasted for seven days, while the second one was of shorter duration on December 22—which lasted only three days. On the positive side, at least 12 ground-based stations recorded an improvement in seasonal average air quality, with most improvement noted in NSIT Dwarka, Wazirpur and Shadipur. Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme adds: “This analysis has helped us understand the regional patterns as well as the local variations. Even though there is considerable regional variation, peak pollution episodes increased and synchronised within the region. The uneven rise across monitoring locations—even contiguous locations—brings out the impact of local pollution.” The analysis of the entire Delhi was conducted based on data obtained from various apex government agencies like the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB). Altogether, the team at CSE collected data from more than 81 air quality monitoring stations under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) of the CPCB. Additional information on stubble fire was derived from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), while weather data was sourced from the Palam weather station of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Local sources behind high pollution in north, east Delhi

Jai Prakash, north Delhi mayor, said that all efforts of the municipal agencies this winter were focused to control local pollution sources. Road dust, open garbage burning and high vehicular movement on internal roads were the primary culprits that pushed the air quality in east and north Delhi to be the worst this winter season, residents of the area said. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Wednesday had released a winter analysis of air quality in Delhi and NCR this winter compared to the previous years. The analysis highlighted that east and north Delhi recorded the worst levels of PM 2.5 (ultrafine particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres), while air quality monitoring stations in west Delhi were relatively cleaner compared to the rest of the city. Residents and business owners in north Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, which recorded the worst air quality in the city with a seasonal average of 256μg/m3, said that road dust was a primary factor in adding to the pollution levels here. Ramesh Thakral, a shop owner near the Jahangirpuri metro station, said that broken roads and constant movement of vehicles has turned the area into a perpetual dust bowl. The situation worsens during winters, he said. “The roads are so riddled with potholes; how will you even ply mechanical sweepers here? Garbage here lies around for days before it is picked up. Since it is not picked up regularly, some residents and shop owners set it on fire at night. If you come here at night you can see smoke billowing from piles of garbage,” Thakral said. Open burning and abandoned old vehicles have also become a prominent source of pollution in east Delhi. Residents complained that despite strict order by government and municipal agencies, garbage and dried leave are often set on fire in areas around Acharya Niketan, Laxmi Nagar, Pandav Nagar, Patparganj and Krishna Nagar. Since these incidents are often reported from residential neighbourhoods that are away from the main roads, these instances seldom come to the notice of authorities, residents said. Sehmat Alam, general secretary of joint residents’ welfare association of Pandav Nagar lane eight, nine and ten, said that local construction work carried out by residents without following the pollution norms is also a problem. “Every year when construction is stopped you can see piles of cement and construction debris lying around on roads, which are then blown around by vehicles moving,” he said. CSE in its analysis said that wide local variations among monitoring locations indicated higher impact of local pollution and micro-climate. “This analysis has helped us understand the regional patterns as well as the local variations. Even though there is considerable regional variation, peak pollution episodes increased and synchronised within the region. The uneven rise across monitoring locations, even contiguous locations, brings out the impact of local pollution,” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s urban lab team of the sustainable cities programme. Jai Prakash, north Delhi mayor, said that all efforts of the municipal agencies this winter were focused to control local pollution sources. “We ensured that mechanical sweepers were deployed in all areas under our jurisdiction and a close watch was also kept on controlling garbage burning and dumping cases. We were also deploying water sprinklers to settle local dust,” he said.

• Down To Earth

GJUST Prof panellist at magazine release

Hisar: Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology Vice-Chancellor Tankeshwar Kumar and Registrar Dr Avnesh Verma congratulated Prof R Baskar for being invited as a panellist for the release of the State of India’s Environment report, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)-2021. The annual publication of ‘Down To Earth’ magazine was released online jointly by over 60 environmental thinkers, campaigners, activists, journalists and academics from across the nation. Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, and Editor, Down To Earth, while releasing the annual publication said there was need to access the global situation after the pandemic hit the world. Narain said according to overall assessment, air and water quality was under stress and all trends showed that pollution was increasing at alarming levels and this had a massive impact on our health.

