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Toxic cocktail of pollutants in air near Delhi's Ghazipur

NEW DELHI: While the capital is already reeling under “severe” air, those residing in the vicinity of the Ghazipur landfill site got a double blow with the waste mound going up in flames on Tuesday night. Not only was the smoke visible several kilometres away, but those near the landfill could feel their eyes burning and also having difficulty in breathing due to the toxic cocktail of pollutants in the air. Track the pollution level in your city The two nearest ambient air quality monitoring stations of Central Pollution Control Board — Anand Vihar and Patparganj — showed an AQI above 400, which falls in the “severe” category. Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) data also showed the average hourly PM2.5 concentration at over 400 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) all through the night, when the fire raged on, which dropped below 300 µg/m3 only after noon on Wednesday. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, at Centre for Science and Environment, said landfill fires pose a greater risk than a regular blaze owing to the huge amounts of mixed garbage. “The waste there is toxic and such fires are often continuous in nature, lasting for hours. This can cause a huge amount of toxic emissions to be released in the surrounding areas, exposing people of the low-income group living in the neighbourhood extremely vulnerable in terms of health. The smoke can also worsen underlying health conditions,” she added. DPCC data showed the average PM2.5 concentration at Anand Vihar touched 462 µg/ m3 at 4am, over seven times the safe standard, while the highest hourly PM2.5 concentration at Patparganj was 421 µg/m3. The standard for PM2.5 is 60 µg/m3.

Strand Road, Garden Reach… waste burnt at will

Burning of waste, which releases toxic gases in the air and can cause a range of critical diseases, is continuing unabated in Calcutta, The Telegraph has found. Heaps of dry leaves, paper cups and other waste were put on fire on the stretch opposite Judges Ghat on Strand Road on Tuesday morning. In the afternoon, a pile of wires was being burnt on Garden Reach Road, near Karbala Tank. The spiralling smoke rising up could be seen from some distance. The state government has filed an affidavit before the National Green Tribunal stating that it has banned waste burning to maintain healthy air in the city. But this newspaper could not spot anyone from the authorities to stop waste burning on Strand Road or Garden Reach Road on Tuesday. Environment activist Subhas Datta, who had moved the NGT about the deteriorating air quality of Calcutta, said it was the government’s responsibility to stop waste burning. “The government has given an affidavit to the tribunal that it has stopped waste burning. Merely issuing a circular is not enough. If the government says it has stopped waste burning, it becomes the government’s responsibility to see that no one is burning waste,” said Datta. The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) and police both were responsible for preventing open burning of waste, said Debabrata Majumdar, a member of the civic body’s board of administrators who is in charge of the solid waste management department. A senior officer of Calcutta police said they would look into the matter. Air quality management specialists said burning waste released tiny particulate matter like PM2.5, which can enter the lungs and cause respiratory problems. “Waste accumulating on open grounds releases PM2.5, PM10, oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide when burnt. These make the air toxic,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, an air quality management specialist and executive director of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment. “During winter, this becomes more problematic as the air close to the ground becomes colder and heavier, hangs around for a longer duration than other seasons and more people end up breathing in the toxic air.” A scientist with the state environment department said the wires were put on fire to burn the insulating material and recover the metal from inside, which is then sold. “The insulating material is made of plastic. It releases gases like sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide. Some of the elements released are carcinogenic. Exposure to these gases can be harmful,” said the scientist. The civic solid waste management system would need to be more robust if waste burning has to be stopped, said waste management specialists. Burning is an easy way of disposing of the waste, especially the one that accumulates on public land and is not cleaned or transported for many days. During winter, burning of dry leaves is common as most trees shed leaves during the season. Dry leaves are gathered on the corner of a road or a ground and burnt. The CMC is empowered to fine those found burning waste in the open. The minimum fine amount is Rs 5,000 and the maximum Rs 25,000 according to the Solid Waste Management Bye-Laws, 2020. “If we do not get to know about an instance of open burning of waste, we cannot do anything. I would urge people to inform our control room (22861212/1313/1414) if they come across any instance of open burning of waste,” said Majumdar. The problem is plaguing New Town, too. Metro reported earlier that several New Town residents had got in touch with the New Town Kolkata Development Authority about the issue Avishek Chakraborty, a resident of a cooperative housing society near Eco Park, said he had spotted a fire on a field opposite Eco Park on Tuesday. The field is a popular destination for birders. “I went and checked but could not spot anyone who could have started the fire,” he said.

Delhi: Spraying water may not get you clean air

NEW DELHI: Various government bodies have been spraying several lakh litres of water across the capital to combat pollution and settle dust. However, experts said not only could this be resulting in wastage of water, but also negatively impacting air quality if spraying was not being done at a high pressure. In 2019, IIT-Delhi professor Mukesh Khare had written to the three municipal corporations stating that none of them were spraying water at a high enough pressure to reduce local air pollution, stating a fine “mistlike” spray was required to achieve that. While antismog guns may be more efficient in achieving the purpose, experts said targeting high dust areas was a more efficient way of reducing pollution and saving water. TimesView Water is a precious commodity. It should be put to optimum use. In this case, the authorities must pay heed to the experts. Otherwise, the entire exercise will not only be a waste of time and resources, but may well be counterproductive. So far, Delhi Fire Service (DFS) has sprayed over 70 lakh litres of water since October 17, when it began the drive following orders from Delhi government. The agency has been concentrating on reducing pollution at Delhi’s 13 pollution hotspots and spraying over two lakh litres of water daily through 15 fire tenders and 45 personnel. While DFS has been spraying water at a high pressure, other agencies are slowly catching up. Khare, in his letter, stated that the corporations required retrofitting and a change in the nozzle type to improve water pressure. This winter, the corporations have deployed over 250 water sprinklers, 45 by east, 83 by south and 130 by north. A senior corporation official said they had increased the nozzle pressure for spraying disinfectants on streets and buildings for Covid-19. The same setup was now being used for sprinkling water. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, at Centre for Science and Environment, said no study had indicated that sprinkling water was effective in reducing air pollution and for how long it would work. “Spraying of water needs to be done in dusty areas. However, we first need to find a systemic solution to the problem and identify major dust-generating areas. Water cannot be sprayed at each location as it will simply amount to wastage. Construction agencies also need to be made accountable so that they don’t dig up an area and leave it exposed,” added Roy Chowdhury. Sumit Sharma, director, Earth Science and Climate Change Division at The Energy and Resources Institute, said anti-smog guns were a more efficient way of settling dust and the priority should be on construction sites and surrounding areas. “We need water sprinkling at large construction sites and locations with substantial dusty materials as dust can become airborne when winds pick up. Smog guns not only use less water, but release it in the form of a spray,” he added.

