Air quality worse in smaller towns in Indo-Gangetic Plains compared to bigger cities: CSE's
Air quality worse in smaller towns in Indo-Gangetic Plains compared to bigger cities: CSE's
Air quality worse in smaller towns in Indo-Gangetic Plains compared to bigger cities: CSE's
Candygate! Over 9,000 kg lollipops, candies adulterated with talcum powder seized The shocking incident came to light when an FDA team raided the confectionery in the Palda area of the city and impounded the sweet items comprising 5,600 kg of candy and 4,200 kg of lollipop The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) department seized over 9,000 kg of lollipops and candies adulterated with non-edible items like talcum powder from a factory in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The shocking incident came to light when an FDA team raided the confectionery in the Palda area of the city and impounded the sweet items comprising 5,600 kg of candy and 4,200 kg of lollipop. According to reports, KS Industries located in Udyog Nagar was raided by the team which detected several aberrations at the plant. It found that the candies were being manufactured in unhygienic conditions, and adulterated with talcum powder and other non-edible items. The FDA team also discovered that the labelling rules were clearly violated, among other transgressions, at the manufacturing unit. Also Read: Honeygate! Only Saffola, MarkfedSohna, Nature's Nectar among 13 brands pass sugar syrup test, claims CSE Speaking on the matter, Indore Addition Collector Abhay Bedekar said that a white powder-like substance was found in a sack during the raid. Upon examination, he added, it was discovered that it was talcum powder which was being added to the candies and lollipops. Following the raid, a case was registered against the owners of the plant - Krishnapati Anil Agarwal and Simranpati Vijay Sabnani- under the Food Safety Act. Earlier in December 2020, honey samples from leading brands such as Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu, Hitkari and Apis Himalaya, all failed Centre for Science and Environment's NMR test. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) food researchers selected 13 top and smaller brands of processed and raw honey being sold in India to check their purity. They found 77 per cent of the samples adulterated with the addition of sugar syrup. Out of the 22 samples checked, only five passed all the tests. The CSE also claimed that it tracked down Chinese trade portals which were advertising fructose syrup that can bypass tests to check adulteration. It also found that the same Chinese companies that advertised this fructose syrup that can beat C3 and C4 tests also exported to India. Also Read: Fact Check: 'SaffolaFraud' trends after Honeygate; company says each batch faces NMR test Meanwhile, refusing the allegation, Dabur issued a statement saying that it is the only company in India to have NMR testing equipment in its own laboratory, which is used to regularly test Dabur's honey being sold in the Indian market. The statement also had NMR test reports from Germany-based Bruker BioSpin GmbH dated July 16, 2020, stating that Dabur Honey had passed the NMR Test. Emami Spokesperson also clarified that it's Zandu Pure Honey conforms and adheres to all the protocols and quality norms/standards laid down by the government and its authorised entities such as FSSAI. However, the company did not comment on the NMR test, which is the global standard. Also Read: Dabur, Marico move ASCI on each other's honey ad purity claims Saffola too got embroiled in the whole honey adulteration fiasco after some social media posts claimed that the brand, which passed the stringent NMR test, sources its honey from Apis, that failed the same purity test. However, the claims were soon put to rest when some netizens countered them with packaging details available online that showed that Saffola Honey was manufactured and packed by Kejriwal Bee Care India. Saffola, too on its part, assured that every batch of its honey is independently tested for purity, irrespective of where it is packaged. "Saffola guarantees 100 per cent purity of its honey irrespective of the packaging location. Every batch of Saffola Honey is tested using NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) technology, which is one of the most advanced tests in the world, in the best-in-class international laboratories to ensure that it is 100 per cent pure, free from added sugars and free from any form of adulteration," a Saffola spokesperson told BusinessToday.In
Candygate! Over 9,000 kg lollipops, candies adulterated with talcum powder seized The shocking incident came to light when an FDA team raided the confectionery in the Palda area of the city and impounded the sweet items comprising 5,600 kg of candy and 4,200 kg of lollipop The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) department seized over 9,000 kg of lollipops and candies adulterated with non-edible items like talcum powder from a factory in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The shocking incident came to light when an FDA team raided the confectionery in the Palda area of the city and impounded the sweet items comprising 5,600 kg of candy and 4,200 kg of lollipop. According to reports, KS Industries located in Udyog Nagar was raided by the team which detected several aberrations at the plant. It found that the candies were being manufactured in unhygienic conditions, and adulterated with talcum powder and other non-edible items. The FDA team also discovered that the labelling rules were clearly violated, among other transgressions, at the manufacturing unit. Also Read: Honeygate! Only Saffola, MarkfedSohna, Nature's Nectar among 13 brands pass sugar syrup test, claims CSE Speaking on the matter, Indore Addition Collector Abhay Bedekar said that a white powder-like substance was found in a sack during the raid. Upon examination, he added, it was discovered that it was talcum powder which was being added to the candies and lollipops. Following the raid, a case was registered against the owners of the plant - Krishnapati Anil Agarwal and Simranpati Vijay Sabnani- under the Food Safety Act. Earlier in December 2020, honey samples from leading brands such as Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu, Hitkari and Apis Himalaya, all failed Centre for Science and Environment's NMR test. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) food researchers selected 13 top and smaller brands of processed and raw honey being sold in India to check their purity. They found 77 per cent of the samples adulterated with the addition of sugar syrup. Out of the 22 samples checked, only five passed all the tests. The CSE also claimed that it tracked down Chinese trade portals which were advertising fructose syrup that can bypass tests to check adulteration. It also found that the same Chinese companies that advertised this fructose syrup that can beat C3 and C4 tests also exported to India. Also Read: Fact Check: 'SaffolaFraud' trends after Honeygate; company says each batch faces NMR test Meanwhile, refusing the allegation, Dabur issued a statement saying that it is the only company in India to have NMR testing equipment in its own laboratory, which is used to regularly test Dabur's honey being sold in the Indian market. The statement also had NMR test reports from Germany-based Bruker BioSpin GmbH dated July 16, 2020, stating that Dabur Honey had passed the NMR Test. Emami Spokesperson also clarified that it's Zandu Pure Honey conforms and adheres to all the protocols and quality norms/standards laid down by the government and its authorised entities such as FSSAI. However, the company did not comment on the NMR test, which is the global standard. Also Read: Dabur, Marico move ASCI on each other's honey ad purity claims Saffola too got embroiled in the whole honey adulteration fiasco after some social media posts claimed that the brand, which passed the stringent NMR test, sources its honey from Apis, that failed the same purity test. However, the claims were soon put to rest when some netizens countered them with packaging details available online that showed that Saffola Honey was manufactured and packed by Kejriwal Bee Care India. Saffola, too on its part, assured that every batch of its honey is independently tested for purity, irrespective of where it is packaged. "Saffola guarantees 100 per cent purity of its honey irrespective of the packaging location. Every batch of Saffola Honey is tested using NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) technology, which is one of the most advanced tests in the world, in the best-in-class international laboratories to ensure that it is 100 per cent pure, free from added sugars and free from any form of adulteration," a Saffola spokesperson told BusinessToday.In
Candygate! Over 9,000 kg lollipops, candies adulterated with talcum powder seized The shocking incident came to light when an FDA team raided the confectionery in the Palda area of the city and impounded the sweet items comprising 5,600 kg of candy and 4,200 kg of lollipop The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) department seized over 9,000 kg of lollipops and candies adulterated with non-edible items like talcum powder from a factory in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The shocking incident came to light when an FDA team raided the confectionery in the Palda area of the city and impounded the sweet items comprising 5,600 kg of candy and 4,200 kg of lollipop. According to reports, KS Industries located in Udyog Nagar was raided by the team which detected several aberrations at the plant. It found that the candies were being manufactured in unhygienic conditions, and adulterated with talcum powder and other non-edible items. The FDA team also discovered that the labelling rules were clearly violated, among other transgressions, at the manufacturing unit. Also Read: Honeygate! Only Saffola, MarkfedSohna, Nature's Nectar among 13 brands pass sugar syrup test, claims CSE Speaking on the matter, Indore Addition Collector Abhay Bedekar said that a white powder-like substance was found in a sack during the raid. Upon examination, he added, it was discovered that it was talcum powder which was being added to the candies and lollipops. Following the raid, a case was registered against the owners of the plant - Krishnapati Anil Agarwal and Simranpati Vijay Sabnani- under the Food Safety Act. Earlier in December 2020, honey samples from leading brands such as Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu, Hitkari and Apis Himalaya, all failed Centre for Science and Environment's NMR test. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) food researchers selected 13 top and smaller brands of processed and raw honey being sold in India to check their purity. They found 77 per cent of the samples adulterated with the addition of sugar syrup. Out of the 22 samples checked, only five passed all the tests. The CSE also claimed that it tracked down Chinese trade portals which were advertising fructose syrup that can bypass tests to check adulteration. It also found that the same Chinese companies that advertised this fructose syrup that can beat C3 and C4 tests also exported to India. Also Read: Fact Check: 'SaffolaFraud' trends after Honeygate; company says each batch faces NMR test Meanwhile, refusing the allegation, Dabur issued a statement saying that it is the only company in India to have NMR testing equipment in its own laboratory, which is used to regularly test Dabur's honey being sold in the Indian market. The statement also had NMR test reports from Germany-based Bruker BioSpin GmbH dated July 16, 2020, stating that Dabur Honey had passed the NMR Test. Emami Spokesperson also clarified that it's Zandu Pure Honey conforms and adheres to all the protocols and quality norms/standards laid down by the government and its authorised entities such as FSSAI. However, the company did not comment on the NMR test, which is the global standard. Also Read: Dabur, Marico move ASCI on each other's honey ad purity claims Saffola too got embroiled in the whole honey adulteration fiasco after some social media posts claimed that the brand, which passed the stringent NMR test, sources its honey from Apis, that failed the same purity test. However, the claims were soon put to rest when some netizens countered them with packaging details available online that showed that Saffola Honey was manufactured and packed by Kejriwal Bee Care India. Saffola, too on its part, assured that every batch of its honey is independently tested for purity, irrespective of where it is packaged. "Saffola guarantees 100 per cent purity of its honey irrespective of the packaging location. Every batch of Saffola Honey is tested using NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) technology, which is one of the most advanced tests in the world, in the best-in-class international laboratories to ensure that it is 100 per cent pure, free from added sugars and free from any form of adulteration," a Saffola spokesperson told BusinessToday.In
Bigger cities and towns including Delhi recorded a significant reduction in annual PM 2.5 concentrations during the year. Delhi, for example recorded an almost 13% improvement in 2020 compared to 2019. 8 Monthly compilation of CSE’s media clippings: for the month of January 2021 Air pollution increased in small towns and cities outside Delhi and NCR in the Indo-Gangetic Plain region last year, an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment(CSE) shows, highlighting the poor state of air in India’s urban areas in a year when normal activity was disrupted for at least some time on account of the coronavirus disease pandemic and the 68-day-long lockdown imposed to slow its spread. Even though average PM 2.5 levels for summer and monsoon months last year were considerably lower than in 2019, winter pollution levels increased in Punjab and Haryana , leading to an increase in the annual average PM 2.5 levels. PM 2.5 refers to particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or smaller still. Bigger cities and towns including Delhi recorded a significant reduction in annual PM 2.5 concentrations during the year. Delhi, for example recorded an almost 13% improvement in 2020 compared to 2019. The analysis by CSE shows that air pollution levels spiked in certain parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains Fatehabad in northern Haryana is the worst performer with 35% increase from 2019 levels. It is followed by Bhatinda at 14%; Agra 9%; Khanna 7%; Mandi Gobindgarh 6%; Moradabad 5.5% and Kurukshetra 1% . But in other parts, the levels decreased. Sirsa recorded a 44% decrease in PM 2.5 levels; Varanasi 31%; Gaya 27%; Muzaffarpur 13%; Delhi 13% and Hisar 12% . The findings suggest that the variation may have been on account of adverse local weather conditions, but that some of the spike can only be explained by the burst of activity after the economy opened up after the lockdown. CSE used real-time data (15-minute averages) for 26 cities in the Gangetic plains from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Central Control Room for Air Quality Management for the analysis. The analysis highlights that Fatehabad which recorded the highest increase in PM 2.5 concentrations last year and Sirsa which recorded the highest improvement are only 40 kms apart. “Therefore, this massive variation cannot be attributed to meteorology and has to do with local factors. The annual average of these towns along with other smaller towns such as Hisar and Jind in the north-west are heavily influenced by episodic pollution caused by burning of crop stubble. The influence is so strong that it can elevate their monthly PM2.5 levels for November to that of Delhi’s, but unlike Delhi, these towns are directly exposed to the smoke. The elevated November levels do not linger on for the rest of the winter in these towns (as is the case in Delhi),” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. “This brings out the impact of the extraordinary disruption that 2020 has caused. Despite the dramatic reduction in air pollution during the lockdown, pollution has bounced back across the region post-lockdown unmasking the high impacts of local and regional pollution. This demands quicker regional reforms and action to curb pollution from vehicles, industry, power plants and waste burning to further bend the air pollution curve on a regional scale,” explained Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, CSE. “We haven’t studied CSE’s analysis yet. There may be local factors which determine these trends. We will correlate the data with ours. But we have no doubt that Delhi’s air quality had improved in 2020 compared to 2019,” a CPCB official said on condition of anonymity. 9 Monthly compilation of CSE’s media clippings: for the month of January 2021 Air quality index was in “severe” category for many towns and cities in northwest India on Thursday including Delhi with air quality index (AQI) of 429; Faridabad 447; Ghaziabad 429; Greater Noida 410; and Noida 412 -- all in “severe” category which is associated with health impacts even among the healthy. “Wind speed has reduced across the plains of northwest India. In Delhi it is only around 6 kmph and wind direction is south-westerly so air quality has deteriorated and there is little possibility of pollutants dispersing,” said Kuldeep Shrivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre, IMD.
New Delhi (NVI): Clean air gains of the lockdown and monsoon periods have been lost with the reopening of the economy and the hostile winter weather, according to a new analysis of winter air pollution in the cities of Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), carried out by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The rise in pollution levels has also been synchronised across the region with varying patterns, as per the analysis. Even though trapping of winter pollution in the IGP is high compared to other regions, it was not as high as that in the NCR – at the same time, it was alarmingly high and synchronised despite the large distances involved. This is the challenge of this landlocked region, as per the analysis. The analysis is part of CSE’s air quality tracker initiative to get a deeper view of the changing patterns of air quality trends in the country. As per the findings, while several bigger cities, like Delhi or Varanasi, have witnessed reduction in annual PM 2.5 levels, smaller towns and cities like Fatehabador Moradabad have seen an increase. Dramatic build-up in smaller towns like Hisar and Jind happened only during November, indicating the influence of stubble burning. Air quality got more toxic with the onset of winter. Share of tinier PM2.5 in PM10 increased. Number of days in which PM2.5 levels met the standard was considerably lower this winter. More poor days were observed this winter in the region, as per the findings. According to CSE experts, this reaffirms why air quality management requires regional approach to implement clean air action plans with speed, scale and urgency. “This brings out the impact of the extraordinary disruption that 2020 has caused. Despite the dramatic reduction in air pollution during the lockdown, pollution has bounced back across the region post-lockdown unmasking the high impacts of local and regional pollution with some variation in the pattern. This demands quicker regional reforms and action to curb pollution from vehicles, industry, power plants and waste burning to further bend the air pollution curve on a regional scale,” says Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’s executive director in charge of research and advocacy. Higher PM 2.5 levels is a typical and predictable winter trend when continuous emissions from local sources including vehicles, industry, construction, and episodic pollution from biomass burning get trapped due to meteorological changes. “This year, this trend has set in almost two weeks earlier in the season. There is a clear difference in the winter pollution pattern between IGP regions north and south of the NCR. Even though the average level of PM2.5 for the summer and monsoon months in 2020 is considerably lower than the previous year’s due to the summer lockdown, the PM2.5 levels this winter have risen beyond the 2019 levels in almost all monitored cities in Punjab and Haryana (regions north of the NCR),” says Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. “Cities in central and eastern UP and Bihar (regions south of the NCR) also show high winter pollution, but the levels are similar or lower compared to 2019.The combination of the reopening of the economy and changing meteorology is responsible for high winter pollution, but this regional variation calls for a more nuanced and robust pollution control strategy. The region cannot rely only on action being taken in Delhi-NCR. This demands speed and scale of action,” says Somvanshi. The analysis is based on publicly available granular real-time data (15-minute averages) from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) official online portal, the Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. Twenty-six cities –Amritsar, Bhatinda, Jalandhar, Khanna, Ludhiana, MandiGobindgarh, Patiala, Rupnagar, Chandigarh, Ambala, Fatehabad, Hisar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Panchkula, Sirsa, Yamuna Nagar, Agra, Kanpur, Moradabad, Varanasi, Lucknow, Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Hajipur have been selected for this analysis because real-time data is available for these cities. The analysis has been done of the data recorded by six air quality monitoring stations in Patna, five in Lucknow, two in Gaya and Muzaffarpur each, and one station each in the rest of the cities under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) of the CPCB. Weather data for Amritsar, Ambala, Chandigarh, Lucknow, and Patna has been sourced from the weather stations of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) located at the airports in each city.
