The most congested cities in India low lie vacant midst the nationwide lockdown
The most congested cities in India low lie vacant midst the nationwide lockdown
The most congested cities in India low lie vacant midst the nationwide lockdown
This will change on Monday when several sectors start reopening gradually. Water quality experts said the lesson from the lockdown is to strictly ensure industries meet effluent discharge standards. For the first time in many years, several stretches of the Ganga are conforming to Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) standards for the quality of river waters, a phenomenon that follows the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 and extended until May 3. In fact, some stretches of the river are recording CPCB’s “fit for drinking water” norm with basic conventional treatment. Experts say this is mainly owing to industries not discharging toxic effluents into the river and less withdrawal of water for industrial and agricultural purposes as part of the lockdown that has shut industrial activity and restricted agricultural work. This will change on Monday when several sectors start reopening gradually. Water quality experts said the lesson from the lockdown is to strictly ensure industries meet effluent discharge standards. More than 80% of the pollution in the Ganga is contributed by domestic sewage from surrounding towns and villages and the rest by industrial effluents, according to the National Mission for Clean Ganga. CPCB’s assessment of Ganga water from January 2020 had shown that most stretches of the Ganga from Garhmukteshwar in Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal were not only violating drinking water standard but also recorded hardly any dissolved oxygen (how much oxygen is dissolved in the water) and extremely high levels of total coliform (bacteria from human and animal waste). Many of the same stretches, according to CPCB’s real time water quality monitoring of the Ganga on Sunday, met the drinking water standards; the biological oxygen demand was < 3 mg/l, dissolved oxygen i >4 mg/l and ph 6 to 9. The biological oxygen demand is the oxygen needed by the river to sustain life. “There are many reasons for improvement in water quality in Ganga. Industries is one of them.... Some distilleries have also stopped discharging. Waste dumping by people around the river also contributes to higher BOD {biological oxygen demand} which may have stopped as people are in lockdown. Its difficult to identify any one factor,” said a senior CPCB official who declined to be identified. CPCB will soon release its analysis of Ganga and Yamuna water quality during the lockdown period from March 25. “Yes its true that we found dramatic improvement in water quality in many parts of the river but in some stretches we found that water quality has deteriorated after the lockdown was imposed. The reasons for this will have to be verified,” the senior official cited above added. Experts urge policy makers to learn from the lockdown experience as access to clean water is also a public health issue and can play a critical role in tackling outbreaks like that of Covid-19. “Industrial pollution is zero today. It is a major polluting factor for Ganga as it compromises the river’s capacity for assimilation. When sewage is mixed with industrial effluents, it is difficult for the river to assimilate the pollution. There is another reason for improvement and better dilution of pollutants. There were a very high number of western disturbances which brought rain and improved the flow in the river leading to better dilution. There are two key takeaways from this— industries have to become zero liquid discharge and environmental flow is a must in the river,” said Manoj Mishra, convenor of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, descriptor. E-flow refers to quality, quantity and timing of water flows required to maintain life in the river. “Improvement in Ganga water pollution is a function of both quality and quantity. Water is not being lifted by industries so there is more flow in the river and the pollution is getting diluted. At the same time effluents are also not being discharged. It’s a same thing as you dilute something in a glass of water versus a bucket of water. Because of the harvesting season the agriculture sector also isn’t withdrawing much water now. If you leave nature on its own, it survives and comes back to life. This is a clear example but levels will go back up as soon as we reopen,” said Suresh Rohilla, senior director, water and waste water management, Centre for Science and Environment. Stretches that met “drinking water quality” standard on Sunday Stretches with biological oxygen demand (oxygen needed by the river to sustain life) is <3 mg/l, dissolved oxygen is>4 mg/l and PH is 6 to 9 • Kannauj, bathing ghat and barrage in Kanpur, Fatehpur bridge, Narora, Varanasi bathing ghat 1, Sukartal Ghat, Bhitpur, and Ganga nullah, Murshidabad and Howrah Bridge in West Bengal Stretches with high pollution level on Sunday: • Allahabad nullah with BOD of 15.35 mg/l and DO of 1.04 mg/l • Haridwar nullah with BOD of 43.20 mg/l and DO of only 0.01 mg/l • Nullah at Patna with BOD of 30.13 mg/l and DO of 0.25 mg/l
What we should be really thinking about is the collective vulnerability of our world Sunita Narain I would dare to say: Covid-19 is the most tumultuous, most catastrophic, and the most defining epoch of our lifetime. I cannot think of anything else which has happened with such speed — from the end of December last year, when the first cases were reported in China, to the middle of April, when an estimated onethird of the world’s population is locked in their homes. This crisis has no precedent — there is no rulebook that tells governments what to do; how to shut down economies; and, when to re-open them. The virus is a mutant — it jumped from its animal host to humans; it is pernicious because it seems to find new ways to hide itself; and, we can be asymptomatic and yet be a carrier of infection. Deadly and devastating. But what we should be really thinking about is the collective vulnerability of our world. The most macho leaders, the most high-tech scientific establishments, and the mightiest economic prowess have all met their match in this lowly virus. It should make us humble — think about what we need to do differently; how we need to act and behave differently. But this is where I suspect we will err. The fact is that every time there is a catastrophic event, the focus is on the immediate — the relief and the rescue — and not on what we must learn for the future. And there is no doubt that the exigencies of Covid-19 management are most urgent and dire. We are losing lives in the rich world, which has hospitals and health infrastructure. Just imagine the scale of the human tragedy in the emerging, developing world, where none of this exists. But then also imagine the sheer scale of human deprivation as jobs are taken away — the economies of the poor are not based on the security of tenure, but on their daily earnings. But there is going to be life after Covid- 19. So, what will be the new normal? Let’s discuss the most critical issue of our globalised world: What leaders and institutions must learn from this for the next planetary emergency. The hard fact is that we know we should have acted together and we did not. China did not share information quickly enough; the virus moved out of the country and spread infection; the World Health Organization (WHO) did not act swiftly enough; or, maybe its voice was not respected enough to be heeded. Till the end of January, the WHO was hedging its bets on the containment of the virus in China — it came out against global travel bans and hemmed and hawed about the need to elevate the crisis to a pandemic. Then when it acted, it floundered against the sheer scale of the health emergency. It has lost credibility in this period, and this at a time when the world needs strong voices to steer it ahead. The UN Security Council did not meet for weeks, and when it did, it just whimpered and died. It is not just about China and the WHO — each country has shown that it is for itself in this crisis — dog-eat-dog world. It has reached the point where countries are pirating protective equipment — masks and gowns that are needed for health care workers, competing for medicine supplies, and sparring about who will make the first vaccine. It is frightening to think of this when we know that the pandemic is an outcome of an inter-dependent globalised world. The fact is that the virus definitely came from a province in China, where I have no reason not to say its citizens have a dystopian relationship with food. But the contagion grew because we live in such an inter-connected world. It is also clear that we are as strong as our weakest link. If the virus continues to spread in some region of the world — most probably the one with the feeblest health care services or one that is ravaged by war and strife — it will stay with us. We will not win this unless we win it together. That’s why the pathetic state of today’s global leadership should concern us. There are many respected voices who are arguing that Covid-19 shows the end of multilateralism — it’s the death of the United Nations and all that it stood for. Now, it will be unilateralism at its worst that will set the new world order. But this will not do — not for Covid-19 and certainly not for the next and looming planetary emergency of climate change. Very much like Covid-19, climate change needs global leadership — if one country continues to emit, then all actions of the rest will be negated. But if we want all countries to act, then we must build a cooperative agreement, one in which the last person, the last country, has its right to development. We need global leadership in a globalised inter-dependent world. So, in the new normal of the post- Covid-19 world, we must remember this. How we fix this is the question for tomorrow. But fix it we must. Business Standard | Delhi | April 20, 2020