Air quality slips in Delhi, another round of bad air in coming week likely

The air quality in 21 of Delhi’s 35 monitoring stations on Monday dipped to the ‘very poor’ zone while one station entered the ‘severe’ category as the city’s overall pollution level continued to slide further to the far end of the ‘poor’ category. According to weather scientists and experts, Delhi may be in for another spell of bad air in the coming week with local pollutants and unfavourable meteorological conditions largely behind the spike in pollution levels. On Monday, the overall average air quality index (AQI) was 295 in the poor zone, a few notches from ‘very poor’ (301). The air quality has started to plunge again after a week of remaining in the lower to middle end of the poor zone and experiencing a day of ‘moderate’ air quality. After Diwali, rainfall and good winds had helped clear pollutants and improved the air from ‘severe’ to ‘poor’. An analysis of AQI data shows that within 10 days, Delhi is on the verge of ‘very poor’ air again. Previously, this month, Delhi saw ‘very poor’ air on November 13, with an average AQI reading of 339. Delhi’s AQI fluctuated between ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ and ‘moderate’ in a matter of five days between November 13 and 17. From an AQI of 435 on November 15, which is in the severe zone, the air quality improved to poor (221) on November 16 and moderate (171) last Tuesday. Delhi saw its longest spell of ‘severe’ air quality this season with the average AQI remaining in the upper reaches of the category for six consecutive days during November 5-10. Before this, in 2016, the capital breathed severe air quality for six straight days. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed that on Monday, the air in the Jahangirpuri monitoring station was in the ‘severe’ zone (404). Alipur, Anand Vihar, Bawana, Ashok Vihar, Narela, Dwarka sector-8, Mathura Road, Chandni Chowk, DTU, Karni Singh Shooting Range, ITO, Mundka, Nehru Nagar, Okhla, Patparganj, Vivek Vihar, Wazirpur, R K Puram, Rohini, Sonia Vihar, and Punjabi Bagh showed AQI readings in the upper end of the ‘very poor’zone. These include the 13 pollution hots pots across the city. Government agencies have forecast deterioration in air quality from November 24. V K Soni of the environment monitoring research centre at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said with wind speed reducing and a dip in temperature, air quality is likely to deteriorate. “While stubble fires have almost reduced to negligible, change in weather conditions and local emissions are affecting air quality . With a western disturbance affecting the Western Himalayan region, winds will become calmer and may result in a plunge in air quality,” said Soni. The average wind speed on Monday reduced to 5-6kmph from 15-16 kmph over the past few days. “Air quality may improve slightly only around November 27-28 when wind speed is likely to pick up again after the passing of the western disturbance,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, IMD’s head of regional weather forecasting centre. Vivek Chattopadhyay, senior programme manager, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said Delhi is likely to have another spell of bad air in the coming week. “Our daily analysis has shown particulate matter concentrations are again rising gradually, as good weather conditions have almost retreated. Action on hot spots is still lacking as unpaved roads and local waste burning has been observed in many areas. Vehicular emissions are the same as public transport is still not running to full capacity. Te government needs to tackle all sources of pollution equally, as these come into play when the peak stubble burning season is over,” he said.

Gautam Gambhir installs 3 giant air purifiers in Delhi, but experts call it ‘unscientific’