The analysis on the cities of Indo-Gangetic Plains shows how clean air gains of the lockdown and monsoon periods have been lost with the reopening of the economy and the hostile winter weather. NEW DELHI: While several bigger cities like Delhi and Varanasi saw reduction in annual PM 2.5 levels, smaller towns and cities like Fatehabad or Moradabad have seen an increase, shows a new analysis. An analysis of winter air pollution (till January 11) by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in the cities of Indo-Gangetic Plains shows how clean air gains of the lockdown and monsoon periods have been lost with the reopening of the economy and the hostile winter weather. Annual average level of PM2.5 is not lower in many cities despite the lockdown. The 2020 average PM2.5 level in many cities in the upper Gangetic plains has climbed up to breach the average concentration recorded in 2019. Fatehabad in northern Haryana is the worst with a 35 per cent increase from 2019 level. Higher PM2.5 levels is a winter trend when continuous emissions from local sources including vehicles, industry, construction, and pollution from biomass burning get trapped due to meteorological changes. “Even though the average level of PM2.5 for the summer and monsoon months in 2020 is considerably lower than the previous year’s due to the lockdown, the PM2.5 levels this winter have risen beyond the 2019 levels in almost all monitored cities in Punjab and Haryana,” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. The number of days with PM2.5 concentration meeting the standard was considerably lower this winter — more ‘poor’ or ‘worse’ days. There have been 33 days of standard air days this winter compared to 41 recorded last year in Amritsar. Similarly, standard days have been lesser by 11 days in Ambala and four in Lucknow and Patna each. In Lucknow, not a single day met the standard since the beginning of October this winter; there were 19 days of ‘severe’ or ‘worse’ air quality — up from five last winter.
BATHINDA: New analysis of winter air pollution in the cities of Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP), carried out by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), shows how clean air gains of the lockdown and monsoon periods have been lost with the reopening of the economy and the hostile winter weather. Track the pollution level in your city According to the analysis, the rise in pollution levels has also been synchronised across the region with varying patterns. The analysis of real-time data from monitoring stations outside the National Capital Region (NCR) in the larger IGP shows newer patterns in winter pollution this year. This analysis is part of CSE’s air quality tracker initiative to get a deeper view of the changing patterns of air quality trends in the country. Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’s executive director in charge of research and advocacy, said: “This brings out the impact of the extraordinary disruption that 2020 has caused. Despite the dramatic reduction in air pollution during the lockdown, pollution has bounced back across the region post-lockdown unmasking the high impacts of local and regional pollution with some variation in the pattern. This demands quicker regional reforms and action to curb pollution from vehicles, industry, power plants and waste burning to further bend the air pollution curve on a regional scale.” Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s urban lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme, says: “This year trend has set in almost two weeks earlier in the season. There is a clear difference in the winter pollution pattern between IGP regions north and south of the NCR. PM2.5 levels this winter have risen beyond the 2019 levels in almost all monitored cities in Punjab and Haryana.” He adds combination of the reopening of the economy and changing meteorology is responsible for high winter pollution, but this regional variation calls for a more nuanced and robust pollution control strategy. The analysis is based on publicly available granular real-time data (15-minute averages) from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) official online portal, the Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Khanna, Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Patiala, Rupnagar, Chandigarh, Ambala, Fatehabad, Hisar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Panchkula, Sirsa, Yamuna Nagar, Agra, Kanpur, Moradabad, Varanasi, Lucknow, Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Hajipur have been selected for this analysis because real-time data is available for these cities. Weather data for Amritsar, Ambala, Chandigarh has been sourced from the weather stations of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) located at the airports in each city.
Air quality worse in smaller towns in Indo-Gangetic Plains compared to bigger cities: CSE's
Major health risks due to untreated sewage disposal Over 60 pc sewage untreated enters water system India produces close to two million tonnes of faecal waste every day and the urban areas alone, accounting for just over a third of the total population of the country, generate over 62,000 million litres of sewage daily. Of this, over 60 pc or close to 38,000 million litres is dumped untreated, most of it in rivers, lakes and other water bodies. Though there is no reliable data on the situation in rural India, the overall picture about how India has failed to manage its domestic waste can raise quite a stink. In 2019, highlighting the urgency of tackling the problem, the National Green Tribunal held that environment degradation severely affects human health requiring immediate attention and cannot be dealt with by authorities at leisure. NGT went on to express serious concern over the lack of compliance of environmental norms, leading to several deaths, besides causing serious damage to the country’s air, water and soil. India’s capacity to treat wastewater is about a third of what is needed to be able to treat it properly and as a result, over two-thirds of sewage is simply dumped in the open, polluting not just the rivers and lakes, but also soil and groundwater as waste leaches deep into the ground. The real situation is even more alarming as of the 816 sewage treatment plants, only 522 are operational, meaning less than 19,000 million litres per day of sewage gets treated. Sunita Narain, director of Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) says that 80 pc of water supplied to each household leaves the home as sewage. “Since cities do not have any accounts of the sewage they generate, they cannot plan and do not have the capacity to treat all the sewage they generate. This has the gravest implications for rivers where the faecal sludge is dumped. We are a generation of lost rivers. How many will we lose before we remember that unless sewage is managed, the river-cleaning operations will not work?” asks Narain. Data released by the CSE paints an even darker picture of the reality. The CSE analysis points out that the amount of sewage generated in 2009 was 38,255 million litres daily (MLD), while India’s capacity to treat was only 11,788 MLD, which was a mere 30 pc of the total waste generated. However, the actual sewage treated was even less at 8,251 MLD, which was about 22 pc. Lower treatment standards Not just that India lacks adequate treatment capacity for its sewage, but it also mandated lower norms for quality of treatment, leading to release of large volumes of water which have been treated but not enough to make the water safe for human or animal consumption. In 2019, the NGT passed a stricture against the government and asked it to tighten the norms and bring them at par with the international norms. According to Census 2011, only 33 pc of houses are connected to sewer systems (MIG photos/Aman Kanojiya) Reports highlight alarming methods of sewage disposal. According to Census 2011, only 33 pc of houses are connected to sewer systems, only around 38 pc use septic tanks. These septic tanks do not treat waste and have to be emptied periodically. The report points out that entrepreneurs who service septic tanks, pump out the sludge from the tanks and empty it into drains, fields—just about anywhere. As a result, analysts say that 80 pc of India’s surface water is unfit for consumption and everyday over 40 million litres of wastewater enters its natural water bodies. Eventually, contaminated water also enters the groundwater. Because of this, proper waste management and sewage pollution cannot occur, upsetting the irrigation system. The crops are not able to grow because of the infectious bacteria and disease in the water. Because of the poor infrastructure and absence of sewage control, 38 million Indians suffer from waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera and hepatitis every year. Over the last decade, the frequency of these illnesses remained at the same level. Huge economic losses due to poor sanitation According to the World Economic Forum, water pollution is responsible for a 9 pc drop in agricultural revenues and a 16 pc drop in farming yields. A report by the World Bank says that pollution lowers economic growth in downstream areas, reducing GDP growth in these regions by up to a third. In middle-income countries like India where water pollution is a bigger problem, the impact increases to a loss of almost half of GDP growth. The cost of environmental degradation in India is estimated to be INR 3.75 trillion (USD 80 billion) a year and the health costs linked to water pollution are estimated to be upto INR 610 billion (USD 9 billion) a year, mainly due to deaths from diarrhea and morbidity of children under five years of age. Problems with availability of proper water sanitation cause up to 400,000 lives per year in the country, over 25 pc of the global casualties. The predictions for the future are even more dire than the current state. Estimates say that by 2030, up to 40 pc of Indian population, or 700 million persons, will lack access to clean water. Already, it is becoming more difficult for people to get adequate water for their needs due to disappearing water resources. For instance, between 2001-2012, Hyderabad lost 3,245 hectares of lakes and ground water level falls by 9 feet (2.7 m) a year in south Delhi, due to incessant pumping of groundwater. With nearly 600 million Indians facing high-to-extreme water stress – where more than 40 pc of the annually available surface water is used every year, the situation is likely to worsen as the demand for water will exceed the supply by 2050, cites the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) report, the government’s first comprehensive collection of nationwide water data. Booming population, shrinking resources The main reasons behind India’s dramatic water shortage are rather well known and have been so for years, if not decades. The first is the growth in population. In the seven decades since independence, India’s population has grown four-fold, while the natural water resources have remained the same or declined due to a variety of reasons. This means that even if all other factors were absent, India’s per capita water availability would have declined by nearly 75 pc in the 70-odd years. One of the biggest reasons is the huge increase in the use of water for farming, not because Indian farmers are producing more, but mainly because of the wrong choice of crops being cultivated even in the areas where the climatic conditions are anything but suitable. In order to increase their incomes, farmers all over have adopted water guzzling cash crops like sugarcane and freely use groundwater, aided by the fact that farmers don’t pay for water and in most states, even the electricity used to operate the pumps that draw out billions of litres of groundwater, is offered free by governments in many Indian states. Industry is another key reason behind the current water shortage. Even though pollution treatment, water harvesting and recycling is mandatory for the industry, this rule is followed on paper only, leading to immense pollution of the rivers, lakes as well as the groundwater sources. Farming, too, contributes to the pollution through excessive use of pesticides and fertilisers by farmers keen to make the most with their harvests. The impact of absence of pricing of groundwater is also felt in urban areas where every well-to-do or even middle class household has access to borewells that draw water from deep under the earth, often stretching to more than 100 m deep. In the absence of any regulation of groundwater, not only households but also commercial establishments like hotels, offices and restaurants dip into the free water that they suck out of the earth each day. The impact of this free for all is seen regularly in a place like New Delhi where the groundwater table in the well-to-do parts of the city has collapsed to 80 m below the surface. Globally, India is the biggest user of groundwater. It extracts more groundwater than China and the US, the next two biggest pullers of groundwater, combined. Groundwater meets more than half of total requirement of clean water in the country, with the consumption only increasing. About 89 pc of groundwater extracted in India is used for irrigation. Household use comes second with 9 pc share followed by industries that use only two pc of it. Overall, 50 pc of urban water requirement and 85 pc of rural domestic water need are fulfilled by groundwater. According to report by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), the groundwater level dropped by 61 pc between 2007 and 2017. Not just this, use of availability to fetch groundwater by only some people, ones with access to the right machines, such as electric motors to fetch underground water, has also led to huge disparities in fair availability of water.