From releasing the names and addresses of COVID-19 patients in the public domain, to using mobile apps that force people to share personal information, the Centre and state governments are blatantly undermining privacy and human dignity during the health crisis. Governments are in fact exploiting an archaic legislation that was enacted even before the invention of the television to carry out mobile surveillance and use artificial intelligence for facial recognition in the current crisis. The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which has remained largely unchanged in the past 123 years, authorizes governments to curtail people’s autonomy, privacy and liberty without even clearly defining the situations under which it can be implemented, observes P S Rakesh, a health consultant, in a 2016 paper published in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics . The Act, which is silent on ethical and human rights issues, also shields officials from “any suit or other legal proceedings”. The 1897 Act, along with the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, lays the legal foundations for the bold steps the country is taking to fight COVID-19. The Centre’s much publicised Aarogya Setu mobile application, for example, has a host of privacy concerns including ambiguity over how it will use/share the data. Similarly, state governments are releasing apps and websites without privacy safeguards and they are being used to collect huge amounts of sensitive medical and personal information. The Tamil Nadu Quarantine Monitoring App, through which the state police is monitoring the location of quarantined people, has been released without privacy policy or terms of use. Location data is highly revealing and tracking apps without safeguards can record information that is not necessarily relevant for the fight against Coronavirus and place a country’s entire population under monitoring and surveillance, warns a report by Access Now, a non profit that fights for human rights. “The wave of surveillance we’re seeing is truly unprecedented, even surpassing how governments across the world responded to 9/11. The laws, powers, and technologies being deployed around the world pose a grave and long-term threat to human freedom,” warns Edin Omanovic, Advocacy Director of Privacy International, which, along with 100 other civil societies, has started a global petition asking governments to ensure that invasive measures introduced during COVID-19 also respect human rights. He adds that while the extraordinary crisis requires extraordinary measures, “it also demands extraordinary protections”. Countries are going out of the way to carry out surveillance and amass data even though past experiences suggest they seldom help. “The assumption that open and interoperable data will lead to better health response is untested, as is the assumption that mobile network data records measurably improve health system response efforts,” writes Sean Martin McDonald in a research paper that explores the role of data during the Ebola outbreak in west Africa in 2014. “A pandemic is no excuse to collect extensive and unnecessary data. Access to health data shall be limited to those who need information to conduct treatment, research, and otherwise address the crisis. The information should be stored securely, in a separate database,” says the Access Now report. It adds that most data should be erased after the crisis is over. On the issue of surveillance, the report recommends “detailed in-person contact tracing” rather than use of mobile devices to safeguard privacy and improve accuracy. In case of geo-location tracking, data should be anonymised. The report also calls for strict safeguards against misuse of data by private companies. “When creating applications to respond to a public health crisis, private companies should not be able to monetise data derived from the use of their products. Additionally, there should be clear limitations on secondary uses or further processing of data.” Most state government apps in India are developed by private companies and many of them are without a privacy policy. The biggest threat, however, is the sheer scale of privacy invasion that COVID-19 can trigger. Several countries have arbitrarily altered laws to gain coercive powers that will continue even after the health crisis is over. The episode might not only normalise the deployment of mass surveillance tools in countries that have so far rejected them, but also lead to the transition from “over the skin” to “under the skin” surveillance, warns author Yuval Noah Harari in an article published in the Financial Times . “Hitherto, when your finger touched the screen of your smartphone and clicked on a link, the government wanted to know what exactly your finger was clicking on. But with coronavirus, the focus of interest shifts. Now the government wants to know the temperature of your finger and the blood-pressure under its skin.”
New Delhi: Poor ventilation and illdesigned air-conditioning systems can trap stale air and increase the risk of catching diseases inside homes. This and many more living problems in the postpandemic period have been highlighted by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in an analysis titled “Beyond the Four Walls of PMAY: Resource efficiency, thermal comfort and livability in the affordable housing sector”. The analysis points out that even if high outdoor temperature does manage to diminish novel coronavirus, mechanically cooled indoor temperatures and the air ducts of centrally air-conditioned buildings may enable the virus to thrive. “In fact, anticipating the risk, the Covid- 19 Task Force and Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning released a booklet recommending maintaining of reasonably high levels of humidity, high rate of air change, and higher air temperature, among other things,” said CSE. At the same time, social distancing is virtually impossible in poorly designed small housing units of low-income groups, the policy brief points out. The analysis mentions: “The migrant crisis has shown how current approaches to housing provisions for the poorer sections need to change. Moreover, the overall hygiene of neighbourhoods in terms of access to water, sanitation and waste management requires most decentralised and efficient municipal services and decentralised resource and waste management systems to control the exposure to risk. Access to clean environment will have to be universal to protect all.” CSE said the Covid-19 challenge has raised concerns about thermally uncomfortable buildings, which increases air conditioning usage and, therefore, the risk of infections. “This has once again brought to the forefront the need to design buildings for thermal comfort and to minimise airconditioned hours. Out of the total approved projects under PMAY-U, 34% are under affordable housing that the private sector is delivering. But nearly the entire focus is on speed and ease of construction and material choices. It is now necessary to link these subsidies and incentives with performance of the housing stock to ensure quality and liveability,” said CSE. The technical group on urban housing shortage estimates that around 80% of the nation’s housing demand comes from congestion or overcrowding in houses. A house is defined as overcrowded in India when a married couple doesn’t have a separate room.
Bathinda: The current public health emergency has reinforced the fact that housing sector policy and interventions will have to change in the post-pandemic period for healthy living. Liveability and thermal comfort of houses for all income classes have drawn attention during the lockdown, points out a recent analysis of the housing sector carried out by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). A study titled ‘Beyond the four walls of PMAY: Resource efficiency, thermal comfort and liveability in the affordable housing sector’, was released on Thursday by CSE’s executive director (research and advocacy) Anumita Roychowdhury and programme director (sustainable buildings and habitat programme) Rajneesh Sareen. The study says that while trapped stale air in ill-designed thermally uncomfortable air-conditioned houses can foster infectious diseases, overcrowding in lower income households with no ventilation creates more risks for the urban poor. The current public health emergency has reinforced the fact that housing sector policy and interventions will have to change in post-pandemic period. The ongoing implementation of affordable housing programmes Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for urban areas (PMAY-U) and reviews of the design and performance of affordable housing units at the state level have been captured in this study. While the latest estimates of Union urban housing ministry puts the national housing demand at 11.2 million, unofficial estimates report a higher housing demand. In current times of social distancing, crowded dwellings can be a bigger threat to health. The technical group on urban housing shortage has estimated that around 80% of the nation’s housing demand comes from congestion or overcrowding in houses. A house is defined overcrowded in India when a married couple does not have a separate room. To this is added homelessness, building rejection, and non-serviceability of buildings. CSE study recommended to introduce more comprehensive guidelines and mandates on material and architectural design to improve thermal comfort of buildings and reduce air-conditioned hours for energy savings and healthy living.
