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Delhi bans firecrackers ahead of annual pollution spike around Diwali

Those letting off firecrackers in New Delhi this Diwali will be fined 200 rupees (S$3.44) and could be jailed for up to six months, according to latest anti-pollution measures announced by the Indian capital territory on Wednesday. The move is part of a wider ban on firecrackers, including their storage and sale, ahead of the festival next Monday that usually coincides with an annual spike in air pollution during winter, when low wind speeds trap pollutants in the lower atmosphere. Smoke from firecrackers contributes significantly to Delhi’s toxic air, which on Friday ranked “poor” on the air quality index that measures levels of eight main pollutants. Emissions from the city’s 13-million-plus vehicles and from factories add to this toxic cocktail. This worsens further as farmers in neighbouring states burn paddy stubble to clear their fields for the next sowing season. A similar ban on crackers was imposed last year but it was flouted widely. After their acrid smoke engulfed the city and its adjoining areas on Diwali evening on Nov 4, Delhi’s air quality index reached the “severe” zone the next day – the worst air quality level the city had seen the day after the festival since monitoring began in 2015. The onset of this year’s winter has been the cleanest since 2018 due to an extended rainy season in October that has since ended. Pollution levels have been climbing in recent days, with the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) issuing an “early winter pollution alert” on Thursday, indicating that airborne levels of particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5) are on the rise.

How mass gatherings like the Kanwar Yatra cause episodic pollution

Without adequate waste management infrastructure, mass gatherings can end up polluting water, land and the air. “My daughter and husband had an upset stomach and not even once did we find a toilet to use,” said Annu Devi, a resident of Meerut who was one of the 40 million Kanwar pilgrims who came to Haridwar this year in July. “All of us have no other option than defecating in the open.” With the 12-day long Kanwar Yatra, when devotees of Lord Shiva from across the country, especially north India, take a trip to the Ganges, Haridwar becomes home to several million Kanwariyas, as the pilgrims on the journey are known. The number of pilgrims is higher on Mondays, the day considered the most pious by devotees of Shiva. The Kanwar Yatra took place this year from July 14 to July 26. Because of a lack of infrastructure to handle the excess waste generated by the visitors, festivals such as these cause what is known as “episodic pollution”. This usually happens because of mass gatherings that end up creating untreated waste, which pollutes the land, air or water, and impacts people’s health, and the area’s ecology. There is evidence of episodic pollution from mass gatherings like the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj and in Nashik in 2003, polluting river and land, and the excessive bursting of firecrackers during Diwali polluting air. Better planning, management and facilities in the city for waste disposal can help in coping with episodic pollution, say experts. Few toilets for lakhs of pilgrims The 2,525 km long Ganga rises in the western Himalayas in Uttarakhand, flowing southeast through the gangetic plains of north India into Bangladesh, emptying into the Bay of Bengal. Following the Amazon and the Congo, Ganga is the third largest river of the world, by discharge. Over 450 million people live in the Ganges River basin, and human waste is the cause of most of the pollution of the river. As of 2019, 122 million litres of sewage a day was produced from the district of Hardiwar, including Roorkee, and all sewage treatment plants were working at full capacity, as per a report by the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment. During the Kanwar Yatra, with the river Ganga at its centre, people, mainly from the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, travel to Haridwar to bathe in the river. They also take Ganga Jal, the river’s water – considered holy – back home, filled in plastic containers, which come in all sizes from 250 ml to 5 litres. This happens through the Hindi month of Saawan which is believed to bring the monsoon, overlapping with July and August. Haridwar witnesses episodic pollution every year due to the Kanwar Yatra with the arrival of around 20-30 million pilgrims who stay in the city for at least 24 hours, said Vijay Verma, the director of Haridwar-based JP Health and Research Institute that researches on Ayurveda, allopathy and the environment. “Apart from 1,360 permanent (Nagar Nigam and Sulabh) toilets, we had installed 2,840 mobile toilets this year which came with two tankers each from the sewer department so that the waste could be sucked constantly,” said Haridwar’s District Magistrate, Vinay Shankar Pandey. Pandey put the number of pilgrims at 40 million or, an average of 3 million a day. That means 3 million pilgrims had just 4,200 toilets between them. As a result, all of the 10 pilgrims IndiaSpend spoke to said they had to defecate in the open as they were not able to find any toilet. “2019 recorded 3 crore (30 million) pilgrims during the Kanwar yatra in Haridwar who stayed in a very compact area of around 5 kilometres radius of the city,” said Verma. “The entire area is used not just to be lived in but also defecation and urination around Ganga.” The presence of chemicals and microorganisms in Ganga river water varied at different sampling sites. A study, published in the Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science in 2018, looked at samples from Har ki Pauri, Vishnu Ghat, Daksh Mandir, Pul Jatwara and the Bhimgoda Barra after the celebration of the Kanwar Mela in 2017. It concluded: “mass bathing and religious activities greatly influenced the water quality of River Ganga.” This study adds that the pH of river water increases, likely due to the usage of detergents used by the pilgrims to bathe and wash clothes in the river as bathrooms are not usually accessible. There is a larger presence of faecal coliform or bacteria present in human excreta, in the water during the Kanwar Yatra, the study said. Verma has been observing the Kanwar Yatra in the city for over three decades. He says, “most of the visitors are between the ages of 20 and 35, who go all the way to Gomukh [source of the Bhagirathi, one of the main streams of the Ganga] resulting in its pollution as well.” The Pathri power house [where the waste is filtered and treated] in Haridwar sees tons of waste in the river post the Kanwar Yatra which includes submerged plastic and religious waste. This not only harms aquatic animals but also impacts Rajaji National Park, home to many endangered birds, Verma said. Because of the waste, the Ph level of water fluctuates, and its temperature changes, which impacts aquatic life. Pollutants after mass gatherings include anti-inflammatory and common antibiotics, caffeine and antibacterial medicines. Once pharmaceutical residues enter water and soil, they also become incorporated into plants grown in these soils or waters. This has been reported in cabbage, cucumber, corn, carrot, lettuce and green onion in experimental studies. Amongst other pollutants, the overall concentration of polypropylene copolymer (PPCP), a plastic, also increased. This could be a result of mass bathing, urban waste, effluent from domestic sewage treatment plants and effluent treatment plants of the nearby industrial area, the researchers wrote. Episodic pollution worsens the situation. Take for instance, the Prayagraj Kumbh in 2019, which had over 122,000 eco-toilets, as per a paper by Delhi Technical University, published in April 2020. In 2019, the waste generated during the 55-day long Kumbh was about 18 times more than what the district produces daily. The existing sewage treatment capacity of the district at about 254 million litres per day was not able to treat even half of the generated waste at that time, the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment had said. Overburdened waste management system One Monday morning, there was a knock at the door and when I went to open it, a group of four men insisted that I let them in so that they could use the toilet, says Anil Chauhan, a resident in the Paudi area of Haridwar. “I got scared at first, then let them in to avoid any sort of violence or ruckus.” Due to a lack of public toilets, pilgrims either need to knock on doors or urinate and defecate in the open. This in the backdrop of a sewage treatment system that is inadequate for even the city’s regular population. Even on a usual day, without the influx of pilgrims, nearly 19% of the plastic waste generated in Haridwar is mismanaged, which means it is either leaked on land, water or burnt, as per a 2020 report from the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology. “Episodic pollution could be managed only by limiting the daily arrival of pilgrims in the city and ensuring a proper arrangement and management for the waste they leave behind,” said Ravi Chopda, director of People’s Science Institute, Dehradun.