Delays take a toll, RFID Phase-II a non-starter New Delhi: With the end of the year 2020, over 80% of the project execution period of the second phase of the RFID project, which involves installing this facility for collection of toll and other charges at 111 border points, has also lapsed. The erstwhile Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) had submitted a report in Supreme Court informing that Phase-II of the project would be completed between September 2020 and January 2021. On August 14, South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the nodal agency of the project, had announced that all toll plazas would get handheld devices to read RFID chips by November and infrastructure would be installed at the remaining 111 border points by January 2021. A senior corporation official said the deadline had been breached. “Under Phase-II, based on the Supreme Court’s order dated August 10, 2020, 10 more toll points were to be equipped with boom barriers and RFID infrastructure, while handheld devices were to be made available at 101 toll points. The matter is still in the consultation phase,” the official added. The 10 additional borders included Kundli-2, Loni Main, New Seemapuri, Chander Nagar, New Kondli, Noida Major, Pul Prahladpur, Bajghera, Dhansa and Jahroda. The same thing was reiterated in the budget proposal delivered by the commissioner on December 7, 2020. Another official added that the proposal to spend Rs 36 crore on the expansion of the project had not been approved by the standing committee in various meetings. The dissolution of EPCA had further raised a question mark on the future of the project. Explaining the rationale behind expansion of the project, officials stated that diversion of vehicles to other border points and old polluting vehicles trying to enter from non-RFID border points could reduce the gains made through the project. In their outgoing letter to the Union environment minister, EPCA members Sunita Narain and Bhure Lal had mentioned that expansion of the RFID project was one of the key works that needed to be expedited and implemented through the new air quality commission. In the meanwhile, the ongoing protest by farmers against the three central agri laws has resulted in a large chunk of traffic shifting away from the 13 major entry points to the capital that are RFID-compliant. The first phase of the project was executed at these 13 toll plazas, which received 85% of the city’s incoming commercial traffic. The cashless transaction was started on September 13, 2019.
Fighting pollution with smog towers tall order New Delhi: After Anand Vihar and Connaught Place, anti-smog towers are likely to be installed as part of the Central Vista project. While Supreme Court has directed for anti-smog guns to be used during the construction phase, a tower will be needed for the vista once it is complete. Though ambitious, the anti-smog tower concept is largely untested with no global studies to back its efficacy. Experts said while a pilot project could be launched to determine the impact of such towers, the cost to maintain and run them, coupled with the cost of “purifying” a relatively limited and open area, outweighed the benefits. Currently, Delhi has three mini air-purifying towers installed by BJP MP Gautam Gambhir, but an analysis by Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) has found that 25 lakh such towers would be required to purify the city’s air. Tanushree Ganguly, programme associate, CEEW, said the funds being spent on these towers could be used elsewhere. Attention, in particular, was required towards thermal power plants. “Such unproven technologies shouldn’t be encouraged. The focus should instead be on ensuring that thermal power plants around Delhi comply with the emission norms notified in 2015. Also, the funds could be better utilised on an augmented and reliable transit system and scientific management of waste. Cutting down emissions is the only way to tackle air pollution,” she added. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, at Centre for Science and Environment said there was no data to support the fact that anti-smog towers could clean up outdoor ambient air. She stressed on the need for adapting better dust-control practices seen worldwide. “Detailed guidelines to control dust generated through construction and demolition and cheaper practices from abroad can be brought in,” she added. To simulate the Rs 20 crore anti-smog tower at Connaught Place, CEEW carried out an experiment using an air purifier in a balcony as a “small-scale” version of the tower. The experiment measured readings within 12 feet of the device and found that while ambient air quality dropped by 20-25 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3), the impact was reduced when measured away from the flow of the air. Ambient air quality returned to normal as soon as the device was turned off. CEEW’s analysis points towards the need for considerably altering the size of the device to make any significant impact to the surrounding air. Under normal circumstances, it was not likely to reduce to breathable limits from Delhi’s normal ambient PM2.5 readings of 120 µg/m3. Karthik Ganesan, fellow at CEEW, who conducted the experiment, said PM2.5 readings that were 80-89 µg/m3 came down to 55-65 µg/m3 in the flow of the air. However, readings were as high as 75 µg/m3 away from the flow of air. “This means the impact was very short-lived. For sustained impact, people need to be in the vicinity of air purifiers for consistent periods. At a commercial space, where people dip in and out, the impact would be minimal,” he added.