Wednesday, April 22 at 8 p.m.— On Earth Day, PBS will premiere a compelling new documentary, “Climate Change—The Facts,” presenting scientific evidence of the impact of global warming. The program also examines possible solutions to the crisis, including the latest innovations, technology and actions individuals can take to prevent further damage. The one-hour special, hosted by natural historian Sir David Attenborough, premieres Wednesday, April 22 at 8 p.m. (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video App. “Climate Change — The Facts” brings together leading climate scientists who explain what might happen if global warming increases 1.5 degrees. Experts examine the consequences of rising temperatures on ice sheets, fragile ecosystems, developing communities and extreme weather events. Personal accounts of California wildfires, extreme coastal flooding in Louisiana and increasing temperatures in Australia paint vivid pictures of these devastating effects. “In the 20 years since I first started talking about the impact of climate change on our world, conditions have changed far faster than I ever imagined,” said Sir David Attenborough. “It may sound frightening, but the scientific evidence is that if we have not taken dramatic action within the next decade, we could face irreversible damage to the natural world and the collapse of our societies. We’re running out of time, but there is still hope.” The program warns of potential tipping points that could trigger further catastrophic events, such as methane gas escaping from melting lakes in the Arctic. While these scenarios are discouraging, the program also inspires individuals to take action and make a difference. Experts offer hope that changes can be made in the next decade to reduce CO2 emissions and limit further damage. These include increased advocacy, advances in alternative energy technologies and innovative solutions to capture existing carbon dioxide. Researchers from around the world provide global context to the crisis in “Climate Change — The Facts.” Featured experts include Dr. James Hansen, former director of NASA Goddard Institute for Science Studies; Professor Naomi Oreskes, science historian at Harvard University; Professor Michael Mann, climate scientist at Penn State University; Richard Black, director of the UK Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit; Professor Andrew Shepherd, climate scientist at The University of Leeds, Sunita Narain, director general of India’s Centre for Science and Environment; and Greta Thunberg, Swedish teenage climate advocate and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Earth Day 2020 Join PBS this Earth Day, April 22, 8 – 11 p.m. (check local listings), for a night of environmental programs featuring scientists as they chase clues to gain a greater understanding of our planet. Follow scientists in “Climate Change — The Facts”, as they explore what could happen to our planet if global warming exceeds 1.5 degrees. Discover how water underpins every aspect of our existence in “H2O: The Molecule that Made Us ‘Flow.’” Uncover how colossal floods violently reshaped the ancient world alongside geologists in NOVA “Killer Floods.”
Global Painting Tools Market report offers in-depth analysis of the industry size, share, major segments, and different geographic regions, forecast for the next five years, key market players, and premium industry trends. The Painting Tools Market is set to grow from its current market value of more than USD 10 billion to over USD 15.5 billion, as reported in the latest study. Increasing demand for the modern painting tools due to its easy availability, consumer-friendly, and low-cost features as compared to the other conventional equipments will foster new opportunities for the painting tools market growth. Factors such as improved aesthetic appeal of walls, less wastage of paints, and ease in paint application on walls & ceilings will enhance the industry landscape. In addition, rising per capita income of the consumers owing to the significant development in the overall GDP of the countries will further enhance the business expansion. Rise in construction of smart commercial buildings along with shifting trend towards visibly striking textures smart homes, fueling the need for rollers and spray guns owing to their large surface area coverage. Positive application outlook providing smooth finish which improves the overall aesthetic appearance, also propelling the business growth. Furthermore, increasing DIY in painting is becoming popular particularly among developed economies such as U.S. and Europe which in return will foster myriad of opportunities for the overall painting tools market. Stringent regulations & norms pertaining to the increased usage of water-based paints for the significant reduction of VOC emissions in several manufacturing processes will provide positive scope for the painting tools market growth. Additionally, rising awareness of poison free environment along with initiatives by Centre for Science and Environment has supported in regulating standards on usage on paintings and coatings in India, thus driving the business growth. Scrapers product will observe significant gains exceeding 5.5% in the global painting tools market over the projected time period. Scrapers are majorly used for trueing a surface or for a particular decorative finish. Rapid growth in the construction activities across the developing countries such as UAE, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia owing to the increasing population and growing trends in the home decor segment will promulgate the product scope in the industry. North America is anticipated to surpass USD 2.5 billion in the overall painting tools market up to 2025. Rapid expansion of construction & automotive industry owing to the increasing technological innovation and advancements will boost industry in the region. For instance, construction application in North America accounted for over 70% share of the overall business in 2018. Additionally, surging demand of paints from the automobiles sector due to the increased annual production of the vehicles will further propel the market share across the region over the projected timeframe. Painting tools market is highly competitive in nature owing to the presence of several global and regional players. Major companies present in the industry include Asian Paints, Gordon Brush, Dura Paints, and Nespoli Group. Other prominent players include Mill-Rose Company, Braun Brush, Purdy, Anderson Products, Milton Brushware, and Richard Tools. The leading companies are making significant investments in certain technological & innovative advancements for strengthening their foothold in the overall painting tools market across the globe. Mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic collaborations, and product enhancements are the among the major strategies that are adopted by the key industry players. For instance, on 21st March 2019, Gordon Brush announced the acquisition of Spectrum Paint Applicator Corp., a leading producer of consumer & industrial paint brushes. April 16, 2020
Sudher village in Himachal Pradesh has been facing unscientific dumping of nonsegregated waste from hotels, homes, offices and even hospitals of Dharamshala and its suburb, McLeodganj. Sudher’s Mahila Mandal – a group of women volunteers working on village issues – have been fighting against the dumping on the premise that it is against the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. Sudher’s experience also shows the larger waste management problems of Himachal Pradesh, as urban local bodies grapple with the increasing issue of waste generation, with no proper management. In India’s Himachal Pradesh, in the western Himalayas, Anuradha is doubled down into the soils of her farmland in Sudher village, donning a dhattu—the term used in the hills to describe the style of tying a dupatta or scarf around one’s head. She is planting onion saplings that will grow and eventually be used for everyday cooking in her family. Her cousin Jogendru is feeding her cow the grass that she cut earlier in the day, while her thoughts are partly on the weather that changed dramatically from a sunny, bright day to thunder and subsequently a light drizzle. Anuradha then remembers the monsoon last year (2019) where their kuhl – the community irrigation canal in the village – turned yellow. “Iska naam hi khooni naala padh gaya tha.” (It started being known as a bloody river.) The possible reason for this phenomenon was the solid waste management site above their Himalayan village Sudher, adjacent to the designated smart city Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. This waste management site is just above the source of the kuhl. For the past two decades, this forest land of Sudher has been plagued by unscientific dumping of non-segregated waste from around the hotels, homes, offices and even hospitals of Dharamshala and its suburb, McLeodganj. The Parivesh website of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, which documents all environment clearances and forest clearances for diversion of forests for non-forest uses, does not have this particular waste dumping site listed. Officials when contacted, were not available to comment on this. As many as 25 trips a day are made by vehicles to the site. “The quantity of the garbage here is beginti (unquantifiable),” said Panna Lal, a worker hailing from Punjab. He, along with 10 other people, manually segregate waste in this dumping site. Sudher’s small population of about 230 people is now dealing with the garbage dumped by 53,000 residents of the Dharamshala Municipal Corporation. This civic body generates 30 tonnes of waste per day, ranking only second, in terms of waste generated, to Himachal Pradesh’s capital Shimla out of 54 municipal corporations of the state. Himachal has two-thirds of its geographical area designated as “forest land” in legal terms while forest cover exists only on 28 percent of this area. “The municipal corporation used to dump waste in small amounts on the site earlier. But in the last few years, dumping has rapidly increased,” claimed Jogendru. That is when the Bhageshwari Mahila