• Sustainable Food Systems

Expedite law on front-of-pack labelling with clear timelines: Experts

MNCs know global best practices but dilly-dally as much as possible in India, they say Nutrition experts, public health advocates and civil society organisations on the World Obesity Day on Thursday urged the food regulator to expedite the law on front-of-pack (FoP) labelling with clear timelines for implementation for the industry. The appeal comes at a time the FSSAI is known to be holding consultations with stakeholders on the issue. In 2013, an expert committee set up to look into junk food in schools recommended the need for FoP labelling for calories, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt. Since then there have been multiple panels, but no final outcome yet. “There is no time for delay. The FSSAI must come up with a law now with clear timelines. The front of pack labelling has been under discussion for seven years. Many affected are multi-national companies who know the global best practices but dilly-dally as much as possible in India,” said Amit Khurana, Programme Director, Food Safety and Toxins Unit, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), during a webinar on the importance of the labelling. There has been much debate over what should be the design — from logos endorsing a product as healthy, numerical indicators, “traffic light” and warning ‘labels’, but nutrition experts vote for mandatory warning labels as the most successful one. “Warning labels are the only approach that have demonstrated a real world change in purchasing and reformulation [of food products],” said Barry Popkin, Professor of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina. “As a public health scholar, the large number of randomised control trials and the Chilean approach have shown me that warning labels are the way forward to reduce obesity, hypertension and many nutrition related non-communicable diseases.” Dr. Rekha Harish, a public health expert, sounded a note of caution and said while formulating rules, it is important that cut-offs for calories, sugar also take into consideration their harmful effect on children who consume junk foods from a very young age.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Delhi is second among 5 worst cities in terms of public transport availability

To rank cities on mobility, one of the primary criteria for ascertaining the quality of life, three crucial indicators were assessed —availability of public transport, transport-related fatalities and road infrastructure. When it comes to public transport and mobility, Delhi has fared poorly on Ease of Living Index, 2020, the rankings of which were released by Union ministry of housing and urban affairs on Thursday. In fact, the lack of adequate public transport options put Delhi second on a list of five worst performing cities. To rank cities on mobility, one of the primary criteria for ascertaining the quality of life, three crucial indicators were assessed —availability of public transport, transport-related fatalities and road infrastructure. The findings of the report show that Delhi was among cities that had a low availability of public transport modes per lakh population. Featuring second on a list of five worst performing cities, Delhi’s figures for the ‘availability of public transport’ was 1,688.50 per lakh population (PLP). Ahmedabad, according to the rankings, fared the worst with only 638.63 transportation modes per lakh population. The national capital was followed by Navi Mumbai with 2,037.81 PLP, Pune with 2,585.54 PLP, and finally Bengaluru, which had 4,409.62 PLP. The best performing city in this category was Chennai with a public transport availability rate of 92,017.96 per lakh population, followed by Visakhapatnam with 21,212.92 per lakh population On the worst performing cities, the report said, “Firstly, the public transport system is not efficient enough to support the population of respective cites. Secondly, these cities may be ”automobile dependent” for increased mobility fostered by rapid economic growth that encourages private vehicle ownership.” This worrying trend was also highlighted in a study released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in December last year, which showed that the ridership in public transport modes such as buses and the Delhi Metro was witnessing a decline, while the use of private vehicles was seeing a spike. The CSE analysis also warned of commuters shifting to private vehicles after Covid-19, which could undo years of work in the city to promote public transport, and as a result increase snarls on the road. According to latest government data, Delhi has around 11 million registered private vehicles, while Delhi has a fleet of around 6,000 public buses. This is nowhere near enough to cater to the 20 million-plus population, say transport experts. The capital city needs around 11,000 buses to bridge the gap between passenger requirement and availability. Amit Bhatt, director of integrated urban transport at World Resources Institute (India), said a major area where the city is lagging is the integration of its bus fleet with its extensive Metro system. “There were proposals for increasing the bus fleet of Delhi but probably because of the pandemic, these are yet to be reach the roads. Inadequate availability of buses is a problem being faced by all cities. We had conducted a study, which had showed that India needs around 2.5 lakh buses. In Delhi, along with a shortage of buses, the problem is also that the bus routes are not integrated with the Metro. If that had been done, it could have provided seamless transit options to commuters,” he said. The report said over 60% of the cities participating in this index, including the national capital, have scored below the national average of 28.05. Chennai emerged the only positive outlier with a score of 79.80, followed by, after a significant gap, Thane (48.40), Bengaluru (48.40), Bhopal (48.01), and Guwahati (47.73). However, the report also highlighted that transport-related fatalities were much lower in Delhi. “The incidents of transport-related fatalities were much lower in cities such as Amritsar (4.84), Ahmedabad (5.92), Surat (6.47) Pune (7.12), Bengaluru (7.32), Delhi (12.43) and Hyderabad (12.98) per lakh population,” the report read.

• Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

Public hearing: Delhi waste workers seek right to garbage, access to place to sort dump

A recent public hearing on waste workers, organized by the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) with the help of several other civil rights groups, highlighting multiple layers of harassment faced by them from the police and municipal officials, has regretted they do not have any identity, hence are unable to access any government benefit which may benefit them or their family. Held at village Tilla Shebazpur, Loni, Bhopura Road (Ghaziabad, UP) with the participation of nearly 100 waste workers and activists, the hearing saw women waste workers complaining about facing double exploitation: They have work as waste workers and even as managing their household. Also, they do not have access to a safe and closed toilet and have to defecate in open fields, said a DASAM note. Text: In 2014, the government declared the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) or the Clean India Campaign, making sanitation one of its key priorities. The move initiated a positive change in the direction of solid waste management in India that led to issuing of a renewed version of Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules in 2016. The rule for the first time recognized the contribution of waste collectors in solid waste management processes. Yet it is a disappointment as the Rule steers clear from any acknowledgment of waste collectors as laborers. The SWM Rules 2016 takes a staunch managerial approach to solid waste without taking cognizance of the workers and their right to a life of dignity; a stance which firmly should be objected to. There are approximately four million waste collectors in India. Half a million waste collectors are indulged in waste management only in the Delhi NCR area and most of them are migrants from different states of the country. It is also a matter of fact that most people who are indulged in waste collecting belong to the Dalit and Adivasi community. They migrate into big cities in search of livelihood and get entangled in the web of extortion and exploitation of civic bodies. This clearly shows that law in the capital is being mocked by the implementers of law and order itself. Waste collectors primarily belong to marginalized communities whose contributions to the environment and society largely remain uncompensated. The failure to recognize them as laborers is not only exclusionary but exacerbates the marginalization encountered by this worker group. As SWM Rules 2016 are formulated by the Ministry of Environment, its perspective is limited to the domain of environment which makes it incapable of addressing the concerns of waste collectors engaged in waste management processes at the lowest level. For the same a public hearing on the waste workers issue was organized where the waste workers themselves shared their testimonies in front of the public and the jury. The jury of the public hearing comprised of Dr Shyamala Mani, consultant, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and former professor National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA); Atin Biswas, programme director at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Dr Jitendra Nagar, department of environmental studies, University of Delhi; Dr Somjita Laha, fellow, Institute for Human Development (IHD), Debendra Kumar Baral, president, Bal Vikasa Dhara; and Ms. Sweta Celine Xess, research scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). All together 20 cases were presented in front of the Jury. hearing highlighted the multiple layers of harassment faced by the workers from the Police, New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) or Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) employees. There is no law concerning waste workers, only their name has been mentioned. The public hearing was attended by more than 150 people. Few cases are mentioned below: Ram Kumar, 77, has been working as a ragpicker for the past 40 years. He migrated from Lucknow but currently resides in New Delhi. He complained of harassment by police. Also, the NDMC forces the waste picker to lie about receiving bounty. He earns for himself as there is no one in the family, earns a minimum of 600-800 approximately per week, depending on the material he sells. Nun Nisa and Bibi Suraiya complained about facing double exploitation. They complained of dual labour as waste workers and as woman managing the household. In addition to the harassment and problems during work, they do not have access to a safe and closed toilet and have to defecate in open fields. Their settlement doesn’t have any provision of electricity and water. Shahida, a seven-year-old girl, also complained that since her parents do not earn enough, she is unable to go to school and receive education. She also added that both her parents leave for work early in morning and do not spend time with her. The jury recommended that the waste workers should be provided with an identity card so they are not harassed by the police. Also, since the workers do not have any identity, they are unable to access any government benefit which may benefit them or their family. Waste workers should have a: Right to garbage, and Right to access to a place to sort dump. The governing agencies such as NDMC, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) etc. should hire waste workers and work as allies instead of working against each other. The public earing was concluded by emphasizing the imhportance of unionization of all the waste workers in Delhi to better articulate their demands.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Severity of smogs lower this winter in Delhi-NCR