आवरण कथाः अभिशाप और उम्मीदें महामारी हो या जलवायु परिवर्तन से पैदा होने वाली मौसम की आपदाएं, कुदरत ने अपनी तकलीफ बयान कर दी है, पहले ही बहुत देर हो चुकी है, कम से कम अब हमें इस बर्बादी को दुरुस्त करना ही होगा मुझे कहना ही होगा कि साल 2020 हमारे जीवनकाल का सबसे उथल-पुथलकारी, सबसे विनाशकारी और बुरे अर्थों में सबसे बदलावकारी साल था. इस संकट की कोई पूर्व मिसाल नहीं है—ऐसा कोई शास्त्र नहीं है जो सरकारों को बताता हो कि क्या करना है, अर्थव्यवस्थाओं को कैसे बंद करना है और उन्हें कब खोलना है. यह वायरस रूप बदलता है, यह पशु से इनसानों में कूदा है; यह अत्यंत घातक है क्योंकि लगता है कि यह अपने को छिपाने के नए-नए तरीके खोज लेता है—कोई लक्षण न होते हुए भी हम इसके संक्रमण के वाहक हो सकते हैं.</p> हम जब 2020 में दाखिल हुए, तब उन विभीषिकाओं का लेशमात्र संकेत नहीं था जो दुनिया का इंतजार कर रही थीं. चीन के वुहान में कुछ हो रहा था लेकिन हममें से कइयों ने उस पर गौर ही नहीं किया. हमारी स्क्रीन पर तो कुछ और ही चिंताजनक नजारा था—ऑस्ट्रेलिया की विशाल पट्टियों में फैलती, लोगों और वन्यजीवों को हताहत करती और घरों को बर्बाद करती झाड़ियों की आग. इस आग की तीव्रता का रिश्ता जलवायु परिवर्तन से था क्योंकि ये ज्वालाएं ऊष्मा के उन बढ़ते स्तरों से पैदा हुई थीं जिन्होंने धरती को सुखाकर आग के गोले में बदल दिया था. लंबे सूखे के साथ मिलकर इसने धधकती आग के लिए आदर्श जमीन तैयार कर दी.</p> मगर जब विभिन्न देशों का ध्यान इस आग पर लगा हुआ था, दुनिया के हमारे हिस्से में कहीं ज्यादा बदतर मानवीय त्रासदी घटित हो रही थी. जनवरी आते-आते टिड्डियों के विशाल झुंड राजस्थान और गुजरात के मैदानों पर धावा बोल चुके थे. उन्होंने फसल चट करके किसानों की रोजी-रोटी तहस-नहस कर दीं. इस हमले का भारी पैमाना और तीव्रता भी जलवायु परिवर्तन से जुड़ा था: असामान्य बारिश, चक्रवात की घटनाओं और फिर अरब प्रायद्वीप, पूर्वी अफ्रीका और भारत के पश्चिमी राज्यों के रेगिस्तानों में सामान्य से लंबे मॉनसून ने कई गुना संततियां उत्पन्न करने वाले इस जीव के लिए प्रजनन की उर्वर जमीन तैयार कर दी. नतीजतन टिड्डियों की विनाशकारी बाढ़ आ गई, जिसे अक्सर अकाल की पूर्वसूचना की तरह देखा जाता है क्योंकि यह कीट नजर में आने वाली सब चीजें खा जाता है मध्य मार्च आते-आते कोविड-19 के संकट ने दस्तक दी और लॉकडाउन का ऐलान कर दिया गया. भारत के लॉकडाउन का पहला दौर अप्रैल मध्य में खत्म हो गया और जब इसे 3 मई और फिर महीने के आखिर तक बढ़ाया गया, तब ऐसा लगा कि यह बीमारी बस अब अपने अंत के नजदीक है. मगर इस तबाही भरे साल के दिसंबर के आखिर में जब मैं ये पंक्तियां लिख रही हूं, हम नए साल में इस तरह दाखिल हो रहे हैं कि हमारे पास उम्मीद और प्रार्थना के सिवा ज्यादा कुछ नहीं है.</p> फिर मई में हम एक मानवीय संकट से दोचार हुए, जब हजारों भूखे और लाचार लोग अपने काम की जगहों को छोड़कर गांवों में अपने घरों के लिए निकल पड़े, क्योंकि अर्थव्यवस्था धराशायी हो चुकी थी और उनके पास गुजारे के लिए पैसे नहीं बचे थे. हमने देखा कि किस तरह हमारे शहर के अदृश्य लोग बेगाने हो गए, जो अपना खून-पसीना देकर हमारी सुख-सुविधाओं के लिए बेहद जरूरी वस्तुओं और सेवाओं का उत्पादन और निर्माण करते हैं, उन्होंने अपनी जान गंवाईं, क्योंकि वे रेल की पटरियों पर सो गए और रेल उनके ऊपर से गुजर गई या ट्रकों के नीचे कुचले गए. मैं यह इसलिए लिख रही हूं क्योंकि हमें यह भूलना नहीं चाहिए, हमें इन तस्वीरों को अपने दिलोदिमाग से मिटने नहीं देना चाहिए. हमारी दुनिया में इतना सब घट चुका है. हमें कतई नहीं भूलना चाहिए जून की 1 तारीख को जब पहले अनलॉक की घोषणा हुई, खोलने का उतावलापन बढ़ा. ठीक भी था क्योंकि अर्थव्यवस्था चरमरा चुकी थी और सबसे बदतरीन मार दिहाड़ी मजदूरों पर पड़ी थी, जिनके पास काम-धंधे नहीं थे ताकि खाना या कोई भी चीज खरीद पाएं. सरकार के राहत पैकेज स्वागत योग्य तो थे पर इस संकट के आगे बेहद थोड़े थे. फिर इन बीते छह महीनों में ज्यों-ज्यों हम कामकाज खोलते थे, हमें फिर-फिर बंद करना पड़ता था, क्योंकि संक्रमण की संख्या बढ़ जाती थी. लॉकडाउन के लिए शहरों, राज्यों की सीमाएं बंद थीं. हरेक त्योहार के साथ, जब हर्षोल्लास आना चाहिए था, संक्रमण की संख्या बढ़ जाती थी. पूरे साल यही होता रहा और मैं बेखटके कह सकती हूं कि अब थकान हावी हो चुकी है. हम जानते हैं कि बाहर वायरस मंडरा रहा है लेकिन अब हम उम्मीद करते हैं नए साल में वैक्सीन आ जाएगी जो हमें हमारा पुराना सामान्य जीवन चमत्कारिक ढंग से लौटा देगी बीते साल की घटनाओं का अकेला यही लेखा-जोखा नहीं है. लॉकडाउन के दौरान ही मई में तीव्र चक्रवाती तूफान भारत के पूर्वी हिस्से से टकराया, जिसने जिंदगियां और संपत्तियां तबाह कर दीं. फिर निसर्ग पश्चिमी हिस्से से आ टकराया और तभी से चक्रवाती हलचल और महासागरों में गहरे दबाव के कारण बार-बार हो रही भारी बारिश ने दक्षिण और पूर्वी भारत के कई हिस्सों को परेशान कर दिया है.</p> कोविड-19 के बदतरीन महीनों के दौरान हमारे देश के विभिन्न हिस्सों में बाढ़ आई. ये सारी अलग-अलग घटनाएं जलवायु परिवर्तन से जुड़ी हैं, यह तो अब निर्विवाद है ही. आज हम जो देख रहे हैं, वह बढ़ती बारंबारता और तीव्रता से आ रहे चक्रवाती तूफानों तथा अचानक और प्रचंड बारिशों का नतीजा है. मौसम की यह उथल-पुथल जो कोविड-19 की उथल-पुथल जितनी ही बुरी है, धरती और समुद्र के तापमान में आए बदलावों से पैदा हुई है. इससे विनाश की शक्ति और घटनाओं की आकस्मिकता भी बढ़ रही है मौसम से जुड़ी ये तमाम घटनाएं अब प्राकृतिक या सामान्य नहीं रह गई हैं. जो बात साफ है वह यह कि हम दोहरा झटका झेल रहे हैं. एक तरफ हम अपनी धरती और अपने जल संसाधनों के साथ बदइंतजामी कर रहे हैं जिससे हमें और ज्यादा सूखे और बाढ़ झेलने पड़ रहे हैं तो दूसरी तरफ जलवायु परिवर्तन इस संकट को और ज्यादा बिगाड़ रहा है. यह तब है जब हम जानते हैं कि इन घटनाओं के नतीजे और भी बदतर हैं क्योंकि यह विकास के फायदों को और लोगों की जिंदगियां बेहतर बनाने के लिए बुनियादी ढांचों के निर्माण में किए गए बरसों के निवेश को अकारथ कर देता है. जैसा कि हम अमेरिका से लेकर भारत तक दुनिया भर में हो रही उथल-पुथल से देख सकते हैं, दूसरों के मुकाबले इस वायरस की ज्यादा मार गरीबों पर पड़ी है. उन्होंने दो बार तकलीफ भुगती है; एक बार तो इसलिए कि उन्होंने संक्रमण की वजह से जान गंवाईं और फिर इसलिए कि उन्होंने आजीविकाएं गंवाईं एक और हकीकत भी है जो कोविड-19 ने हमारे सामने उघाड़कर रख दी है. इस बीमारी के फैलने और बढ़ने की सबसे ज्यादा संभावना उन जगहों पर है जहां शहरी सुविधाएं नहीं हैं, जहां भीड़ भरी बस्तियां हैं, जहां सुरक्षित पानी की आपूर्ति और साफ-सफाई नाकाफी है और लोगों के पास सुरक्षित रहने का कोई तरीका नहीं है. इस संकट ने हमारी दुनिया की गैरबराबरी और गहरे विभाजनों को बहुत बढ़ाकर हमारे सामने रख दिया है.