Mandal – a group of women volunteers who work on village issues – decided to fight against this issue. Anuradha is the vice president of the group. The Mahila Mandal has been functioning for about 15 years and has 48 to 50 members. These women are between the age group of 20 to 60. Some of them have gone to schools, some have a college degree, and some do not have either. They have been involved in starting a ‘Silaai Centre‘ or a ‘stitching centre’ for people in the village to learn to stitch, they also lend money to their members if any of their children are getting married, and help with arranging machines for those who have their houses constructed. “Whenever we have approached the officials for submissions or for permissions for dharnas (sit-in demonstrations), they probably thought, what can a mahila mandal (women’s group) do?” said Anuradha, suppressing a giggle. “Arey, what can we not do? Ladies first hai!” she said, stressing that women are capable of doing anything. The Mahila Mandal’s fight against the waste problem is based on the premise that the dumping is illegal: the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 allow ‘only the non-usable, non-recyclable, nonbiodegradable, non-combustible and nonreactive inert waste and pre-processing rejects and residues from waste processing facilities to go to sanitary landfill…’ What Sudher receives is everything but that. Sudher receives wet, biodegradable waste, which includes peels of vegetables, leftover food, etc from houses and hotels; everyday waste like newspapers, clothes, shoes, plastic bottles, and plastic bags, batteries, old tires from shops and homes; bio-medical waste like syringes which are collected from hospitals. A local NGO that does not wish to be named facilitated the Mahila Mandal’s efforts by training them on getting information through RTIs, writing effective memos and letters, and even targeting the correct official to meet and advocate with. The site that is a dumping ground today was once a common pasture for Sudher. “Every house used to have many dangar (cattle), as rearing livestock used to be our main business,” claims Anuradha. After agriculture, livestock rearing is the key occupation not only in the Kangra district, but also in the rest of the state, as the district census notes. When waste continued to be dumped here, many families in Sudher took the decision to sell most of their cattle.“How can we sell the milk from the cattle that graze there? The cattle become sick” Jogendru said. “Even when the veterinarians come here they suggest that ingestion of waste from the site could be the reason.” With the collapse of this economic activity, men in the families picked up jobs in Dharamshala. Anuradha’s husband works in a daily needs shop there. Since the dumping of waste was an issue that impacted everyone in the village, it was easy to build consensus on fighting the problem. After following the case for a while and flipping through their panchayat’s (village committee) old registers, the group found that the panchayat never gave out any No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for this dumping site. Besides this, there are other serious ecological consequences too. A paper that tested how municipal waste impacted geotechnical properties of soil in a similar dumpsite in Karnataka showed that leaching of nutrients and heavy metals led to not just contamination but an alteration in the compaction, density and strength of soil. With similar impacts, Sudher is losing out on a significant forest resource that they earlier relied on. This also impacts other ecosystem services that the forest land would have provided, including the source of the kuhl. “Dumping waste also pollutes water bodies,” said Dinesh Bandela who works with the Solid Waste Management Unit at Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi. “The leachate that is carried to the water bodies from the garbage pile is acidic and contaminates the groundwater when it leaches through the mixed waste pile.” With the source of the kuhl just below the mixed waste pile, why the freshwater source turned into “the bloody river”, as described by the locals, is not surprising. “If you fill a bucket with this water and keep, sometimes it starts giving out an odour in just a day,” explained Anuradha. Behind her, against the landscape of the snow-capped mountains, the dumpsite is visible in sharp contrast. Last summer, the dumping ground caught fire. The waste continued to burn for a number of days. “While local bodies may intentionally burn waste, mixed waste anyway is prone to catching fire even with a slight increase in temperature, due to the methane it generates,” Bandela informed. “Whether intentional or otherwise, the plastic present in such waste releases dioxins and furans, substances that are carcinogens. The effect of this might not be seen immediately after burning, but can be observed by tracking cancer cases in the villages close to the burning site.” Anuradha makes me count a number of her relatives and friends who have been facing breathing issues. She mentions while the garbage was on fire, their eyes burnt. Fighting the legal fight The Mahila Mandal began by writing letters of complaints to the district collector and the Municipal Corporation of Dharamshala, sometimes meeting three different officials in a day. However, the civic body’s assurances that the waste would be picked up was not followed through in action. The Mandal then filed a case with the National Green Tribunal (NGT). “Depending on how much each household could contribute, every house in the village contributed between Rs 200- Rs 500 for the resources needed to fight the case,” said Anuradha. In March, 2019, the NGT disposed off the case saying that “there is a need to set up a municipal solid waste processing plant adopting cluster approach… The process of covering the debris with soil in a scientific way has also started, apart from the processing of biodegradable waste and segregation and recycling of other waste.” However, almost a year after the judgment, gaps in implementation remain. While a machine to press plastic material operates, and compost is generated, a brand new green and yellow segregating machine stands alone, having never been put to use. The Solid Waste Management Action Plan of Urban Local Bodies of Himachal Pradesh comments upon the dismal situation of practicing waste segregation in Dharamshala—only 4 out of 17 wards here practice segregation at source. Moreover, it mentions, contrary to the NGT’s suggestion of adopting a cluster approach, “the state had to abandon the cluster approach due to a number of reasons.” Reasons included “inadequate land parcels”, “lesser turn out of developers” and the process being “timeconsuming”. “A cluster-based approach increases the transportation cost and it’s possible that Himachal Pradesh’s transportation cost would be even more. Maybe that is why the developers are not keen since the operational cost is high,” said Dinesh Bandela. Meanwhile, waste continues to pile up and encroaches onto the forests of Sudher. Anuradha added, “In the summer, there are so many flies you cannot sit outside. If we do a function in our homes, no one attends thinking who will eat at their place. But we still have to eat, right?” The solid waste management site that has non-segregated waste from the hotels, homes, offices and even hospitals of Dharamshala and its suburb, McLeodganj. Photo by Vaishnavi Rathore. The solid waste management site that has non-segregated waste from the hotels, homes, offices and even hospitals of Dharamshala and its suburb, McLeodganj. Photo by Vaishnavi Rathore. Future plan of action When the Mahila Mandal ran out of patience waiting for the authorities to act, they organised themselves to give an ultimatum to the administration. As many as 48 of the members and at least one member from each household, including the men in Sudher, went to Gandhi Park in Dharamshala for a dharna in early January. The Mahila Mandal mentions that the men of the village have been supportive. “If one of us gets sick because of the unhygienic conditions, who will feed them food? So, they have to support us in this work,” Anuradha said, matter-of-factly. The group holding the dharna was soon asked to vacate the area, so they marched till the district collector’s office instead. “Some women were scared of being jailed,” smirks Anuradha. “Arey, even if we would have been jailed, at least we would have received edible food twice a day!” The Mahila Mandal plans to go for a chakka jam next. (Chakka jam is a form of protest by blocking roads or deliberately creating a traffic jam) “Government officials have visited this place, but they only give hope,” continues Anuradha. “So if this continues till April, we are not going to let them throw this garbage.” The Mahila Mandal plans to hold a sit-in protest on a rotational basis at the dumping site. They acknowledge that this might be a difficult task, especially when on some days, even the Mahila Mandal meetings are difficult to coordinate. With household work followed by work on the farms and tending to the cattle, there is not much time left. “See, even sitting with you for an hour has meant the stalling of a lot of our work,” mentions Anuradha. “We are talking here but our minds are elsewhere– it might rain, and then we have to cut fodder for the cows!” adds Jogenderu. Under the India Smart City Mission guidelines, the core infrastructure for a ‘Smart City’ includes ‘sanitation, including solid waste management’. Smart City Dharamshala seems to have passed its burden onto Sudher. After our conversation and a cup of tea, Anuradha leads me to a point where I can catch a bus from. “Each region should be managing the waste in their own region as we do in our villages,” suggested Anuradha. Evidently, her mind is still on the conversation around the waste dumping. The Bhageshwari Mahila Mandal has started the fire, they now need to keep it burning. She walks across a bridge. Inaugurated recently in 2017, this is the only bridge that connects Sudher to the main road, allowing residents quicker access. “Arey, you know who got this bridge made?” The Mahila Mandal!” said Anuradha, beaming ear to ear.