NEW DELHI: A new analysis of the winter pollution levels in Delhi-NCR says that while the seasonal average was higher than the previous winter's, the severity and duration of smog episodes were lower. Stations in north and east Delhi recorded the highest PM2.5 levels. Track the pollution level in your city The analysis, by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has considered Central Pollution Control Board's real-time air quality data, stubble fire data from System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, and weather data from the Palam station of India Meteorological Department. The number of days with "severe" and "very poor" levels of PM2.5 concentration has been comparatively lower this winter but the number of days in the "poor" category has increased, it says. While the overall city average at 186 micrograms per cubic metre has been 7% higher than the 2019-20 winter, the seasonal peak has been about 8% lower. "Despite the declining annual trend due to action taken over the past few years on clean fuels, the winter PM2.5 concentration has bounced back, unmasking the impacts of local and regional pollution," said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy, and head of CSE's sustainable urbanisation, air pollution and mobility programmes. "This demands quicker and more ambitious regional reforms to curb pollution from all sources." According to the analysis, 12 stations witnessed an improvement in seasonal averages, with the maximum improvement at NSIT Dwarka, Wazirpur and Shadipur. The maximum increase in PM2.5 concentration was observed at Patparganj, Vivek Vihar and RK Puram, all residential areas. Stations in north and east Delhi exhibited the highest levels while west Delhi was relatively cleaner. On pollution hotspots, CSE says except Wazirpur and Sahibabad, all such locations saw a spike. Jahangirpuri, with a seasonal average of 256 micrograms per cubic metre, was the dirtiest. Hotspots are places where annual average levels are higher than the mean value of the city, which is much worse than the national ambient air quality standards. This winter, at least 14 more locations registered higher seasonal averages than the mean of recognised hotspots - 197 micrograms per cubic metre. These were Alipur, DTU, ITO, Nehru Nagar, Patparganj, Sonia Vihar and Vivek Vihar in Delhi; sectors 1 and 116 in Noida; Loni, Sanjay Vihar and Indirapuram in Ghaziabad; Knowledge Park V in Greater Noida; and Bulandshahr. North Delhi was the dirtiest place in the region with Jahangirpuri recording the worst seasonal average and Mundka the worst seasonal peak. Ghaziabad was the most polluted among the four major neighbouring towns of Delhi.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Seasonal average of winter pollution in Delhi-NCR higher this winter; smog episodes shorter: CSE

New Delhi: Seasonal average of winter pollution in Delhi-NCR in 2020-2021 was higher than in the previous year but the severity and duration of smog episodes was lower, a new analysis by environment think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said on Wednesday. For the purposes of implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), winter in the region is officially demarcated as the period from October 15 to February 1, the CSE said. This winter, there were 23 days when the city-wide average of PM2.5 concentration was in the 'severe' or 'worse' AQI category — down from 25 such days in the winter of 2019-2020 and 33 in 2018-19, the analysis said. Also Read - Interactions with police have led to a complete breakdown of trust for many Technically, a smog episode is defined for the purpose of implementing emergency action under GRAP, when levels of PM2.5 remain in the 'severe' category for three consecutive days, it said. It also said that Ghaziabad was the most polluted among the four neighbouring towns of Delhi and in the national capital city, north Delhi was the most polluted with Jahangirpuri as the dirtiest hotspot. There is always a special interest in understanding winter pollution trends — given the extraordinary situation due to the pandemic this year, as well as the fact that winter remains the most difficult season in this region due to atmospheric conditions of inversion, calm wind, and cold weather, said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research and advocacy, CSE. Also Read - Pandemic response helped us repair relations with the community, say Delhi Police "The trapped winter air traps local and regional pollution in turn, and gives rise to the deadly winter smog that we, the residents of Delhi-NCR, are so familiar with," said Roychowdhury, who also heads CSE's sustainable urbanisation, air pollution and mobility programmes. The CSE said that while Delhi has been battling a serious challenge of prolonged smoggy days every winter, in the time horizon of 2015-2020, several multi-sector actions have been initiated and these have been a part of the Comprehensive Clean Air Action Plan (CCAAP) as well as GRAP. It said that 12 stations witnessed an improvement in their seasonal averages over last year. Also Read - Two crushed to death by Haryana Roadways bus in north-east Delhi Most improvement was noted at NSIT Dwarka, Wazirpur and Shadipur, the CSE said, adding that the maximum increase was noted at Patparganj, Vivek Vihar and R K Puram (all residential areas). Stations in north and east Delhi continued to exhibit highest PM2.5 levels, while west Delhi was relatively cleaner, it said. Winter season is always a special challenge when inversion, and cool and calm weather traps and spikes daily pollution. But this is also the bar to understand the effectiveness of round-the-year action in reducing long-term pollution in the region," Roychowdhury said. Despite the declining trend (year-on-year basis) due to action taken over the last few years on clean fuels for industry and transport, power plants, trucks, old vehicles etc. the winter PM2.5 concentration has bounced back, unmasking the impacts of local and regional pollution. This demands quicker and more ambitious regional reforms to curb pollution from all sources with scale with speed," she said.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Seasonal average of winter pollution in Delhi NCR higher this winter smog episodes shorter CSE