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Gautam Gambhir installed a giant air purifier in the Krishna Nagar market area of his East Delhi constituency, the third such purifier he set up to tackle air pollution in the city. The first two of these air purifiers were installed in Lajpat Nagar and Gandhi Nagar markets. At the latest inauguration, held Sunday, Gambhir reportedly said, “This purifier may not solve the problem of pollution completely but as someone born and brought up in this city, I cannot just sit at home and let things worsen.” The smog tower at Lajpat Market had been procured by Gautam Gambhir Foundation and installed with the help of Lajpat Nagar Traders Association. The purifiers installed at Gandhi Nagar and Krishna Nagar markets that tower at 12 feet and cover an area of 100 square metres have been produced by a Delhi-based company called Florida Electrical Industries Ltd. Gambhir procured these two as well. Florida Electrical’s director Rachit Arora said the purifier can clean two lakh cubic metres of air within 11 hours. “The company believes that the pollution problem is at its worst ever and we are at a crossroads. That makes outdoor air purification a need of the hour and a solution we may not like or choose, but have to at least explore as a first aid and foundation stone,” Arora said. However, experts told ThePrint that such outdoor air purifiers are red herrings at best and air pollution should be curbed at the source. According to them, air purification at this scale is unscientific. ThePrint reached Gambhir via calls and texts for a comment but there was no response until the time of publishing this report. How the air purifiers work The giant air purifiers operate on a “multi-step filtration model” that is capable of “reducing smoke, dust, particulate pollution”, according to Arora. The purifiers use about 100 filters. Arora was, however, reluctant to share the details of the design citing patent concerns. “It also acts against bacteria, viruses as well. After a few hours of operations, a 30-40 per cent reduction in PM 2.5 levels are observed,” he said. The machines rolled out in September cost anywhere around Rs 6.5-Rs 7 lakh. More economical models are available for industries, hospitals, schools and malls. The initial stages of the project involved “third party surveying and data analysis”. “In the last one year, extensive testing and R&D (Research and Development) was done. But the launch was delayed due to lockdown and the Covid-19 outbreak,” he said. Arora added that the model installed in east Delhi consumed 10-12 units of electricity per day, amounting to 300-350 units per month. For now, the company is in discussion with Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) for its next launch. Last month, the Delhi government had also installed anti-smog towers, i.e. large-scale air purifiers, in order to reduce pollution. Back in November 2019, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre and the Delhi government to come up with a roadmap for the installing of smog towers in the national capital. What experts say While advocated by the government, outdoor filtration systems have been a cause for concern for many experts within the scientific community. In their paper Can We Vacuum Our Air Pollution Problem Using Smog Towers?, researchers Sarath Guttikunda and Puja Jawahar of Urban Emissions, an independent research group on air pollution, had argued, “With no boundaries (in the atmospheric conditions), it is unscientific to assume that one can trap air, clean it, and release into the same atmosphere simultaneously. Expecting filtering units to provide any noticeable results at the community level is unrealistic.” Noting this point, Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, Centre for Science and Environment, said, “Air purification works when you are in confined environment with trapped air… But in outdoor conditions when a situation is so dynamic, wind is constantly blowing, the volume of air we are talking about is extraordinary. You just can’t think of cleaning that up.” She added that there haven’t been any instances outside of India where outdoor air purification has been adopted as a regulatory action to mitigate air pollution. Jyoti Pande Lavakare, co-founder of Care for Air India, a non-profit advocacy group, said, “Any air purifier or a smog tower, they use physical filters … These filters (after being clogged) will then be tossed in the landfills that are already overflowing. So instead of cleaning the air it will further add to the pollution.” Additionally, she pointed out that according to a few estimates, thousands or even lakhs of purifiers have to be set up to effectively deal with air pollution. “You will need them hyperlocally, even in a residential space, but where is the space, electricity and who’s going to pay for it,” she said, adding that only manufacturers stand to benefit from this. Last month, Care for Air India had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) with the Supreme Court asking to stay its earlier direction to install these outdoor purifiers at public cost. The petition was dismissed. Dr Ravindra Khaiwal, professor of environment health at PGIMER Chandigarh, emphasised that “prevention is the best policy”. “We would appreciate source control… These are faith building exercises but will not be useful to controlling the source,” he said. “It is similar to asking people to make use of RO (water purifiers) or indoor air purifiers but you have to understand that if we have high concentration of pollutants, it becomes an expensive affair (to purify it),” added Khaiwal.

US asks India to postpone mandatory GM-free certification for food imports

The US is stepping up pressure on India to not move forward on its proposal to mandate ‘non-GM (genetically modified) origin’ and ‘GM free’ certificates for some agricultural imports from January 1, 2021. It has given a fresh submission at the World Trade Organization asking India to reconsider the measure and delay implementation so that all member countries can submit their comments on the proposed requirement. “India’s requirements appear to apply to imports of all listed products, regardless of whether GE (genetically engineered) varieties of those products are in commercial production in the country of export. All members exporting to India may encounter additional barriers to trade for those crops listed under annex I of India’s order,” the US stated voicing concerns in its submission to the WTO committee on Sanitary & Phytosanitary (SPS) measures. The order could also result in de facto bans on products exported by biotechnology-producing members who do not or cannot provide such certifications, it added. “Given the potential for significant unnecessary disruptions to trade and the lack of technical rationale or justification for this measure, the US requests that India reconsider its temporary measure and delay implementation until members can submit comments,” it said. FSSAI order In August this year, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published an order specifying that every consignment of 24 identified food products, which include pineapples, apples, wheat, rice, tomato, potato, maize, melon, plum, papaya, potato, egg plant, bean, among others, need to be accompanied by a non-GM-origin-cum-GM-free certificate issued by Competent National Authority of the exporting country. The order is to be effective from January 1, 2021, it said. The US, in its submission, stated that India recently clarified that the order applies only to food crop imports intended for human consumption and not to processed products. “However, many imported raw, unprocessed products are used for both human and animal consumption and India has not explained its process for determining which imported raw, unprocessed products are within or outside the scope of the order,” it said. A study carried out by research and advocacy body Centre for Science and Environment in 2018 found that despite the FSSAI not allowing GM food in the country, several samples of edible oils, processed and packaged food and infant food items, produced locally and imported, were found to contain GM ingredients. While 32 per cent samples tested GM-positive, a large bulk of it was imported. Risk assessment Washington argued that it is not aware of any risk assessment conducted by India, nor has India identified any specific food safety risk associated with the products listed in the order. India’s measure may imply that genetically engineered (GE) foods are less safe than their conventional counterparts, it complained. “Through reports by the National Academy of Science and the WHO, among others, the international scientific and regulatory community has reached consensus that GE products available on the international market are as safe as their conventional counterparts,” it said. India had earlier assured the WTO that the measures would come into effect only after all concerns voiced by WTO member countries are examined.

West Bengal: Covid-19 fears behind spurt in vehicle sales

KOLKATA: Concerns over commuting on public transport during the pandemic seems to have prompted a sharp rise in sale of cars and two-wheelers. Automakers said the pent-up demand after no sale in April and May has also contributed to the impressive numbers now. In October, car registration at the public vehicles department (PVD), the regional transport office for the core city area, increased by 15% against last year's and two-wheeler registrations climbed by over 150%. "If you watch the trend, the growth of registration is overwhelmingly limited to personalized vehicles, like cars and two wheelers. Once the unlock began, people were scared to travel to their workplaces on public transport. Even those who used to take cabs were jittery. The decision to buy a car or bike was largely driven by safety concerns," said a transport department officer. Experts said lack of sales in April and May due to the lockdown and poor numbers in June and July due to supply and production constraints were now being compensated. "Overall, the industry is still in the negative with April-October sales in 2020 lagging behind the corresponding period in 2019. If the sales continue next year, it will also signal a turnaround in the economy," said a functionary at Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, the umbrella body of major auto firms. In rest of Bengal, registration of personalized vehicles in October 2020 started surpassing the figures of that month in 2019 and 2018 in September. In August 2020, car registrations rose to 6,256 from 5,574 in August 2019. But a steadier rise was seen from September, when the registration rose to 9,312 from 6,912 and 5,892 in September of 2019 and 2018. In October, despite fewer working days, it grew to 9,408 from 5,401 and 6,033 in the same month in 2019 and 2018. Similarly, the registration of motorcycles zoomed to 1,03,140 in September this year, compared to 87,833 and 42,317 in October of 2019 and 2018 respectively. In October, 83,141 two-wheelers were registered against 47,965 and 31,582 in the same month in 2019 and 2018. "Though Kolkata's sales spurt is significant, it may not augur well for a city known for its public transport system," said transportation expert Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, Centre for Science and Environment.