</p> कोविड-19 कुदरत के साथ हमारे लगातार बदतर होते जाते मनूहस रिश्ते का भी नतीजा है. एक तरफ, हम अपने खाने-पीने की चीजों में अनेक रसायन और विषैले तत्व डाल रहे हैं. इससे खाना पोषण ही नहीं बल्कि बीमारी का स्रोत बन रहा है. पशुओं और यहां तक कि फसलों में भी ऐंटीबायोटिक डाले जा रहे हैं—रोग नियंत्रण के लिए ही नहीं, बल्कि उन्हें ज्यादा उगाने, उनका वजन बढ़ाने के लिए भी, ताकि कारोबार में मुनाफा हो. नतीजतन, इनसान के जिंदा रहने के लिए जरूरी दवाइयों के प्रति प्रतिरोध बढ़ता जा रहा है. साथ ही, हम अपने खाने-पीने की चीजें ऐसे तरीकों से उगा रहे हैं जिनसे बीमारियों के बढऩे में मदद मिलती है—औद्योगिक खेत जो लंबाई में जुड़े होते हैं, तेजी से संक्रमण का स्रोत बनते जा रहे हैं. पशुओं और इनसानों की बस्तियों के बीच इस तरह सरहदों के टूटने के नतीजतन ऐसे और भी प्रकोप झेलने होंगे. यह संक्रमण को और भी घनघोर ढंग से संक्रामक बना देगा यह साल एक विकट चेतावनी भी देता है—हम देख रहे हैं कि हम क्या हैं, वर्षों का वह गंवाया हुआ वक्त, जब हम सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य में निवेश और ज्यादा समतामूलक समाज का निर्माण कर सकते थे जिसमें गरीबों को दोगुनी मार नहीं झेलनी पड़ती. जलवायु परिवर्तन और आज हमारी आंखों में आंखें डालकर घूर रहे हर दूसरे मुद्दे के साथ भी ऐसा ही है. समस्या के वजूद को ही नकारने में बहुत सारा वक्त बर्बाद किया जा चुका है. वक्त की विलासिता अब हमारे पास नहीं है. मेरी पीढ़ी ने अपना विशेषाधिकार फिजूल में गंवा दिया.</p> अब हमें वाकई अपनी दुनिया की सामूहिक लाचारगी के बारे में सोचना चाहिए. सबसे बलशाली नेता, सबसे हाइ-टेक वैज्ञानिक प्रतिष्ठान और सबसे ताकतवर आर्थिक शूरवीर, सबको मुकाबले के लिए अपना जोड़ीदार इस दीन-हीन वायरस में मिला. इससे हमें विनम्र बनना चाहिए और सोचना चाहिए कि हमें क्या अलग ढंग से करने की जरूरत है. लेकिन मुझे शक है कि यहीं हम गलती करेंगे.</p> हमारी वैश्वीकृत दुनिया का सबसे अहम मुद्दा है कोविड-19 के जवाब में हमारी प्रतिक्रिया, और अगली विश्वव्यापी आपातस्थिति—जलवायु परिवर्तन—के लिए इसका क्या मतलब है. हमें पता था कि हमें एक साथ मिलकर कदम उठाने चाहिए थे और हमने नहीं उठाए चीन ने पर्याप्त तेजी से जानकारियां साझा नहीं कीं, वायरस ने देश से बाहर आकर संक्रमण फैला दिया; विश्व स्वास्थ्य संगठन (डब्ल्यूएचओ) ने पर्याप्त फुर्ती से कदम नहीं उठाए, या हो सकता है उसकी आवाज की इतनी भी इज्जत न हो कि उसे सुना जाता. संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद ने हफ्तों तक बैठक ही नहीं बुलाई और जब बुलाई भी तो बस हल्की बुदबुदाहट के साथ खत्म हो गई बात सिर्फ चीन और डब्ल्यूएचओ की ही नहीं है—इस संकट में हरेक देश ने दिखा दिया कि इस गला-काट दुनिया में वह बस अपने लिए ही है. यह तब और रसातल में पहुंच गया जब देशों ने दूसरों के रक्षा उपकरणों की नकल तैयार की, मास्क और गाउनों की जमाखोरी की जबकि स्वास्थ्यकर्मियों को इनकी जरूरत थी, चिकित्सा आपूर्तियों के लिए एक दूसरे से होड़ की और इसको लेकर लड़े कि वैक्सीन पहले कौन बनाएगा. आज जब वैक्सीन सामने है, मुद्दा यह नहीं है कि इसका सबसे पास पहुंचना पक्का करने के लिए दुनिया कैसे काम कर सकती है. एक बार फिर मुद्दा यह है कि देश इसकी जमाखोरी करके अपने लोगों की हिफाजत कैसे करेंगे, यह भूलकर कि जब तक पूरी दुनिया को वायरस से सुरक्षित नहीं किया जाता है तब तक महामारी जाएगी नहीं.</p> यह सोचकर तब और भी डर लगता है जब हम जानते हैं कि कोरोना वायरस महामारी अंतरनिर्भर वैश्वीकृत दुनिया का नतीजा है. यह भी साफ है कि हम सिर्फ उतने ही मजबूत हैं जितनी हमारी सबसे मजबूत कड़ी है. हम जीतेंगे नहीं जब तक कि हम यह लड़ाई साथ मिलकर नहीं लड़ते. इसी तरह, जलवायु परिवर्तन को भी वैश्विक नेतृत्व की दरकार है. एक देश उत्सर्जन करता रहता है तो बाकी देशों की कार्रवाइयां नाकारा हो सकती हैं. अगर हम चाहते हैं कि सब कदम उठाएं तो हमें सहयोग पर आधारित सहमति तैयार करनी होगी, ऐसी सहमति जिसमें आखिरी शक्चस, आखिरी देश को अपने विकास का अधिकार हो. लेकिन यह भी साफ है कि इस साल हमने इतने बड़े पैमाने पर अव्यवस्था और उथल-पुथल देखी है कि जिसकी हमने कभी कल्पना भी नहीं की थी. लिहाजा अब हमें कुदरत के साथ अपने टूटे हुए रिश्ते को जोड़ने के लिए उतने ही बड़े पैमाने पर काम करने की जरूरत है. भविष्य हमारे अपने हाथ में है. कुदरत अपना दर्द बयान कर चुकी है. अब हमें पलटकर उससे नरमी से बात करनी चाहिए. 2021: क्या बदलना ही चाहिए फिर नए साल का एजेंडा यह है. बदलाव के चार छोटे मगर अहम निशान हैं जिन्हें हमें नए साल में आगे बढ़ाना ही चाहिए. पहला, अमेरिका में नेतृत्व बदल रहा है. डोनाल्ड ट्रंप के जाने और जो बाइडन-कमला हैरिस के आने का मतलब यह है कि जलवायु परिवर्तन वापस वैश्विक एजेंडे पर होगा. बाइडन-हैरिस कह चुके हैं कि अमेरिका उस पेरिस समझौते में फिर शामिल होगा, जिस पर 2015 में दस्तखत हुए थे और जिसके तहत अनेक देश उत्सर्जनों में कटौती करने को राजी हुए हैं. यह बड़ी बात है, पर पर्याप्त बड़ी नहीं. यह बात दिमाग में रखना जरूरी है कि अमेरिका को सस्ती ऊर्जा की लत पड़ गई है जो अब कोयले के बजाए शेल गैस है और वह पेरिस समझौते के तहत छोटा-मोटा लक्ष्य भी पूरा नहीं करेगा. फिर भी, अमेरिका अब पराया नहीं रह जाएगा, 2021 में वह जलवायु परिवर्तन पर चर्चा के लिए शिखर मेज पर लौट आएगा. यह अहम है क्योंकि वक्त हमारे हाथ से निकला जा रहा है.</p> दूसरा, नीले आसमान और स्वच्छ फेफड़ों का एजेंडा है. 2020 में लॉकडाउन का विडंबना से भरा एक फायदा यह हुआ कि हमारे शहरों की वायु गुणवत्ता में सुधार आया; यह कुछ ऐसा था कि मानो प्रकृति अपनी जगह फिर हासिल कर रही थी. मगर यह भी सच है कि यह भारी आर्थिक कीमत पर आया. लिहाजा हमें पक्का करना होगा कि अर्थव्यवस्था को आगे बढ़ाते हुए स्वच्छ हवा बनाए रखने के लिए सब कुछ किया जाए—ऊर्जा से परिवहन तक में आमूल बदलाव किया जाए तीसरा और सबसे अहम, उत्पादन का सवाल है. शहर छोड़कर भागने वाले कामगारों ने हमें बताया कि उनके रहने और काम करने की स्थितियां भयावह थीं. यह वैश्विक आर्थिक समस्या का मर्म है क्योंकि 'उत्पादन' वहां ले जाया गया है जहां श्रम और पर्यावरण की लागत कम रखी जा सके. यह साल हमें बताता है कि भविष्य अलहदा होना चाहिए और भले ही उत्पादन की लागत बढ़ जाए तथा खपत घट जाए, लेकिन आगे का रास्ता यही होना चाहिए. अवसर भी इसी में निहित हैं—लचीलापन और ग्रामीण अर्थव्यवस्था में निवेश आखिर में, अंतरनिर्भरता का प्रश्न है. महामारी के इस साल ने हमें यह तो दिखा ही दिया कि वायरस ने हमारी दुनिया की गैरबराबरियों को तीखा कर दिया है. मगर इसने हमें यह भी सिखाया है कि भविष्य अलहदा होना ही चाहिए. बिल्कुल अलहदा. यही 2020 का श्राप है और यही 2021 की संभावना है सुनीता नारायण, सेंटर फॉर साइंस ऐंड एन्वायरनमेंट की डायरेक्टर जनरल हैं