New sugar mills to come up in Gurdaspur, Batala

New sugar mills to come up in Gurdaspur, Batala Chandigarh: The Punjab cooperation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said on Thursday that two new sugar mills would soon be set up at Batala and Gurdaspur and the detailed project reports for these projects have been prepared. The minister also made it clear that the state cooperative sugar mills would soon clear the outstanding dues of cane growers, amounting to nearly Rs 150 crore. He said the state government was expecting the release of Rs 60.31 crore pertaining to the cooperative sugar mills of Punjab by the central government and the payment of cane growers will be released by January 13. He also said the state government was also focusing on increasing the area under sugarcane production. He added that the department would soon be providing complex fertilizer to farmers through Markfed and its tender has already been floated. The cabinet minister also shared that consequent to the Markfed manufactured Sohna brand honey clearing all quality parameters of the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE), its demand has witnessed 10-fold increase. Randhawa said the process pertaining to the merger of the District Central Coopertaive Banks (DCCBs) with the Punjab State Cooperative Banks (PSCBs) was in the final stages and this initiative would result in the strengthening of the cooperative sector banks. The minister said another flagship project of Milkfed in the form of Verka mega dairy at Bassi Pathana having two lakh litres per day capacity was expected to be completed by June 30. He also added that due to the high standard being followed while manufacturing the products, the Milkfed sales have been up by 32%. Randhawa also shared that a demand survey was underway for floating a housing scheme for providing flats in Mohali to the employees of cooperative departments and institutions besides journalists in the state through Housefed. Recounting various achievements of his department in the past one year, Randhawa said the capacity of Bhogpur cooperative sugar mills witnessed expansion from 1,000 TCD to 3,000 TCD with 15 MW co-generation plant by shifting of plant and machinery of closed sugar mill at Faridkot and addition of new boiler, power turbine and other equipments having latest technology at an estimated project cost of Rs 109.07 crore. The project work was completed in November 2020.