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week: By 2050, antibiotic-resistant infections will kill more than 1,000 people every hour in the world, says CSE

Antibiotic-resistant infections lead to about 700,000 deaths a year globally. If no action is taken, this could increase to 10 million deaths every year by 2050 – which would mean about 27,400 lives per day or about 1,140 lives per hour; 90 per cent of these deaths can happen in Asia and Africa. These numbers, quoted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) at a high-level webinar of experts on antimicrobial resistance, spell out how critical the problem is for the world. The webinar – titled One-Health Action to Preserve Antibiotics – was organised on Friday by CSE to mark the ongoing Antimicrobial Awareness Week, announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) from November 18-24. Opening the virtual meet of experts from across the world, CSE Director General Sunita Narain said: “Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, has emerged today as a full-blown chronic pandemic. At a time when the world is fighting the COVID-19 crisis, marking a week to build awareness on AMR is a welcome step. It indicates that the world is waking up to this massive health crisis, that it is getting ready because COVID-19 has taught us what havoc can be wrought by unprepared responses to a pandemic.” Narain added: “The AMR pandemic is a silent killer but as grave a threat as climate change. This explains why it does not invoke panic among people, though the damage it causes is similar in scale to what the world is witnessing these days.” The CSE webinar brought together some of the world’s foremost experts on the subject, including Haileyesus Getahun, Director of Global Coordination & Partnership, Director of Tripartite (FAO/OIE/WHO) Joint Secretariat on AMR, Division of Antimicrobial Resistance, WHO; Keith Sumption, Chief Veterinary Officer/Leader Animal Health Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Girish K Sharma, Officer on Special Duty (Animal Health), National Dairy Development Board, India; Otridah Kapona, Lab Scientist-Communicable Diseases/AMR National Focal Point and Coordinator, Laboratory Systems and Networks, Zambia National Public Health Institute, Zambia; Sekesai Zinyowera, National AMR Focal Point, Coordinator of National Microbiology Reference Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Zimbabwe; Sarada Devi K L, Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, India; and Will Gaze, Professor of Microbiology, European Center for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, United Kingdom. In 2015, the WHO had launched its Global Action Plan to tackle AMR. Five years after, the momentum is faltering, points out CSE. Amit Khurana, Programme Director of CSE’s Food Safety and Toxins Programme said: “What is required here is One-Health action – a collaborative effort by multiple disciplines working at the local, national and global level to attain optimal health for humans, animals and the environment. But national AMR action plans are struggling to move as planned, because they have remained largely driven by a human healthcare agenda, controlled by healthcare ministries and sector stakeholders, with very limited involvement or support from other sectors such as animal health and environmental management.” CSE researchers say that a lack of dedicated budgets allocated by country governments for addressing AMR is another obstacle: this breeds dependence on donor agencies. Rajeshwari Sinha, Deputy Programme Manager of CSE’s Food Safety and Toxins Programme said, “This indicates that the political commitment being talked about is still largely on paper.” Khurana points out that animal and food sector stakeholders remain apprehensive of rearing food without antibiotics: “Farmers still use growth promoters, countries continue to allow the use of antibiotics for disease prevention, use of critically important antibiotics is still a common practice, antibiotics are still available without prescription and waste from farms still not managed as it should be. The situation is the same in agriculture -- antibiotic misuse in crops continues.” Awareness about how to grow food without antibiotics has not yet been created among farmers and producers, he said. In environmental management, there is a dearth of understanding and technical expertise on issues such as how to set discharge limits of antibiotics in waste, or how to manage waste from different point sources (such as farms, healthcare settings etc) in view of the AMR determinants – antibiotics, resistant bacteria and genetic elements that can confer resistance.