प्रधान संपादक की कलम से कहा जाता है कि भविष्य वर्तमान का उन्नयन नहीं बल्कि उसका आमंत्रण है. आइए आमंत्रण को स्वीकार करें और इस संकट में दुनिया भर के देशों की तरफ से दिखाई गई फुर्ती, जोश-खरोश और नई-नई चीजें करने के हौसले के साथ दुनिया को बेहतर जगह बनाएं इस नई दुनिया का रूप-रंग क्या होगा और 2021 के गर्भ में हमारे लिए क्या छिपा है? हमने 10 विशेषज्ञों से भविष्य में झांकने के लिए कहा. हमारा यह विशेष अंक, जिसे मैनेजिंग एडिटर काइ फ्रीज ने संजोया है, स्वास्थ्य, अर्थव्यवस्था, पर्यावरण, मनोरंजन, राजनीति और राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा के बड़े रुझानों पर उनकी भविष्यवाणियां प्रस्तुत कर रहा है. महामारी की हमारी सबसे बड़ी सीख स्वास्थ्य सेवाओं से जुड़ी है. विश्व स्वास्थ्य संगठन की मुख्य वैज्ञानिक सौम्या स्वामीनाथन का कहना है कि भारत को स्वास्थ्य में अपना निवेश जीडीपी के 1.5 फीसद से बढ़ाकर कम से कम 2.5 फीसद पर लाने जरूरत है. उसे प्राथमिक स्वास्थ्य केंद्रों की व्यवस्था को मजबूत, अच्छी स्वास्थ्य सेवाएं देने के लिए डिजिटल औजारों और टेक्नोलॉजी का इस्तेमाल और अलग से जन स्वास्थ्य काडर खड़ा करना होगा. वे यह भी कहती हैं कि ऊपर से नीचे दिए जाने वाले फरमान कुछ ही वक्त के लिए कारगर होते हैं और धारावी की मिसाल बताती है कि समुदायों को समाधान का हिस्सा बनाना होगा सरकार की सबसे बड़ी प्राथमिकता इस साल भारत की अर्थव्यवस्था में नई जान फूंकना होगी. दुनिया की बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्थाओं में सबसे बुरी मार हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था को सहनी पड़ी है. कृषि को छोड़कर अर्थव्यवस्था के चार अहम इंजन—घरेलू खपत, सरकारी खर्च, निजी निवेश और निर्यात—लड़खड़ा रहे हैं. सरकार को अर्थव्यवस्था की सेहत फिर से चुस्त-दुरुस्त बनाने की अपनी कोशिशें बढ़ानी होंगी, खासकर जब वैश्विक अर्थव्यवस्था गिरावट के दौर में है. एपीएसी स्ट्रैटजी के सह-प्रमुख नीलकंठ मिश्र को लगता है कि मजबूत नीतिगत उपायों के बावजूद चीन को छोड़कर बाकी वैश्विक अर्थव्यवस्था के 2022 तक कोविड से पहले के स्तर पर लौटने की उम्मीद नहीं है. कोलंबिया युनिवर्सिटी के प्रोफेसर अरविंद पानगड़िया सरकार की आमदनी बढ़ाने की गरज से पीएसयू को आक्रामक ढंग से निजी हाथों में सौंपने के लिए विनिवेश मंत्रालय बनाने की और ग्रामीण तथा शहरी गरीबों को जीडीपी के 1-2 फीसदी के दायरे में नकद सहायता देने की सिफारिश करते हैं.</p> एशिया रिसर्च इंस्टीट्यूट में प्रतिष्ठित फेलो किशोर महबूबानी मानते हैं कि 21वीं सदी का 'ग्रेट गेम' सैन्य मुकाबले के बजाय आर्थिक है और भारत को हाशिये पर इंतजार करने की बजाय आरसीईपी सरीखे वैश्विक समूहों में हिस्सेदार होना चाहिए. उनकी दलील है कि प्रतिस्पर्धा छोटे वक्त में रचनात्मक विनाश लेकिन लंबी अवधि में आर्थिक मजबूती की ओर ले जाती है. अगर आप दुनिया में कूटनीतिक दबदबा चाहते हैं तो आपको आर्थिक बाहुबल तैयार करना चाहिए.</p> बीते हुए साल का एक ज्यादा स्वागतयोग्य बदलाव यह था कि अपने शहरों के पूरी तरह ठप पड़ने के दौरान हम सबने स्वच्छ हवा में सांस ली. यह चेतावनी थी: पर्यावरण की अनदेखी करके हम खुद को ही खतरे में डालते हैं. क्या जलवायु परिवर्तन अगली चेतावनी हो सकती है? डोनाल्ड ट्रंप के जाने और राष्ट्रपति जो बाइडन के आने का मतलब है कि अमेरिका 2015 के पेरिस समझौते में फिर शामिल होगा और उत्सर्जन कम करने में जुटेगा. पर्यावरणविद सुनीता नारायण देशों से आग्रह कर रही हैं कि ऊर्जा से लेकर परिवहन बदलाव तक तमाम क्षेत्रों में स्वच्छ हवा के फायदे पक्के करें.</p> भारत के राजनैतिक फलक पर नजर डालते हुए ग्रुप एडिटोरियल डायरेक्टर (पब्लिशिंग) राज चेंगप्पा कह रहे हैं कि 2021 मध्य-दक्षिण विचाराधारात्मक रुख की ओर कदम बढ़ाता दिखाई देगा, जिसमें क्षेत्रीय और जातिगत ताकतों की बजाए जनकल्याणकारी नीतियों और पूंजीवाद के अनूठे मेल के साथ राष्ट्रीय पहचान, गौरव और सुरक्षा जैसे पहलू हावी रहते हैं. ऐसा और भी होगा, अगर भाजपा जल्द ही होने जा रहा पश्चिम बंगाल का विधानसभा चुनाव जीत लेती है. दूसरी तरफ, अगर ममता बनर्जी फिर से मुख्यमंत्री चुनी जाती हैं, तो वे 2024 में भाजपा का मुकाबला करने के लिए विपक्षी गठबंधन की अगुआई करने की कतार में होंगी.</p> सीनियर एडवोकेट संजय हेगड़े हमारे गणराज्य की दशा-दिशा पर आलोचनात्मक नजर डालते हुए कह रहे हैं कि संसद की चुप्पी के कारण सार्वजनिक विमर्श सड़कों पर आ गया लगता है. सरकार और उसके आलोचकों को एक-दूसरे पर चीखना बंद कर नई शुरुआत करनी चाहिए. हुक्मरानों और नागरिकों को एक दूसरे को अपनी एकतरफा बात सुनाने के बजाय एक दूसरे के साथ संवाद के रास्ते पर लौटना होगा. हमें कम नाराज देश होने की जरूरत है. वे उम्मीद करते हैं कि 2021 नई तैयारी और संवाद का साल होगा महामारी के चलते मीडिया और मनोरंजन की दुनिया में बलात् एक क्रांति घटी. फेडरेशन ऑफ इंडियन चैंबर्स ऑफ कॉमर्स ऐंड इंडस्ट्री (फिक्की) के प्रेसीडेंट उदय शंकर लिखते हैं कि 'मीडिया महज सृजनात्मक उद्यम बजाए टेक्नोलॉजी चालित सृजनात्मक उद्यम में बदल गया है'. वे कहते हैं कि इस क्षेत्र का भविष्य उद्यमियों की एक नई पीढ़ी रचेगी जो कंटेंट और टेक्नोलॉजी दोनों में निवेश करेगी.</p> लेखक और पत्रकार फरीद जकरिया अपनी बेस्टसेलिंग किताब टेन लेसंस फॉर ए पोस्ट-पैंडेमिक वर्ल्ड का सार पेश करते हुए हमें 2021 के लिए पांच बड़े सबक बता रहे हैं: जनता को महामारी सरीखे झटकों से बचाने की जरूरत है; गैरबराबरी और बदतर होगी; कोविड-19 डिजिटल क्रांति को तेज कर देगा; वैश्वीकरण खत्म न होगा, बस थोड़ा ठहरेगा और शायद यह हमें चीन पर अत्यधिक निर्भरता से अलगाव की तरफ ले जा सकता है; और उत्तर-अमेरिकी दुनिया चीन के दबदबे वाली नहीं, बहुपक्षीय दुनिया होगी. अलबत्ता चीन रणनीतिक चुनौतियां पेश कर रहा है और यह भारत से बेहतर कौन जानता है, जो सरहदों पर लड़ाकू चीन से निबट रहा है. एग्जीक्यूटिव एडिटर संदीप उन्नीथन बता रहे हैं कि चीन और पाकिस्तान को रोकने के लिए भारतीय सेना को बजट पर भारी दबाव के बावजूद सुधारों को अंजाम देने और अपनी युद्ध मशीन आधुनिक बनाने की जरूरत है. कहा जाता है कि भविष्य वर्तमान का उन्नयन नहीं बल्कि उसका आमंत्रण है. आइए आमंत्रण को स्वीकार करें और इस संकट में दुनिया भर के देशों की तरफ से दिखाई गई फुर्ती, जोश-खरोश और नई-नई चीजें करने के हौसले के साथ दुनिया को बेहतर जगह बनाएं.