Scientists, activists and religious leaders from Pope Francis to filmmaker Spike Lee highlighted the reduction in air and natural pollution reduction “to life” as part of a greater call to permanently change industrial and economic behavior after COVID-19. Pope Francis said last week that the deadly coronavirus pandemic around the world was one of the “natural responses” to human mistreatment of Planet Earth, telling Catholic publications in Britain that “God always forgives, but Nature never forgives.” This sentiment is echoed by environmental researchers, politicians and activists who urge world leaders to permanently reduce carbon emissions, air pollution, and burning fossil fuels to “flatten the curves” of climate change. COVID-19, which has caused the death of more than 107,000 people worldwide, has locked a large portion of the industrial world, simultaneously clearing the blue sky in India and improving air quality in the northeastern United States because it has caused chaos in the global health care system. “The beautiful view of the blue sky and the joy of breathing clean air provide a contrast to illustrate what we do for ourselves all the time,” Dr Shashi Tharoor told The Guardian on Saturday. Evidence of the removal of smoke in New Delhi, the panda finally married in China, and air pollution falling over New York, New Jersey, and Maryland has spread news reports globally, but climate researchers and scientists warn there must be a permanent reduction in pollution, transportation , and industry for. continue this change after the pandemic. NASA satellite data shows a reduction of nitrogen dioxide 30 percent above the northeastern US, because tens of millions of vehicles are transported on the road and fossil fuels that are usually burned for transportation purposes are mostly stopped. In northern India, a country that puts 1.4 billion people in lockdowns and keeps 11 million New Delhi registered vehicles off the road, the Air Quality Index level has improved to the best in decades. A separate pair of studies published in Nature’s online scientific journal this month on rebuilding damaged oceanic ecosystems and global warming, respectively, saw researchers trying to “flatten the curves” of climate change similar to the reversals sought in stemming COVID-19 cases the new one. “Our research shows that fast action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions this decade will effectively flatten the curves of at-risk species. Similar to the COVID-19 pandemic, initial actions to limit risk are paid off in a large way. It does not eliminate all risks from climate change. “But reducing the number of species and ecosystems exposed to large numbers,” study co-author Christopher Trisos, from the University of Cape Town, told The Guardian last week. Former Vice President Al Gore, who founded The Climate Reality Project, told HBO host Bill Maher on Friday that there was a clear link between COVID-19 and climate change, saying that both functioned as a call to awaken that government leaders can’t just ignore it. terrible warning from scientists. American filmmaker Spike Lee echoes the thoughts of Pope Francis, telling The Joe Madison Show on Friday that locking up the coronavirus “changes everything.” “But you know why, the reason – how pollution clears. The sky is clear. The animals are coming out. I mean, you know, the Earth is angry with us. People might think I’m crazy because I believe in me. Heart and soul. That we have been too far away and Earth said, “Wait, we have to change this.” We are killing this planet, “Lee said. Sunita Narain, director of the Center for Environmental Sciences and vocal criticism of the New Delhi car pollution problem said there needed to be an “alltime” change in transit behavior. “I don’t want people to say, ‘Oh, environmentalists celebrate this lockdown:’ we don’t. This is not the solution. But whatever is new normal is post-COVID-19, we have to make sure we take this breath. Fresh air and think about serious efforts we need to tackle pollution in Delhi. “ Is coronavirus caused by climate change? No! So does that mean climate change has nothing to do with the spread of viral diseases? No! Professor Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist, posted a Twitter thread that was shared widely last month that discussed how the data showed a reduction in monthly or even annual reductions in CO2 emissions is not much compared to the “cumulative” damage done to the atmosphere and the environment. “When the pandemic passes, carbon emissions are likely to bounce back, and maybe some, because the industry is doing its best to make up for lost productivity, income and wages. So any slowdown is temporary the best,” he concluded. . Scientists, religious leaders and business people are calling for “leveling the curves” of the negative effects of climate change because the locking of COVID-19 has caused air quality to skyrocket and industrial pollution to decline when billions of people take refuge in places. Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates said in Ted Talk at the end of March that he saw hope in the international scientific community and private sector businesses working together to resolve both the climate crisis and the coronavirus virus. “The idea of innovation and science and the world working together – it’s really common between these two problems, and so I don’t think this has to be a major setback for climate. On the science side and data sharing, you see this great collaboration going on . “ | April 13, 2020
Thank you for your reading and interest in the news Life under COVID-19: Blue skies, clean air in India and now with details WIN 200412 INDIA Blue skies and clean air 1-1586677695682 Aden - Yasmin Abdel Azim - People stand near the banks of the Yamuna river during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in New Delhi on April 6, 2020. / AFP / Money SHARMA Image Credit: AFP New Delhi: Inside the world’s largest lockdown, there are no flights, no passenger trains, no taxis and few functioning industries. But one thing is remarkably abundant: cleaner air. India is engaged in a desperate bid to “flatten the curve” of coronavirus cases before they overwhelm the creaky health system in this nation of more than 1.3 billion people. In the meantime, the three-week lockdown, which was extended, is flattening something else - India’s notorious air pollution. The speed of the change has surprised even experts, who say it is proof that dramatic improvements in air quality can be achieved, albeit at an enormous human and economic cost. Days after the lockdown began on March 25, the level of particle pollution considered most harmful to human health fell by nearly 60 per cent in New Delhi, India’s capital, according to an analysis by experts at the nonprofit Center for Science and Environment. Similar drops have occurred in other major Indian cities. In normal times, Delhi is the world’s most polluted megalopolis. For much of the winter, air quality readings remain at levels that in the United States are considered unhealthy or worse. Last November, the city experienced its longest spell of hazardous air since such record keeping began. These days, Delhiites are stuck in their homes except when picking up essential goods. But above them are blue skies, the moon and the stars, seen without the usual barrier of smog. The sight is so striking that “I feel like complimenting the sky for its beauty,” said Sameer Dhanda, 26, an architect. In other parts of India, the Himalayan mountain range is visible from a distance for the first time in years. Waterways choked by industrial pollution, such as Delhi’s Yamuna River - full of grey foam just months ago - are flowing unimpeded. The current reduction in pollution has come at a steep price. Much of the Indian economy has been idled, forcing vulnerable workers to travel hundreds of miles to their home villages on foot. Millions could be plunged into poverty or hunger if the lockdown continues beyond its initial three-week period. But experts say that there are still lessons to be gleaned, including a chance to imagine a different future. The decrease in pollution is a “proof of concept” that demonstrates clean air “is doable,” said Ajay Mathur, a former Indian climate negotiator and a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council on climate change. “The linkage between personal behaviour and what I will breathe is far clearer now than it has been in the past.” The first step for any government is to ensure that “the vast number of Indians have sustainable livelihoods,” Mathur added. Nevertheless, he hopes that policy changes - such as phasing out dirty industrial fuels and accelerating the shift to environmentally friendly vehicles - will get a boost in the post-pandemic world. Mathur often suffers from a raspy voice and persistent cough that doctors have told him is related to Delhi’s bad air. In the past two weeks, he said, such symptoms have vanished. One terrible irony of the current crisis is that a pandemic that makes it difficult for some to breathe has, by curbing pollution, eased respiratory troubles for others. Pulmonologists in Delhi say many of their regular patients are breathing easier and reducing their use of inhalers. For them, this period is a kind of boon, said Arvind Kumar, a chest surgeon and trustee of the Lung Care Foundation. India’s long-running battle with pollution may have rendered it particularly vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. Researchers at Harvard recently found that places with long-term exposure to higher levels of fine particle pollution - known as PM2.5 - were associated with higher rates of death caused by covid-19. Such particles can lodge deep in the lungs and have been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, respiratory infections and even cancer. So far, about 200 people in India have died of covid-19, with more than 6,500 cases of the illness confirmed. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, an air pollution expert at Delhi’s Center for Science and Environment, described India’s improved air quality as “a very big unintended experiment unfolding in front of us.” The lockdown demonstrates “the scale at which change is needed,” she said, but also shows people “what it means to breathe clean air.” Across a huge swath of northern India, the air quality normally varies from poor to apocalyptic, depending on the time of year, with a brief respite during the annual monsoon. The worst period begins when temperatures drop in October, trapping near ground level a mix of industrial emissions, road dust, vehicular exhaust and ash from burned crop stubble. Pollution begins to ease in February. Jyoti Pande Lavakare, an author and anti-pollution activist in Delhi, said she doesn’t remember seeing skies of this type of blue at this time of year in at least a decade. In recent days, she began doing her morning exercises outside and found herself lying on her back on her yoga mat, just gazing at the sky. “After we battle the current pandemic, we need to revisit how we treat the invisible killer of air pollution,” Lavakare said. The World Health Organization estimates that polluted air kills 7 million people annually. For now, Delhi residents are treasuring a rare upside of a time marked by fear and worry. Priyanki Choudhury, a 29-year-old account manager, said she has not experienced anything like this - clear blue skies in the day and stars at night - since she was a teenager. Choudhury was not sure whether the lockdown would succeed in stemming the spread of covid-19. But, for the environment, she said, it is clearly a “time to heal.” These were the details of the news Life under COVID-19: Blue skies, clean air in India for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new. It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Gulf News and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source. | April 13, 2020