Spotlight: Young soldiers on the climate front

As the fight against climate change is being led by young activists around the globe, their challenge becomes two-fold: getting elders to change damaging policy decisions, and being taken seriously enough Plant a tree instead of just wishing me on my birthday.” This statement comes from nine-year-old climate activist Licypriya Kangujam based in Manipur. A plainspoken narrative by this young activist has a profound impact as she leads a youth movement in India, urging lawmakers to cap carbon emissions. She doesn’t engage in the contorted language so common in political discourse, choosing blunt words to raise alarm against a concern which countries have to quickly and boldly deal with.\ A school dropout since February 2019, Kangujam received global attention when she addressed the COP25 climate conference in Spain’s Madrid in December 2019. Last June, she raised concern on the issue of climate change. “If they pass the climate change law, we can control carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. It will also give climate justice to millions of poor and vulnerable people who are victims of climate change,” she reportedly said. Greta Thunberg, perhaps the most famous young eco-warrior, is a household name by now. From being in contention for the Nobel Peace Prize last year to drawing comment from US President Donald Trump, Thunberg is just 17 years old. Be it Thunberg, Kangujam, Canada-based Severn Cullis-Suzuki or Uganda-based Vanessa Nakate, it is heartening to see the younger generation march for the planet. They strike from school and walk on streets, holding protests across the globe. Unimpressed by political soundbites, the power of social media helps them to a great extent in provoking action. Like 18-year-old Indonesian-Dutch activist Melati Wijsen, who has founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags to advocate a ban on singleuse plastics. Her beach cleanups, online petitions and international speaking engagements (from the UN to the IMFWorld Bank Group forum) played a role in the government banning single-use plastic in Bali in 2019. Artemisa Xakriabá, a 19-year-old indigenous Brazilian activist, was seven when she joined students from her Xakriabá community to reforest areas near their homeland in Minas Gerais. As representative of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, which protects forests in Brazil, the Amazon Basin, Mesoamerica and Indonesia,she openly talks about the persecution of those fighting to protect the Amazon, their sacred territory. Autumn Peltier, a 15-year-old indigenous Canadian activist, is called a water warrior for her campaign for clean drinking water for all. Jamie Margolin, an 18-year-old climate justice activist from the US, founded Zero Hour in 2017 to amplify young voices in the conversation around climate change. Margolin led the first Youth Climate March in Washington, DC, and in over 20 other cities around the world in 2018. Ayakha Melithafa, a teen activist from Cape Town, was one of 16 to sign a complaint, protesting government inaction on the climate crisis, with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child last September. She’s also a part of the African Climate Alliance and Project 90 by 2030 initiative that’s working for a sustainably developed and equitable lowcarbon economy. Ugandan Vanessa Nakate (23) started activism in December 2018 after becoming concerned about the unusually high temperatures in her country. In early January, she joined around 20 other youth climate activists from around the world to publish a letter to participants at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, calling on companies, banks and governments to immediately stop subsidising fossil fuels. Climate change is an imminent threat, impacting human lives in many ways. As estimated in a landmark UN climate report, unless global greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030, we will miss the opportunity to get on track towards the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. “There is undoubtedly a growing ‘personacentric’ movement. Young climate activists have made the dire impacts of climate change a household topic of discussion. Thunberg has received numerous accolades for her climate activism. Her logic is that the future is doomed due to human-induced climate crisis and it is the job of the leaders of the world to safeguard the future. She’s been championing the School Strike for Climate since 2018 hoping that adults will take notice when kids skip school. Many young activists followed suit and globally organised the school climate strike movement in their local communities under the name, Fridays for Future,” says Shazneen Cyrus Gazdar, programme manager, climate change and renewable energy, Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi.

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week: By 2050, antibiotic resistant infections will kill more than 1,000 people every hour in the world, says CSE

The CSE organised "One-Health Action to Preserve Antibiotics" to mark the Antimicrobial Awareness Week from November 18-24. Antibiotic-resistant infections lead to about 700,000 deaths a year globally. If no action is taken, this could increase to 10 million deaths every year by 2050 – which would mean about 27,400 lives per day or about 1,140 lives per hour; 90 per cent of these deaths can happen in Asia and Africa. These numbers, quoted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) at a highlevel webinar of experts on antimicrobial resistance, spell out how critical the problem is for the world. The webinar – titled One-Health Action to Preserve Antibiotics – was organised on Friday by CSE to mark the ongoing Antimicrobial Awareness Week, announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) from November 18-24. Opening the virtual meet of experts from across the world, CSE Director General Sunita Narain said: “Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, has emerged today as a full-blown chronic pandemic. At a time when the world is fighting the COVID-19 crisis, marking a week to build awareness on AMR is a welcome step. It indicates that the world is waking up to this massive health crisis, that it is getting ready because COVID-19 has taught us what havoc can be wrought by unprepared responses to a pandemic.” Narain added: “The AMR pandemic is a silent killer but as grave a threat as climate change. This explains why it does not invoke panic among people, though the damage it causes is similar in scale to what the world is witnessing these days.” The CSE webinar brought together some of the world’s foremost experts on the subject, including Haileyesus Getahun, Director of Global Coordination & Partnership, Director of Tripartite (FAO/OIE/WHO) Joint Secretariat on AMR, Division of Antimicrobial Resistance, WHO; Keith Sumption, Chief Veterinary Officer/Leader Animal Health Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Girish K Sharma, Officer on Special Duty (Animal Health), National Dairy Development Board, India; Otridah Kapona, Lab Scientist-Communicable Diseases/AMR National Focal Point and Coordinator, Laboratory Systems and Networks, Zambia National Public Health Institute, Zambia; Sekesai Zinyowera, National AMR Focal Point, Coordinator of National Microbiology Reference Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Zimbabwe; Sarada Devi K L, Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, India; and Will Gaze, Professor of Microbiology, European Center for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, United Kingdom.