The nature of food Since the release of our investigation into the adulteration of honey, we have received textbook responses - possibly what is discussed and taught in business schools across the world, writes Narain Sunita Narain Why honey? Why bees? Because this army of nature is crucial for the productivity of our food system and the honey they make works for our well-being and health. This much we know. But what we ignore is just how quickly we can lose this gift of nature. Since the release of our investigation into the adulteration of honey, we have received textbook responses — possibly what is discussed and taught in business schools across the world. The first step is to deny; in this case, honey-processing companies are crying foul, saying we have it wrong. Step two is to discredit us with slander, and hope something sticks; then to use scientific jugglery to confuse consumers. In this case, companies are putting out erroneous test reports and innuendoes about our tests being inaccurate. The third step in the textbook is to spend big time on building an alternative narrative that their products are clean and safe, and, in this, use “good science” to convolute things. Remember when the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) investigated pesticide contamination in colas — soft drinks — the two big companies had hired top actors from Bollywood to wear laboratory coats to convince us that all was well. This time also, men in white coats are telling consumers that products are safe because they are tested for purity. What they do not say is that the tests are the problem; our study showed that Chinese and now Indian companies have designed syrups that can bypass the Indian stipulated tests. But with this massive spend they hope our voice will be drowned out. The fourth line of attack is more nuanced — it has evolved since the cola wars. Now, companies do not file cases against us directly; they threaten, they intimidate, but they do not take us to court. Instead, they work from within — use their muscle power in the corridors that matter — to work up an attack. But this has not worked in the past, and we believe it will not work this time either. In the case of the colas, the joint parliamentary committee (JPC), set up to investigate us (the whistle-blower) and not the company, ruled in our favour. We believe that this time around, the government, including the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), will — based on our reports and the need to ensure the safety of this health food — ensure that action is taken to stop this adulteration. There is too much at stake here. We all know this. But there is another reason — bees. The fact is bees are a harbinger species — they indicate the health of our food system. Without bees, there will be no food as we know it. Bees are critical for productivity because they pollinate plants. It is widely understood that 90 per cent of flowering plants need bees to spread their pollen; most of the crops we eat need bees — from oilseeds like mustard to apple and citrus and many legumes. Bees have also been warning us of the toxicity and overuse of pesticides — bee colony collapse is now widely understood to be the result of neonicotinoid (neonics) pesticides — a class of toxins that have been designed to hit the nerve cells of insects. “Saving America’s Pollinators” is a piece of legislation introduced in the US Congress. In May this year, the United States Environmental Protection Agency banned 12 types of neonicsproducts. But other classes of toxins still continue to be used and bees are the indicator species — they tell us how we are poisoning our food and our environment. Then of course there is the question of the food production system. Our investigation started because the price of raw honey had crashed, and this at a time when honey consumption has increased manifold. Beekeepers are losing business and closing shop. This should worry us as their livelihood is linked to our food. But that’s not all. The fact is modern beekeeping — an industrial-scale activity — also needs to be discussed. First, there is the issue of biodiversity of bees. The European Union (EU) — a champion of biodiversity conservation in the world — defines its honey as produced by Apis mellifera. In other words, no other bee can produce the honey that is sold as honey in the EU. What then does this do to the biodiversity of bees? In India, we have Apiscerana (Indian honeybee) or Apisdorsata (rock bee). If the honey of these cannot be harvested, if these species are not encouraged, and, do not thrive, what then? There is also the big question of what we mean by cultivation and processing. In most cases, honey is “processed” — it is heated and vacuum-dried — to remove pathogens and to extend shelf life. The safety and purity standards are made to work for this type of processed honey. But does this then work for the honey that is truly honey by its definition — brought by nature’s army and eaten by us in its purest form? But then how will big industry survive? Can it scale up its production and meet the needs of millions across the world? The question fundamentally, is not then just about the adulteration of honey — that it is — but it is more. It is about the “nature” of the business of future food.
Greta Thunberg turned 18 on Sunday, but it feels as though the world’s most influential climate change activist has been around for so long that the news is hard to process. Thunberg’s story is inspiring for so many reasons (let us not forget she has Asperger syndrome). If, by the time you become eligible to vote, you have already been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year, inspired millions of people to take part in a global climate strike and crossed the Atlantic upwind in a yacht to deliver an address at the UN climate action summit, what is the plan for the rest of your life? So perhaps, if we concede that the pressures of global celebrity are also a strain on someone so young, the most positive way of framing the story of Thunberg’s meteoric rise onto the world stage, which began in August 2018, when she sat on a solo school strike outside the Swedish parliament, is to think of her support base. Thunberg is the unlikely face of the only major global movement for change in which the youth have a voice proportionate to their demographic size and stake in the outcome. A number of major studies (such as a 2019 22-country survey of 10,000 people aged 18 to 25 by Amnesty International) show that, globally, young people are far more likely to think of climate change as the greatest issue of our age and to demand immediate and radical action by governments and institutions, which is our only hope of slowing climate change to manageable levels. Further, Thunberg’s rallying call for climate strikes — a phrase that has now entered the popular consciousness — is a continuation of the long tradition of nonviolent mass civil resistance that has produced so much transformative change in the last century. Of course, one can respectfully disagree with Thunberg on some of her stances, arguing that, as a young adult raised in the developed world, she does not appreciate the complexity of the trade-offs between environmental action and economic growth. Thunberg has herself admitted that, partly because of her neurodevelopmental disorder, “I see the world in black and white, and I don’t like compromising.” Thankfully, then, the second-most prominent global personality on climate change is almost the polar opposite of Thunberg. At 94, the legendary British naturalist and television personality David Attenborough was born not just in a different century to Thunberg but, scientifically speaking, in a different age. “I arrived in this world during a period geologists call the Holocene and I will leave it — as will every one of us alive today — in the Anthropocene, the time of humans,” Attenborough wrote in his recent book “A Life on Our Planet.” He adds that this new period “could prove to be uniquely brief in geological history and one that ends in the ultimate disappearance of human civilization.” The message is a sobering one but, unlike Thunberg, the tone is not strident: It is the sound of experience rather than innocence. And, as a naturalist and wildlife expert, Attenborough comes to climate change from a different starting point. His concern for its potential effects on the human race come folded into a larger appeal for us to protect the world’s astonishing biodiversity. Why are the global faces of the movement invariably white and Western, with others consigned to the realm of the ‘local’? Chandrahas Choudhury Indeed, some critics have accused Attenborough of facing up to the realities of climate change far too late in his immensely influential television programs (he admits to only being fully convinced of the scientific reality of anthropogenic climate change in 2004). And, as someone who has flown several million miles over the last 50 years to capture the diversity of life on earth (Thunberg, in contrast, refuses to take any flights), Attenborough probably has a larger carbon footprint than anyone alive. Even so, persuasion and change come in many different packages and who can deny that the climate action movement needs a moderate, courteous, authoritative voice like Attenborough’s. He is someone who can show us what is at stake by reminding us of our place in the entire web of life, and in so doing allow us to transcend the selfish anthropocentric perspective that created the climate crisis in the first place and continues to perpetuate it. On the subject of climate action, then, one might see Thunberg and Attenborough as two different kinds of shepherd of the human flock — they even met (virtually) for a 2019 show on BBC Radio 4. But even if we accept the huge credibility and legitimacy of this odd and inspiring pair, we must still confront some other unsettling questions about the politics of climate change activism today. Why are the global faces of the movement invariably white and Western, with climate activists from India and the Middle East, Africa and South America predictably consigned to the realm of the “local?” What does it say about the world’s media, and even ourselves, that we pay a different kind of attention to Thunberg and Attenborough than we do to the longstanding climate activism and wisdom of Wangari Maathai and Sunita Narain? Do we have ears for the indigenous Brazilian climate activist Artemisa Xakriaba or the young Ugandan Vanessa Nakate (who last year found herself cropped out of a group photo of herself and four other youth climate activists, including Thunberg, by the media agency the Associated Press)? If we are to make a success of climate action in the coming decades, when the climate-aware youth of today turn into world leaders, we will have to embrace a more diverse set of voices than Attenborough and Thunberg, diverse as they themselves are.