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Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air pollution shot up in some northern towns last year despite lockdown

Air pollution shot up in some northern towns last year despite lockdown The analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment suggests air pollution levels spiked in certain parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains mainly because of a combination of reopening of the economy after the nationwide lockdown and adverse meteorology in winter. A new analysis has found that air pollution increased in small towns and cities outside Delhi and NCR in the Indo-Gangetic Plain region last year. Even though the average PM 2.5 levels for summer and monsoon months last year is considerably lower than in 2019, winter pollution levels increased in Punjab and Haryana (north of NCR) leading to an increase in their annual average PM 2.5 levels. Bigger cities and towns including Delhi recorded a significant reduction in annual PM 2.5 concentrations during the pandemic year. Delhi for example recorded an almost 13% improvement in 2020 compared to 2019. The analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment suggests air pollution levels spiked in certain parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains mainly because of a combination of reopening of the economy after the national lockdown (March 25 to May 31 and phased reopening till December) and adverse meteorology in winter. Several bigger cities have witnessed a reduction in annual PM 2.5 levels, smaller towns and cities have recorded an increase: Fatehabad in northern Haryana is the worst performer with 35% increase from 2019 level. It is followed by Bhatinda at 14%; Agra 9%; Khanna 7%; Mandi Gobindgarh 6%; Moradabad 5.5% and Kurukshetra recorded a 1% increase. Sirsa recorded a 44% decrease in PM 2.5 levels; Varanasi 31%; Gaya 27%; Muzaffarpur 13%; Delhi 13% and Hisar recorded a 12% reduction among others. CSE used real-time data (15-minute averages) for 26 cities in the IGP region 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 km 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 like Hisar and Jind in the north-west is heavily influenced by episodic pollution caused by burning of crop stubbles. 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, Centre for Science and Environment.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air pollution spiked in small towns during lockdown: CSE

Air pollution spiked in small towns during lockdown: CSE 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. 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. 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.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Winter Air Pollution Higher in Smaller Towns in Indo-Gangetic Plains: CSE Report

Winter Air Pollution Higher in Smaller Towns in Indo-Gangetic Plains: CSE Report A part of the Centre for Science Development’s quality air quality tracker initiative, the report stated that the bouncing back of pollution despite the “extraordinary disruption” caused by the pandemic in 2020 reveals the high impact of local and regional pollution. According to a recently released report by the Centre for Science and Environment, the air quality has worsened in smaller towns in the Indo-Gangetic Plains compared to the bigger cities this winter. The report by the Delhi-based environment agency is based on an analysis of winter air pollution till January 11, 2021. A part of the CSE’s air quality tracker initiative, the report showed that while the annual average level of PM 2.5 did not go down in several cities despite the COVID-19 induced lockdown, in many smaller towns and cities there was infact an increase in the pollution levels. “The analysis of real-time data from monitoring stations outside the National Capital Region (NCR) in the larger Indo-Gangetic Plains shows newer patterns in winter pollution this year. 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,” the report says, highlighting the worsening condition in the IGP. Further, there has been a “dramatic increase” in pollution levels in the post lockdown period, according to Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’s executive director in charge of research and advocacy. She added that the bouncing back of pollution despite “the extraordinary disruption caused by the pandemic in 2020” reveals the high impact 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,” the report quoted Roychoudhury as saying. Also read: Centre Brings New Law Through Ordinance to Tackle Air Pollution in Delhi-NCR In winter, higher PM 2.5 levels is a typical trend with emissions from various sources such as industry, construction, vehicles and episodic pollution from biomass burning being trapped due to meteorological changes. However, this year, the trend set in almost two weeks earlier in the season, according to Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager in CSE’s Urban Lab team of the Sustainable Cities programme. He also highlighted the difference in the pattern of pollution in the IGP regions north and south of the national capital region. While, the average PM 2.5 levels was lower in summer and monsoon 2020, it has “risen above the 2019 levels in almost all monitored cities in Punjab and Haryana (regions north of the NCR)” during the winter. On the other hand, to the south of the NCR, in cities falling in central and eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar the pollution levels are either similar or lower compared to 2019 levels, Somvanshi added. He said that even though the reopening of the economy accompanied by the changing meteorology may be behind the higher levels of winter pollution, the variation in regions brings back the focus to the need for more robust pollution control strategy. Stressing further on that, he stated that the region cannot rely only on action being taken in Delhi-NCR. As per CSE press release, 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. About 26 cities including Amritsar, Bhatinda, 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 were selected for this analysis because real-time data is available for these cities. The data was 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.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air pollution 2020 report: Big cities fare better, small towns toxic

Air pollution 2020 report: Big cities fare better, small towns toxic 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.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air quality worse in smaller towns in Indo-Gangetic plains compared to bigger cities: CSE

cities: CSE 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.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

‘Air quality worse in small towns of Indo-Gangetic plains’

‘Air quality worse in small towns of Indo-Gangetic plains’ 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.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air quality worse in smaller towns in Indo-Gangetic Plains compared to bigger cities: CSE's

Sustainable Food Systems

Candygate! Over 9,000 kg lollipops, candies adulterated with talcum powder seized

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

Sustainable Food Systems

Candygate! Over 9,000 kg lollipops, candies adulterated with talcum powder seized

Sustainable Food Systems

Candygate! Over 9,000 kg lollipops, candies adulterated with talcum powder seized

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air pollution spiked in small towns during lockdown: CSE

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.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air quality worse in smaller towns in Indo-Gangetic plains compared to bigger cities: CSE New Delhi

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.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air pollution 2020 report: Big cities fare better, small towns toxic

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.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

‘Air quality worse in small towns of Indo-Gangetic plains’

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.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air quality worse in smaller towns in Indo-Gangetic Plains compared to bigger cities: CSE's

Water Programme

Major health risks due to untreated sewage disposal

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.