भारतीय समाज में पर्यावरण चेतना का प्रतीक बन गई हैं सुनीता नारायण

हिंदुस्तान में पिछले करीब दो दशकों में पर्यावरण संरक्षण को लेकर पैदा हुई समझ और जागरूकता के पीछे अंतरराष्ट्रीय ख्याति प्राप्त पर्यावरणविद् सुनीता नारायण का बहुत बड़ा योगदान रहा है. उनके इन्हीं प्रयासों को मान्यता प्रदान करते हुए ब्रिटेन की सिटी आफ इडनबर्ग काउंसिल ने उन्हें ‘इडनबर्ग मेडल 2020' से सम्मानित किया है. हरित ईंधन, पर्यावरण प्रदूषण, महानगरों में दम घोंटू वायु प्रदूषण, जल प्रदूषण, ध्वनि प्रदूषण जैसे प्रदूषण से जुड़े तमाम आयामों पर सुनीता नारायण ने भारतीय समाज में चेतना लाने में अहम भूमिका अदा की है. अंतरराष्ट्रीय ख्याति प्राप्त टाइम पत्रिका ने 2016 में नारायण को विश्व की सौ प्रमुख प्रभावशाली हस्तियों में शामिल किया था. 23 अगस्त, 1961 को दिल्ली में उषा और राज नारायण के घर जन्मी सुनीता चार बहनों में सबसे बड़ी हैं. उनके पिता स्वतंत्रता सेनानी रहे और 1947 में भारत के विभाजन के बाद उन्होंने हस्तकला उत्पादों का निर्यात शुरू किया था. सुनीता मात्र आठ साल की ही थीं तभी उनके पिता का निधन हो गया. उनके पिता के चले जाने के बाद उनकी मां ने कारोबार संभालने के साथ ही अपनी चार बेटियों की परवरिश भी की. वह अपनी सारी सफलता का श्रेय अपनी मां को देती हैं जिन्होंने उनके भीतर ​निर्भीक होकर दूरस्थ स्थानों की यात्रा पर जाने और अपने फैसले खुद लेने का हौंसला पैदा किया था. दिल्ली विश्वविद्यालय में 1980 से 1983 के दौरान पत्राचार से स्नातक डिग्री की पढ़ाई करने के दौरान उन्होंने पर्यावरण के क्षेत्र में काम करना शुरू कर दिया था. वह बताती हैं कि संयोगवश उनकी मुलाकात कई ऐसे लोगों से हुई जिनके विचार और रूचियां समान थीं और इस तरह उनके भीतर पर्यावरण संबंधी मुद्दों को लेकर गजब का आकर्षण जैसा पैदा हो गया था. सुनीता कहती हैं कि जब 1970 के दशक में हिमालयी क्षेत्र में जंगलों को बचाने के लिए महिलाओं ने चिपको आंदोलन शुरू किया था तो उन्हें महसूस हुआ कि उन्हें पर्यावरण संरक्षण के क्षेत्र में ही जाना है. वह बताती हैं कि उन दिनों भारत में किसी कॉलेज में पर्यावरण को एक विषय के तौर पर नहीं पढ़ाया जाता था. 1980 में उनकी मुलाकात अचानक प्रख्यात वैज्ञानिक विक्रम साराभाई के बेटे कार्तिकेयन साराभाई से हुई जो उस समय अहमदाबाद में विक्रम साराभाई इंस्टीट्यूट फॉर डेवलपमेंट एंड रिसर्च के निदेशक थे. उन्होंने सुनीता को संस्थान में शोध सहायक के रूप में काम करने की पेशकश की और उसके बाद सुनीता ने पीछे मुड़कर नहीं देखा. वह 1982 से भारत स्थित ‘विज्ञान एवं पर्यावरण केन्द्र' से जुड़ गई थीं. यह हैरानी की बात हो सकती है कि सुनीता जिस क्षेत्र में दशकों से काम कर रही हैं, उसमें उन्होंने विधिवत कोई शिक्षा या डिग्री हासिल नहीं की, लेकिन पर्यावरण और जलवायु संरक्षण के क्षेत्र में विश्व के कई प्रतिष्ठित विश्वविद्यालय उन्हें मानद डिग्रियों से सम्मानित कर चुके हैं. सुनीता नारायण हरित विकास और अक्षय विकास की पुरजोर पैरोकार हैं और वह पर्यावरण संरक्षण में महिलाओं की महती भूमिका को रेखांकित करती हैं. इस समय ‘सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरन्मेंट'(सीएसई) के महानिदेशक पद की जिम्मेदारी संभाल रही सुनीता का दृढ़ विश्वास है कि वातावरण में फैलती अशुद्धता, प्रकृति और वातावरण की होती दुर्दशा से सबसे ज्यादा नुकसान महिलाओं, बच्चों और गरीबों को होता है. उनका यह भी मानना है कि वातावरण की सुरक्षा के लिये जागरूकता फैलाने की जिम्मेदारी महिलाएं ज्यादा सफलतापूर्वक उठा सकती हैं. सुनीता नारायण को 2005 में भारत सरकार ने पर्यावरण संरक्षण की दिशा में उनके प्रयासों के लिए पद्मश्री पुरस्कार से सम्मानित किया था. इसी वर्ष उन्हें स्टाकहोम वाटर प्राइज और 2004 में मीडिया फाउंडेशन चमेली देवी अवार्ड प्रदान किया गया. इडनबर्ग पुरस्कार पर प्रतिक्रिया जाहिर करते हुए सुनीता नारायण ने ‘पीटीआई-भाषा' से कहा, ''जहां तक जलवायु परिवर्तन का सवाल है, वह आज दुनिया के लिए बहुत बड़ा मुद्दा बन गया है. आने वाले समय में यह खतरा बहुत बड़ा है.'' उन्होंने कहा, ‘‘इडनबर्ग पुरस्कार इस बात को मान्यता देता है कि हमने विकासशील देशों की तरफ से जो आवाज उठायी है, वह सही है. इससे अंतरराष्ट्रीय मंच पर यह बात उठी है कि पर्यावरण संरक्षण और जलवायु परिवर्तन में गरीब, विकासशील देशों का क्या हक बनता है? उन पर क्या असर पड़ता है? इसलिए यह पुरस्कार हम लोगों के लिए गर्व की बात है. इससे इन मुद्दों पर अंतरराष्ट्रीय समुदाय का ध्यान फिर से गया है.'' 1990 के शुरुआती दिनों में ही उन्होंने कई वैश्विक पर्यावरण मुद्दों पर गहन शोध करना शुरू कर दिया था. 1985 से ही वह कई पत्र-पत्रिकाओं में पयार्वरण पर लेख लिखकर समाज को इस भयावह समस्या के प्रति जागरूक करने के काम में जुट चुकी थीं. दिल्ली में 1982 में छुट्टियां बिताने के दौरान सुनीता की मुलाकात अनिल अग्रवाल से हुई जो एक प्रख्यात और प्रतिबद्ध पर्यावरणविद् थे जिन्होंने पर्यावरण मुद्दों को भारत में एक दिशा दी थी. उस समय अनिल अग्रवाल सीएसई की स्थापना की दिशा में काम कर रहे थे. उन्होंने सहायक शोधार्थी के रूप में अग्रवाल के साथ काम करना शुरू किया और इस तरह वह सीएसई से जुड़ गईं जिसकी आज वह महानिदेशक हैं. उन्होंने अग्रवाल के साथ स्टेट ऑफ इंडियाज एनवायरन्मेंट रिपोर्ट्स पर भी काम किया. सुनीता कहती हैं कि आज वह जो कुछ भी हैं उसका श्रेय वह अनिल अग्रवाल को देती हैं जिन्होंने उन्हें इस दिशा में आगे बढ़ने को प्रेरित किया था. नारायण अपने मार्गदर्शक और संरक्षक अनिल अग्रवाल के बारे में कहती हैं कि सीएसई में आज 4 —5 लोगों का कोर ग्रुप है जो अग्रवाल के मूल्यों और दूरदृष्टि से बहुत प्रभावित है. उन्होंने कहा, ‘‘वह (अग्रवाल) कभी शिकायत नहीं करते थे, इसके बजाय वह समाधान पेश करते थे.'' 2016 में नारायण को फ्रैंच डेवलपमेंट एजेंसी (एएफडी) के वैज्ञानिक बोर्ड की सदस्य नियुक्त किया गया. इसके अलावा भी वह पर्यावरण एवं सामाजिक विकास संबंधी भारत सरकार की संस्थाओं के साथ ही कई राष्ट्रीय-अंतरराष्ट्रीय संस्थाओं और संगठनों में महत्वपूर्ण पदों की जिम्मेदारी संभाल रही हैं. नारायण ‘बिफोर दी फ्लड' वृत्तचित्र में हॉलीवुड अभिनेता लियोनार्दो डिकैप्रियो के साथ भी नजर आई हैं. इस वृत्तचित्र में उन्होंने भारत में जलवायु परिवर्तन के मानसून पर पड़ने वाले प्रभाव तथा इसके फलस्वरूप किसानों के प्रभावित होने पर बात की है.