A dike at a coal ash pond at a power plant in India gave way on April 10, killing at least two people while four others are missing, according to a local official. The spill covered several acres of cropland in the area. K.V.S. Choudary, the district collector and the top public official in the Singrauli district in central India, told local media the incident occurred at the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project, a site owned by Reliance Power. Choudary said one worker and five local residents were carried away by the flow of ash from the 4,000-MW plant. POWER in 2016 reported on problems at the power plant. “The breach occurred owing to the negligence of the plant,” Choudary told The Hindu newspaper in a story published Saturday. He said the ash “has flown through a channel to the Rihand dam.” Compensation for Those Impacted Choudary said district officials would conduct a survey of the damaged areas and secure compensation for those impacted by the spill. District administrators immediately ordered said. A local resident told The Hindu that, “Three months ago, we staged a sit-in for 24 days outside the Reliance plant. We flagged the breach could happen any time to the authorities. Reliance had given in writing that it won’t happen. And even the administration had verified it.” Sasan Power Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Power, in a statement said, “We are deeply anguished by the incident involving the break in the ash dump yard wall at our Sasan Power Plant. The break in ash dump yard wall pushed the water, leading to break in the boundary wall affecting some thatched houses and minor land parcel.” Sasan said the company was investigating the incident. “The power plant operations continue as the relief and restoration work is not affected by the same. We are closely working with locals and the district administration in relief and restoration work,” it said. Choudary said the bodies of the two people killed were found “as far as five kilometers away from the ash dike breach site.” He said the four people missing also are presumed dead. He told The Hindu that “a National Disaster Response Force team from Varanasi of 30 rescuers is searching for the missing.” Choudary said those caught up in the incident were inside their homes, near the ash pond, at the time of the incident. Third Incident in Past Year Local officials said it was at least the third time in the past year that a dike at a coal ash storage site in the district has failed. Earlier reports said a dike at an ash pond operated by Essar was breached in August 2019, and a similar incident occurred in October of last year at a plant operated by NTPC Ltd. Choudary on Saturday said that in response to the NTPC incident, he had asked all coal-based power plants in the region to strengthen the dikes around their coal ash ponds. Officials said the ash from Friday’s spill covered a large area in the town of Sasan, in India’s central Madhya Pradesh state. Sunil Dahiya, an analyst at New-Delhi based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, told Reuters in a story published Saturday that the coal ash is a “hazardous cocktail” of heavy metals known to cause liver and kidney ailments. Studies performed in 2012 by India’s Centre for Science and Environment found mercury levels in blood samples from residents in the region, which is home to several coal-fired power plants, to be six times more than what is considered safe. Reuters reported Saturday that another local official, not authorized to comment on the incident, said the ash in the soil was likely to impact agricultural output for at least two seasons as it covered several fields used to grow food crops. The official said unspecified “strict action” would be taken against Reliance Power. Reuters said Reliance Power indicated it was working with local officials in response to the incident, but didn’t comment specifically on the official’s statement regarding possible actions against the company.
Inside the world’s largest lockdown, there are no trips, no guest trains, no taxis and couple of working sectors. But something is incredibly plentiful: cleaner air. India is participated in a hopeless quote to “flatten the curve” of coronavirus instances prior to they bewilder the ancient wellness system in this country of greater than 1.3 billion individuals. In the meanwhile, the three-week lockdown is squashing another thing– India’s infamous air air pollution. The rate of the modification has actually stunned also professionals, that claim it is evidence that remarkable enhancements in air top quality can be accomplished, albeit at a massive human and financial expense. Days after the lockdown started on 25 March, the degree of fragment air pollution taken into consideration most damaging to human wellness dropped by virtually 60 percent in New Delhi, India’s funding, according to an evaluation by professionals at the not-for-profit Centre for Science andEnvironment Similar decreases have actually happened in various other significant Indian cities. In regular times, Delhi is the world’s most contaminated megalopolis. For much of the winter season, air top quality analyses stay at degrees that in the United States are taken into consideration harmful or even worse. Last November, the city experienced its lengthiest spell of unsafe air considering that such document maintaining started. These days, Delhiites are embeded their residences other than when grabbing important products. But over them are blue skies, the moon and the celebrities, seen without the normal obstacle of smoke. The view is so striking that “I feel like complimenting the sky for its beauty,” stated Sameer Dhanda, a designer. In various other components of India, the Himalayan chain of mountains shows up from a range for the very first time in years. Waterways choked by commercial air pollution, such as Delhi’s Yamuna River– complete of grey foam simply months earlier– are moving unobstructed. The existing decrease in air pollution has actually come with a high rate. Much of the Indian economic situation has actually been idled, requiring at risk employees to take a trip hundreds of miles to their house towns walking. Millions might be dived right into hardship or cravings if the lockdown proceeds past its first threeweek duration. But professionals claim that there are still lessons to be amassed, consisting of a opportunity to visualize a various future. The decline in air pollution is a “proof of concept” that shows clean air “is doable,” stated Ajay Mathur, a previous Indian environment arbitrator and a participant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council on environment modification. “The linkage between personal behaviour and what I will breathe is far clearer now than it has been in the past.” The very first step for any kind of federal government is to make certain that “the vast number of Indians have sustainable livelihoods,” Mathur included. Nevertheless, he wishes that plan modifications– such as terminating unclean commercial gas and speeding up the change to eco-friendly cars– will certainly obtain a increase in the postpandemic globe. No buzz, simply the suggestions and evaluation you require Mathur frequently struggles with a scratchy voice and consistent coughing that medical professionals have actually informed him belongs to Delhi’s negativeair In the past 2 weeks, he stated, such signs have actually disappeared. One dreadful paradox of the existing situation is that a pandemic that makes it challenging for some to take a breath has, by suppressing air pollution, alleviated respiratory system difficulties for others. Pulmonologists in Delhi claim several of their normal people are taking a breath simpler and lowering their usage of inhalers. For them, this duration is a kind of advantage, stated Arvind Kumar, a upper body cosmetic surgeon and trustee of the Lung Care Foundation. India’s long-running fight with air pollution might have provided it especially at risk to the unique coronavirus. Researchers at Harvard lately discovered that locations with lasting direct exposure to greater degrees of great fragment air pollution– well-known as PM2.5– were related to greater prices of fatality brought on by Covid-19 Such bits can lodge deep in the lungs and have actually been connected to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, respiratory system infections and also cancer cells. So much, regarding 200 individuals in India have actually passed away of Covid-19, with greater than 6,500 instances of the health problem validated. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, an air air pollution specialist at Delhi’s Centre for Science and Environment, defined India’s enhanced air top quality as“a very big unintended experiment unfolding in front of us” The lockdown shows “the scale at which change is needed,” she stated, however additionally reveals individuals “what it means to breathe clean air”. Across a big swath of north India, the air top quality typically differs from bad to apocalyptic, depending upon the time of year, with a short break throughout the yearly downpour. The worst duration starts when temperature levels decrease in October, capturing near ground degree a mix of commercial exhausts, roadway dirt, automotive exhaust and ash from scorched plant bristle. Pollution starts to relieve in February. Jyoti Pande Lavakare, a writer and antipollution protestor in Delhi, stated she does not keep in mind seeing skies of this kind of blue right now of year in a minimum of a years. In current days, she started doing her early morning workouts outside and discovered herself pushing her back on her yoga exercise floor covering, simply looking at the skies. “After we battle the current pandemic, we need to revisit how we treat the invisible killer of air pollution,” Lavakare stated. The World Health Organisation approximates that contaminated air eliminates 7 million individuals each year. For currently, Delhi locals are cherishing a uncommon advantage of a time noted by anxiety and fear. Priyanki Choudhury, an account supervisor, stated she has not knowledgeable anything similar to this– clear blue skies in the day and stars in the evening– considering that she was a young adult. Choudhury was uncertain whether the lockdown would certainly do well in stemming the spread of Covid-19 But, for the atmosphere, she stated, it is plainly a “time to heal.”