New Delhi: Seasonal average of winter pollution in Delhi-NCR in 2020-2021 was higher than in the previous year but the severity and duration of smog episodes was lower, a new analysis by environment think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said on Wednesday. "The trapped winter air traps local and regional pollution in turn, and gives rise to the deadly winter smog that we, the residents of Delhi-NCR, are so familiar with," said Roychowdhury, who also heads CSE's sustainable urbanisation, air pollution and mobility programmes. Winter season is always a special challenge when inversion, and cool and calm weather traps and spikes daily pollution. the winter PM2.5 concentration has bounced back, unmasking the impacts of local and regional pollution. This demands quicker and more ambitious regional reforms to curb pollution from all sources with scale with speed," she said.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Winter was more polluted this year, but saw fewer smog days: CSE analysis

The analysis also shows that north Delhi recorded the worst pollution levels in the city this winter, with Jahagirpuri emerging as the hot spot with the worst air. The seasonal average pollution levels in Delhi this winter was higher than previous years, but the severity and smog episodes this year was lower, an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has shown. The analysis also shows that north Delhi recorded the worst pollution levels in the city this winter, with Jahagirpuri emerging as the hot spot with the worst air. There were two continuous smog episodes during this year’s winter. The first episode was of longer duration as it started on November 3 and lasted seven days. The second started on December 22 and lasted three days. Thus, the continuous smog episodes were fewer and shorter compared to previous winters. The 2019-20 winter had three smog episodes of eight, six and five-days durations respectively; the 2018-19 winter had four smog episodes of 10 days, two episodes of six days, and one of three-days duration. Among the four neighbouring satellite towns of Delhi, Ghaziabad was the most polluted, the CSE’s winter air quality analysis — which was made based on the air quality recordings of the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) official online portal Central Control Room for Air Quality Management (CAQM) between October 15 and February 1— further read. “There is always a special interest in understanding winter pollution trends, given the extraordinary situation we faced due to the pandemic this year, as well as the fact that winter remains the most difficult season in this region due to atmospheric conditions of inversion, calm wind, and cold weather,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), CSE. She added, “The winter air traps local and regional pollutants and gives rise to the deadly winter smog that we, the residents of Delhi-NCR, are so familiar with.” The trends show that the number of days with ”severe” and “very poor” levels of PM 2.5 (particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres) concentration was comparatively lower this winter. According to the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), which is a set of emergency measures that kick in as the PM levels reach a certain mark, air quality is considered to be in the ‘severe’ zone when the PM 2.5 levels are above 250ug/m3 or the PM 10 levels (particulate matter with diameter less than 10 micrometres) are above 430ug/m3. It is categorised as ‘poor’ when the PM 2.5 levels are between 91ug/m3 and 120ug/m3 or the PM 10 levels are between 251ug/m3 and 350ug/m3. However, the number of days in the “poor” pollution category has increased. At the same time, the overall city-wide average for the season was comparatively higher this year, the analysis found. For Delhi, this average stood at 186μg/m3, which is 7% higher than the seasonal average of 2019-20 winters. Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s urban lab team of the sustainable cities programme, said, “On a year-on-year basis, the annual average PM2.5 levels are declining in Delhi. Is this also moderating the impact on the pollution build-up and severe peaks during winter? This analysis of winter pollution trends since 2018 helps understand the patterns of change.” He said,“Overall, higher seasonal average but lower peak can be attributed to meteorology and changes in farm stubble burning patterns. But considerable variation has been noted among individual stations in the city. This also indicates the dominance of local pollution sources.” At a more hyper-local level, except at Wazirpur and Sahibabad, all the locations in the Delhi-NCR pollution hot spots list saw a spike in the seasonal PM2.5 levels, compared to last winter. Jahangirpuri, with a seasonal average of 256μg/m3, was the dirtiest among the hot spots. Bahadurgarh — that recorded an almost 50% spike in its PM2.5 level — was the cleanest.