India’s first 'Cow Cabinet' to whip up sacred love for dairy, dung and more

India’s largest state Madhya Pradesh has yoked ministers and officials to the country’s first “cow cabinet” to give a leg-up to the rural economy, hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. But critics say the step is only a gimmick to milk sectarian sentiment. The departments in charge of forest, revenue, rural development, home and animal husbandry have been roped into the so-called 'cow cabinet', which held its inaugural session at a cattle shelter in Madhya Pradesh state on Sunday. “Six departments of the state government would work together in the activities of cow protection and betterment,” a Madhya Pradesh government statement added. The ministerial cabinet will also promote bovine by-products such as dung and drinks made from cow urine which some in India say have pharmaceutical properties to cure an array of ailments including cancer. Madhya Pradesh is governed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP. Modi has promised several pro-cow policies since coming to power in 2014. The cow council was also mulling plans to raise 59 million Euros by imposing a “cow tax” on the state’s 73 million people. “Besides generating sufficient funds, it will ensure people’s participation in the sacred work of cow protection,” online publication The Print quoted state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as saying. Elsewhere, Modi’s home-state Gujarat this summer green-flagged tests with a concoction of cow products for the treatment of Covid-19, which has infected nine million people and claimed 133,000 lives so far in India. No fewer than 850,000 stray cattle wander around Madhya Pradesh, sprawled across 308,252 square kilometers. Chief Minister Chauhan faced criticism this year when he cleaved by 90 percent a state budget meant to feed 180,000 steers in government-funded cow shelters. Few takers for cow projects “The Chauhan government did nothing for the conservation and protection of cows in the last nearly 16 years,” said Kamal Nath, a former state chief minister. Nath, a leader from India’s main opposition Congress party, vowed to build 1,000 cow shelters if voted back to power. But all attempts of either the Congress or the BJP to appeal to Hindus' emotions in the name of the cow have come to very little. The public have donated the equivalent of just 800 euros to state-run cow welfare programs since 2017. Murderous cow vigilantes Many Hindus revere the animal as sacred and BJP-ruled states in India have outlawed consumption of beef or cow slaughter, leading to violent vigilante attacks largely targeting meat traders. At least 44 people, including 36 Muslims, died in such attacks between May 2015 and December 2018, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report last year. The Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment separately blamed India’s shrinking cattle headcount to cow protection laws in five farming states including Madhya Pradesh. Love Jihad law In a separate political development, Madhya Pradesh leaders have promised a law against love jihad, a Hindu conspiracy theory that claims Muslims use subterfuge to convert Hindu women through money or marriage. The draft stipulated a five-year prison term for forced conversions amid worries the legislation will again spur vigilante groups into action.

Experts: Protect natural habitats to prevent future pandemics

P andemics such as COVID-19 can be averted in future by restoring and protecting natural habitats, experts have advised. The Head of Conservation Programmes at WWF-Kenya, Nancy Githaiga, said there is a need to address loss and degradation of habitat to minimise vulnerability to pandemics. The loss of nature is estimated at 68 per cent. “As habitats reduce, animal species are coming into more contact with humans. This is leading to zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19. We may continue looking for vaccines against the pandemic, but if we continue living the way we are, more risks will come. We have to solve these issues upstream to reduce vulnerability by striking a balance with nature,” Githaiga told the ongoing Fourth African Conference of Science Journalists.