NEW DELHI : India’s unprecedented nationwide lockdown to battle covid-19 has also opened up an unexpected opportunity—a chance for residents to open up their lungs and breathe in the cleanest air in about a decade. With millions of vehicles that spew dust and harmful emissions off the roads, and factories shut for about three weeks, air pollution levels have plunged. According to the government-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), Delhi has seen a 51% reduction in PM2.5 and 49% reduction in PM10 since the lockdown. Similar reductions were seen in Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad. These fine particulate matter take a heavy health toll on people’s lives, aggravating conditions like asthma. “This is one huge experiment that nature has played out for us. So far, we had just theoretical estimates of how much each source contributes to pollution because there was no way such measures could have been taken at this scale. But the crisis has presented a vast trove of experimental evidence and validated our observations," said Gufrain Beig, programme coordinator at SAFAR. India’s national capital, one of the most polluted cities in the world, recorded some of the lowest Air Quality Index (AQI) in the first week of April. While the role of changing weather conditions cannot be ruled out, the impact of lockdown was most evident in the reduction of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) levelslargely controlled by vehicular pollution which is responsible for 40% of Delhi’s pollution. The data showed that there has been at least 60% reduction in NOx levels in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune over the last month. The unintended, yet huge experiment has demonstrated what could be achieved, if certain solutions are implemented. “People have now seen, what it means to have clean air and blue skies, which were otherwise shrouded by pollution. This is creating a social capital for us. Now we have to learn from this experience and build support for future action," said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment. Although the changes have come at the cost of an economic standstill, experts underscored that the situation would give India an opportunity to recalibrate its approach toward air pollution. “For the first time, we are maximizing the potential of digital platforms in our workplaces, which have immediately cut down the need to travel. Going forward, can we bring changes in our lifestyles? Can we institutionalize some of these solutions? Perhaps, the government could push for cleaner pathways, when it provides stimulus to the economy postpandemic and ensure adequate environmental safeguards. The challenge now is to design the programmes in such a way that a green deal is made possible," she added. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has already begun collecting the data for further analysis. “The expert agencies are working on it and collecting data and we will definitely consider these observations to improve action in the near future. We are already realizing the impact of this lockdown on environment," said Bhure Lal, chairperson of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA). India’s river stretches passing through major industrial towns have also recorded visual improvement. “Though, the untreated sewage is still finding its way into the rivers, but the toxic industrial effluents have declined and the results are evident in some stretches. It is a golden opportunity for us to monitor these changes for an informed action in future," said Manoj Mishra, Convenor of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, NGO that works on the revival of Yamuna.
NEW DELHI — Inside the world’s largest lockdown, there are no flights, no passenger trains, no taxis and few functioning industries. But one thing is remarkably abundant: cleaner air. India is engaged in a desperate bid to “flatten the curve” of coronavirus cases system in this nation of more than 1.3 billion people. In the meantime, the three-week lockdown is flattening something else — India’s notorious air pollution. The speed of the change has surprised even experts, who say it is proof that dramatic improvements in air quality can be achieved, albeit at an enormous human and economic cost. Days after the lockdown began on March 25, the level of particle pollution considered most harmful to human health fell by nearly 60 percent in New Delhi, India’s capital, according to an analysis by experts at the nonprofit Center for Science and Environment. Similar drops have occurred in other major Indian cities. In normal times, Delhi is the world’s most polluted megalopolis. For much of the winter, air quality readings remained at levels that in the United States are considered unhealthy or worse. Last November, the city experienced its longest spell of hazardous air since such record keeping began. These days, Delhiites are stuck at home except when picking up essential goods. But above them are blue skies, the moon and the stars, seen without the usual barrier of smog. The sight is so striking that “I feel like complimenting the sky for its beauty,” said Sameer Dhanda, 26, an architect. The India Gate war memorial in New Delhi on Oct. 17, 2019, and on April 8, 2020, after air pollution levels dropped during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The India Gate war memorial in New Delhi on Oct. 17, 2019, and on April 8, 2020, after air pollution levels dropped during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus In other parts of India, the Himalayan mountain range is visible from a distance for the first time in years. Waterways choked by industrial pollution, such as Delhi’s Yamuna River — full of gray foam just months ago — are flowing unimpeded. Sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter to track the outbreak. All stories linked in the newsletter are free to access. The current reduction in pollution has come at a steep price. Much of the Indian economy has been idled, forcing vulnerable workers to travel hundreds of miles to their home villages on foot. Millions could be plunged into poverty or hunger if the lockdown continues beyond its initial three-week period. But experts say that there are still lessons to be gleaned, including a chance to imagine a different future. The decrease in pollution is a “proof of concept” that demonstrates clean air “is doable,” said Ajay Mathur, a former Indian climate negotiator and a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council on climate change. “The linkage between personal behavior and what I will breathe is far clearer now than it has been in the past.” The first step for any government is to ensure that “the vast number of Indians have sustainable livelihoods,” Mathur added. Nevertheless, he hopes that policy changes — such as phasing out dirty industrial fuels and accelerating the shift to environmentally friendly vehicles — will get a boost in the post-pandemic world. Mathur often suffers from a raspy voice and persistent cough that doctors have told him is related to Delhi’s bad air. In the past two weeks, he said, such symptoms have vanished. One terrible irony of the current crisis is that a pandemic that makes it difficult for some to breathe has, by curbing pollution, eased respiratory troubles for others. Pulmonologists in Delhi say many of their regular patients are breathing easier and reducing their use of inhalers. For them, this period is a kind of boon, said Arvind Kumar, a chest surgeon and trustee of the Lung Care Foundation. India’s long-running battle with pollution may have rendered it particularly vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. Researchers at Harvard recently found that places with long-term exposure to higher levels of fine particle pollution — known as PM2.5 — were associated with higher rates of death caused by covid-19. Such particles can lodge deep in the lungs and have been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, respiratory infections and even cancer. So far, about 200 people in India have died of covid-19, with more than 6,500 cases of the illness confirmed. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, an air pollution expert at Delhi’s Center for Science and Environment, described India’s improved air quality as “a very big unintended experiment unfolding in front of us.” The lockdown demonstrates “the scale at which change is needed,” she said, but also shows people “what it means to breathe clean air.” In a huge swath of northern India, the air quality normally varies from poor to apocalyptic, depending on the time of year, with a brief respite during the annual monsoon. The worst period begins when temperatures drop in October, trapping near ground level a mix of industrial emissions, road dust, vehicular exhaust and ash from burned crop stubble. Pollution begins to ease in February. Jyoti Pande Lavakare, an author and antipollution activist in Delhi, said she doesn’t remember seeing skies of this type of blue at this time of year in at least a decade. In recent days, she began doing her morning exercises outside and found herself lying on her back on her yoga mat, just gazing at the sky. “After we battle the current pandemic, we need to revisit how we treat the invisible killer of air pollution,” Lavakare said. The World Health Organization estimates that polluted air kills 7 million people annually. For now, Delhi residents are treasuring a rare upside of a time marked by fear and worry. Priyanki Choudhury, a 29-year-old account manager, said she has not experienced anything like this — clear blue skies in the day and stars at night — since she was a teenager. Choudhury was not sure whether the lockdown would succeed in stemming the spread of covid- 19. But, for the environment, she said, it is clearly a “time to heal.” Washington Post| April 11, 2020