Just 8% of Delhi power procured from unclean source: CSE

Just 8% of Delhi power procured from unclean source: CSE NEW DELHI: The capital is now only procuring 5-8% of its power from unclean sources, a new analysis carried out by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found. In comparison, until October 2019, Delhi was procuring nearly one-third of its electricity from unclean sources—primarily from dirty coal. The analysis found nine states to be major defaulters, on average producing 60% of their coal-based electricity from unclean sources. In West Bengal, 84% of power stations supplying power to the state are unclean, it found. According to the study, most of the stations supplying electricity to the state have not taken adequate measures to comply with the December 2015 sulphur dioxide norms notified by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change. Soundaram Ramanathan, deputy programme manager, industrial pollution unit at CSE, said that Delhi had shown significant improvement over the last one and a half years, with the Singrauli thermal power plant also switching to cleaner options. “Now, only the Chandrapur thermal power plant is providing Delhi unclean energy, if SO2 norms are considered. If you consider water norms, then the Farakka and Singrauli thermal power plants can also be considered for Delhi,” said Ramanathan. To help Delhi’s case further, its remaining coal-based power plant, Badarpur shut down in 2018. The other coal-based thermal power plant in Delhi, Rajghat, shut down in 2015. Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director, industrial pollution, CSE, said, “Power stations have been specially lagging behind in their compliance with the sulphur dioxide norms. Therefore, in this study, the researchers have considered the progress made by stations to meet the sulphur dioxide norm as a measuring scale to identify the dirtiest power.”

गर्मियों से ज्यादा गर्म हो रहा मानसून, इस साल औसत से अधिक तापमान दर्ज, लोगों का हुआ बुरा हाल: स्टडी

आमतौर पर ऐसा माना जाता है कि मानसून गर्मी (Monsoon Summer) से राहत देता है. लेकिन इस बार ऐसा देखने को नहीं मिला है. जून के बाद से तापमान में वृद्धि ही दर्ज की गई है. राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर 1951 से 1980 के समय की तुलना करें, तो पता चलता है कि मार्च से मई के बीच जितना तापमान रहता है, इस साल उससे 0.3 डिग्री सेल्सियस अधिक रहा है. इस साल गर्मी के मौसम ने देश में मॉनसून पूर्व दूसरे सर्वाधिक गर्म मौसम के तौर पर 2016 का रिकार्ड तोड़ दिया, जबकि सर्दियों का मौसम या मॉनसून बाद के मौसम में तेजी से तापमान बढ़ रहा है. सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड इन्वायरोंमेंट (सीएसई) के अर्बन लैब के नवीनतम विश्लेषण में यह कहा गया है. अध्ययन के मुताबिक, दिल्ली में भू-सतह का तापमान 2010 से सर्वाधिक रहा है और शहर में तापमान के सभी तीन मानदंडों पर उम्मीद से अधिक तापमान दर्ज किया गया. गर्मी बढ़ने की प्रवृत्ति को समझने की कोशिश के तहत सीएसई ने सतह वायु तापमान, भू-सतह तापमान और सापेक्षिक आर्द्रता (उष्मा सूचकांक) की तापमान प्रवृत्तियों का विश्लेषण किया. अध्ययन में कहा गया है कि दिल्ली में वायु तापमान 2010 की तुलना में 1.77 डिग्री सेल्सियस अधिक गर्म रहा है और भू-सतह तापमान 1.95 डिग्री सेल्सियस अधिक गर्म रहा है. 40 डिग्री सेल्सियस से पार गया तापमान सीएसई के विश्लेषण में कहा गया है कि प्रतिदिन औसत उष्मा सूचकांक जून 2022 में 40 डिग्री सेल्सियस को पार कर गया है. इसमें कहा गया है कि दिल्ली में मार्च और अप्रैल का महीना आमतौर पर सामान्य रहा लेकिन मई में छिटपुट स्थानों पर बारिश की बौछार पड़ने के साथ आर्द्रता बढ़नी शुरू हो गई. हालांकि, आर्द्रता में इस वृद्धि ने शहर में उष्मा सूचकांक को बढ़ा दिया, जिससे संकेत मिलता है कि तापमान बढ़ने से लोगों ने असहजता महसूस की. सीएसई के अध्ययन में कहा गया है, सर्वाधिक भू-सतह तापमान 16 मई 2020 को दर्ज किया गया. जब शहर में यह 53.9 डिग्री सेल्सियस रहा. इसके बाद मई 2022 में सर्वाधिक भू-सतह तापमान 51.8 डिग्री सेल्सियस दर्ज किया गया. पिछले वर्षों में अधिकतम भू -सतह तापमान 45 डिग्री सेल्सियस के आसपास दर्ज किया गया था. अध्ययन में कहा गया है, औद्योगिक और कृषि क्षेत्र में भू-सतह तापमान में मार्च से मई के बीच सर्वाधिक वृद्धि दर्ज की गई है. सीएसई ने कहा कि शहर में तापमान के किए गए इस विश्लेषण का उद्देश्य बेमौसम गर्म हवाओं से जलवायु परिवर्तन पर पड़ने वाले प्रभाव को समझना है.