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week

Antibiotic-resistant infections lead to about 700,000 deaths a year globally. If no action is taken, this could increase to 10 million deaths every year by 2050 – which would mean about 27,400 lives per day or about 1,140 lives per hour; 90 percent of these deaths can happen in Asia and Africa. These numbers, quoted by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) today at a high-level webinar of experts on antimicrobial resistance, spell out how critical the problem is for the world today. The webinar – titled One-Health Action to Preserve Antibiotics – was organised by CSE to mark the ongoing Antimicrobial Awareness Week, announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) from November 18-24. Opening the virtual meet of experts from across the world, CSE Director General SunitaNarain said: “Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, has emerged today as a full-blown chronic pandemic. At a time when the world is fighting the COVID-19 crisis, marking a week to build awareness on AMR is a welcome step. It indicates that the world is waking up to this massive health crisis, that it is getting ready, because COVID-19 has taught us what havoc can be wrought by unprepared responses to a pandemic.” Narain added: “The AMR pandemic is a silent killer, but as grave a threat as climate change. This explains why it does not invoke panic among people,though the damage it causes is similar in scale to what the world is witnessing these days.” The CSE webinar brought together some of the world’s foremost experts on the subject, including Haileyesus Getahun, Director of Global Coordination & Partnership, Director of Tripartite (FAO/OIE/WHO) Joint Secretariat on AMR, Division of Antimicrobial Resistance, WHO; Keith Sumption, Chief Veterinary Officer/Leader Animal Health Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Girish K Sharma, Officer on Special Duty (Animal Health), National Dairy Development Board, India; Otridah Kapona, Lab Scientist-Communicable Diseases/AMR National Focal Point and Coordinator, Laboratory Systems and Networks, Zambia National Public Health Institute, Zambia; Sekesai Zinyowera, National AMR Focal Point, Coordinator of National Microbiology Reference Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Zimbabwe; Sarada Devi K L, Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, India; and Will Gaze, Professor of Microbiology, European Center for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, United Kingdom. In 2015, the WHO had launched its Global Action Plan to tackle AMR. Five years after, the momentum is faltering, points out CSE. Says Amit Khurana, Programme Director of CSE’s Food Safety and Toxins Programme: “What is required here is One-Health action – a collaborative effort by multiple disciplines working at local, national and global level to attain optimal health for humans, animals and the environment. But national AMR action plans are struggling to move as planned, because they have remained largely driven by a human healthcare agenda,controlled by healthcare ministries and sector stakeholders, with very limited involvement or support from other sectors such as animalhealth and environmental management.” CSE researchers say that a lack of dedicated budgets allocated by country governments for addressing AMR is another obstacle: this breedsdependence on donor agencies. Says Rajeshwari Sinha, Deputy Programme Manager of CSE’s Food Safety and Toxins Programme: “This indicates that the political commitment being talked about is still largely on paper.” Khurana points out that animal and food sector stakeholders remain apprehensive of rearing food without antibiotics: “Farmers still use growth promoters, countries continue to allow the use of antibiotics for disease prevention, use of critically important antibiotics is still a common practice, antibiotics are still available without prescription and waste from farms still not managed as it should be. The situation is the same in agriculture — antibiotic misuse in crops continues.” Awareness about how to grow food without antibiotics has not yet been created among farmers and producers, he says. In environmental management, there is a dearth of understanding and technical expertise on issues such as how to set discharge limits of antibiotics in waste, or how to manage waste from different point sources (such as farms, healthcare settings etc) in view of the AMR determinants – antibiotics, resistant bacteria and genetic elements that can confer resistance CSE, which has been working for a few years now to understand this health threat, presented a set of recommendations at today’s webinar: Ban antibiotics in growth promotion Regulate over-the-counter sales of antibiotics and restrict mass disease prevention strategies (group preventative use) Limit the use of critically important antibiotics – preserve those with highest priority for human use Reduce the need for chemicals by focusing on animal husbandry, bio-security etc Reduce dependence on intensive systems of food production Manage waste from farms Bring in policies and guidelines on bio-security, sanitation, waste management etc Initiate surveillance and monitoring of waste and effluents, litter etc Introduce standards for antibiotics in waste needed – antibiotics in waste from commercial entities must be categorised as hazardous Increase capacity of environmental regulators Says Narain: “It is clear that it is the developing world which is going to be hugely impacted by this threat. The world will never be able to contain AMR unless stakeholders from all sectors such as human health, animal, environment, crops, food and drug come forward and act as one, in the spirit of a true One-Health approach

Engineering And Planning Related Approach Needed To Make Cities Water-Sensitive, Says NMCG DG

Elaborating on the challenges faced in urban water management, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga, has proposed steps to make Indian cities water-sensitive which include developing eco-friendly riverfront projects and harnessing the economic potential of the river. In a keynote address during a two-part webinar series on 'Towards Water Sensitive Cities - Experience of Approach and Practices in Australia and India', Mishra said learning from experiences of Australian counterparts can be valuable in making Indian cities water sensitive. The webinar was organised by India's Centre of Science and Environment-School of Water and Waste, India, and Alluvium Consulting, Australia. The webinar series was aimed to sensitise practitioners and advocate for the planning and designing of water-sensitive cities in India, and disseminate the experiences of water-sensitive cities in Australia and India, according to a statement by Jal Shakti Ministry. "Roadmap for implementation of water-sensitive urban design and planning in Delhi" published by CSE was launched by Mishra. He said, "Engineering and planning related approach is needed to make cities water-sensitive." "While elaborating on challenges faced in urban water management, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga in his keynote speech said, 'Learning from experiences of Australian counterparts can be very valuable in making Indian cities water-sensitive'. He also proposed to develop a city to city partnership for select cities in the Ganga basin with Australian cities," the statement read. "He suggested that a linkage between the built environment and the natural environment is needed for water sensitive urban design. He also endorsed a three-point vision to water sensitive cities- Cities should serve as potential water supply catchment, provide ecosystem services and create water sensitive communities," the statement added He shared that the urban planning framework would now be made water-sensitive. He explained steps to make cities water-sensitive which includes ensuring effective regulation of activities in the floodplains, preventing pollution of the water bodies, rejuvenation of all water bodies and wetlands, to ensure a rich and continuous riparian buffer, to ensure maximum good quality return flow to the river, reuse of wastewater, to harness the economic potential of the river, to develop eco-friendly riverfront projects and to inculcate river-sensitive behaviour among residents. Micheal O Neill, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Government of Victoria presented the integrated approach followed by his government in urban planning. Suresh Rohilla, Senior Director of the CSE spoke about the need for a road map to water sensitive urban design and planning. A case-study on turning Melbourne into a water-sensitive city was presented by Chris Chesterfield, Urban Water Policy and Planning Specialist (CRCWSC), Australia. G. Mathi Vathanan, Principal Secretary, Housing & Urban Development Department Odisha government, Dr Kajal, Director, Smart Cities Mission, Government of Uttar Pradesh and Vijay Chaurasia, Joint Advisor (PHEE), CPHEEO, MoHUA, Government of India discussed the water-sensitive approach and its implementation in cities in a panel discussion. (ANI)