Delhi is one of many capitals enjoying improved air quality since restrictions were introduced due to the coronavirus by Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi, Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok, Sam Cowie in São Paulo, Joe Parkin Daniels in Bogotá and Lily Kuo in Beijing The screenshots began to circulate on Delhi WhatsApp groups last week, captioned with varying expressions of disbelief. Having checked the air quality index, something of a sadistic morning ritual among residents of India’s capital, most could not believe their eyes. Gone was the familiar menacing red banner, indicating how each intake of breath is really just a toxic blast on the lungs, replaced instead by a healthy, cheerful green. Could it really be that Delhi’s pollution levels now fell into the category of … “good”? “It’s positively alpine!” exclaimed one message. A nationwide lockdown imposed across India almost two weeks ago to stop the spread of the coronavirus – the largest lockdown of its kind attempted anywhere – has led to widespread chaos and suffering, especially among the country’s 300 million poor. Yet in Delhi, the world’s most polluted city, it has also resulted in some of the freshest air the capital has seen in decades. New Delhi pollution then and now It is a lockdown silver lining being repeated across the world, as toxic megacities such as Bangkok, Beijing, São Paulo and Bogotá, where varying coronavirus restrictions have been imposed, all reported an unprecedented decline in pollution. Yet it is countered with one cruel irony: with most residents of these cities strictly confined to their homes, few have any way to appreciate this newly fresh air, except through an open window or a during speedy trip to the supermarket. 16 Monthly compilation of CSE’s media clippings: for the month of April 2020 In Delhi, air quality index (AQI) levels are usually a severe 200 on a good day (anything above 25 is deemed unsafe by World Health Organization). During peak pollution periods last year they soared well into a life-threatening 900 and sometimes off the measurable scale. But as Delhi’s 11m registered cars were taken off the roads and factories and construction were ground to a halt, AQI levels have regularly fallen below 20. The skies are suddenly a rare, piercing blue. Even the birdsong seems louder. Dr Shashi Tharoor, a politician and author who has been vocal on environmental issues, said he hoped that it was a wakeup call. “The blissful sight of blue skies and the joy of breathing clean air provides just the contrast to illustrate what we are doing to ourselves the rest of the time,” said Tharoor. “Today the typical Delhi AQI hovers around 30 and one blissful afternoon, after a spurt of rain, it dropped to 7.” Tharoor’s sister Smita, who was visiting from the UK when the lockdown was imposed and found herself stuck in Delhi, was equally effusive. As someone with asthma, she said the city’s air, normally thick with pollution, was usually a health nightmare. But now: “The air is clear, the skies are blue. I see the evening stars with clarity and hear the chirruping of excited birds at this unexpected bonus they have received.” While India’s powerful car lobby has long disputed that cars are a major cause of Delhi’s pollution, Sunita Narain, director of the Centre for Science and Environment, said the lockdown and resulting rapid drop in pollution showed once and for all just what a polluting role vehicles had in the city. Narain also stressed that while she wished Delhi was like this “all the time”, adding: “I don’t want people to say ‘Oh, environmentalists are celebrating this lockdown:’ we are not. This is not the solution. But whatever the new normal is post-Covid-19, we have to make sure we take this breath of fresh air and think about the serious efforts we need to deal with pollution in Delhi.” It is not just Delhi experiencing the clearest skies in years. As pollution dropped to its lowest level in three decades this week this week, residents of Jalandhar in Punjab woke up to an incredible sight in the distance: the Dhauladhar mountain range in Himachal Pradesh. The peaks, which are over 120 miles away, had not been sighted on the Punjab horizon for almost 30 years. It is the absence of cars on some of the world’s most congested roads that seems to be making the most crucial differences. Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, which only last month had closed schools because the pollution got so bad, has experienced a similar transformation in the air since partial lockdown, mainly due to the fall in road traffic. “We can see quite a big gap between the air quality standard that we have [compared with this time last year],” says Tara Buakamsri, Thailand director for Greenpeace. But residents of Bangkok lamented how the places to enjoy the fresh air were swiftly disappearing. Playgrounds, sporting grounds and even parks, a rare source of solace in the bustling, intensely urban environs of Bangkok, have all now been shut. “I feel sad for the old people who use the park to hang out and meet friends. I think they will be so sad at home,” said Nantawan Wangudomsuk, 31, a producer who used to run in the parks. Across South America’s most populous city of São Paulo, ground zero of Brazil’s brewing coronavirus crisis, notorious traffic queues and smoggy horizons are also giving way to calm streets and clearer skies. During weekday rush-hour, downtown São Paulo’s João Goulart elevated highway – nicknamed Minhocão, the Big Worm – normally heaves with traffic as thousands of cars cram four narrow lanes and beeping motorbikes weave through daringly small spaces. But with the city’s coronavirus lockdown, Minhocão now resembles a small-town avenue instead of 17 Monthly compilation of CSE’s media clippings: for the month of April 2020 a major road in a metropolis of 12 million people. “The air is certainly better,” said Daniel Guth,an urban mobility consultant. “I’ve felt the improvement in air quality both as a cyclist and as a quarantined citizen,” he laughed. “We should use this as a moment to reflect on what transport methods we should prioritise when this crisis is over.” Despite being under lockdown, many Paulistas, as the city’s residents are known, are still finding ways to enjoy the cleaner air, taking to windows and apartment balconies for nightly potbanging protests against Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly dismissed the coronavirus as just “a little flu”. Bogotá, the sprawling mountaintop capital of Colombia, is also usually choking with traffic so bad that officials occasionally ban cars for entire days. But since the nationwide coronavirus quarantine took hold on 24 March, exhaust fumes have fallen as the city ground to a halt. Yet the newly fresh air has been taunting Bogotá’s residents, who are allowed to leave home only for food and medicines, not even a daily dose of outdoor exercise. “Without a doubt this pandemic is helping us improve air quality,” said Carolina Urrutia, Bogotá’s district environment secretary. “With the city shut down, we are able to focus our efforts on other environmental factors.” Cali, Colombia’s third city and usually a smokey, congested metropolis, has also been spared from the usual forest fires, allowing residents to breathe fresher air. “The thick cloud that usually hangs over us has been lifted,” said Christian Camilo Villa, an air quality activist and Cali resident. “The concern is that it will return when the quarantine ends.” Indeed, the fear among environmentalists and residents is that, rather than attempting to maintain the low levels of pollution in the world’s biggest capitals, when industry and cars kick back into action post-lockdown, the situation will go back to square one, and perhaps even worsen, as people and industry attempt to make up for the lost months. The signs from China, which is coming out of the other side of the coronavirus outbreak and where lockdowns are loosening up, are not positive. For the first four weeks after the Chinese new year holiday in late January, when the coronavirus outbreak was at its worst, pollution levels fell 25% across the country. But since early March, levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution have begun to inch back up as the country gets back to work with factories, businesses and power plants re-opening and traffic returning. Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst for the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, said: “The big question is whether government stimulus measures lead to pollution levels rebounding above the levels before the crisis, like happened after the 2008 financial crisis.” we’re asking readers like you to make a contribution in support of our open, independent journalism. 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