Vizag Gas Leak Incident: A Case For Absolute Liability

With 12 people dead in a major accident after the leakage of Styrene, a hazardous and toxic chemical[i], the question of civil liability of the chemic https://www.livelaw.in/columns/vizag-gas-leak-incident-a-case-for-absolute-liability-156745 https://www.livelaw.in/columns/vizag-gas-leak-incident-a-case-for-absolute-liability-156745

India sufre un fenómeno meteorológico extremo casi a diario

La nación surasiática registró fenómenos meteorológicos extremos en 242 de los 273 días entre el 1 de enero y el 30 de septiembre último, acotó el informe. Esto significa que más del 88 por ciento del tiempo durante estos nueve meses, el país fue testigo de un evento meteorológico extremo de algún tipo en una o más de sus regiones, indicó la investigación. Estos desastres cobraron dos mil 755 vidas, afectaron 1,8 millones de hectáreas de cultivos, destruyeron más de 416 mil 667 casas y mataron cerca de 70 mil cabezas de ganado, agregó el trabajo. «Hay un claro repunte en la frecuencia e intensidad de los fenómenos extremos», dijo la directora general del CSE, Sunita Narain, al presentar el reporte. Down To Earth también lanzó el Atlas de Desastres Climáticos de India, una base de datos interactiva pública en línea que se actualizará cada mes. Las regiones central y noroccidental del país registran el mayor número de días con fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, con 198 y 195, respectivamente, y en cuanto a la pérdida de vidas humanas, el centro de India encabezó la lista con 887 muertes, seguido por el este y el noreste (783 muertes). En los últimos nueve meses, los rayos y las tormentas se extendieron por 30 estados indios y cobraron 773 vidas. Todos los días de los tres meses del periodo lluvioso del monzón -de junio a agosto- ocurrieron precipitaciones extremadamente fuertes en varias partes del país. La devastación por las inundaciones no perdonó ninguna región y en el nororiental estado indio de Assam, por ejemplo, vastas zonas del territorio quedaron sumergidas, lo cual provocó la pérdida de vidas, propiedades y medios de subsistencia. Las olas de calor cobraron 45 vidas, pero los datos oficiales no recogen el impacto de las altas temperaturas prolongadas en el bienestar de la población del norte de India -desde los agricultores hasta los trabajadores de la construcción- al enfrentar el intenso calor. Las víctimas mortales a causa de los ciclones fueron pocas en el país, pero 95 mil 66 hectáreas de cultivo fueron destruidas. El Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático de la ONU define a los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos como aquellos que son «poco frecuentes en un lugar y una época del año determinados». En tanto, el Departamento Meteorológico de India coloca en este grupo a los rayos, tormentas eléctricas, lluvias intensas, corrimientos de tierra, inundaciones, olas de frío y de calor, ciclones, nevadas, tormentas de polvo y arena, borrascas, granizadas y vendavales.

India’s forest cowl elevated throughout 2019-2021. Is it actually nearly as good because it sounds?

The entire forest cowl (TFC) of India elevated 1,540 sq. kilometres between 2019 and 2021; it’s 713,789 sq km in 2021, based on the biennial State of India’s Forest Report 2021 (SoFR, 2021) launched by the Union Ministry of Atmosphere, Forest and Local weather Change January 13, 2022. The TFC in 2021 is 21.71 per cent of the full geographical space (TGA) of the nation as towards 21.67 per cent of the TGA of the nation in 2019. In 2017, the TFC was 21.54 per cent of the TGA. India has set a goal of bringing 33 per cent of its geographical space below forest cowl as envisaged within the Nationwide Forest Coverage, 1988. This was additionally one of many key targets enlisted within the Technique for New India @ 75 doc launched in December 2018 by the NITI Aayog. Thus, India is off-target on rising its forest cowl. This was additionally said within the State of India’s Atmosphere Report, 2022 revealed by Right down to Earth. However, there’s a rider: A more in-depth have a look at the information signifies that every one isn’t nicely. The marginal progress in India’s forest cowl is primarily on account of a rise within the space below open forests. The rise in open forests is led by industrial plantations. However, the reasonably dense forests or the world near human habitations has declined between 2021 and 2019. ‘Dense forests’ are outlined as these the place the tree cover density is 70 per cent or above; ‘reasonably dense forests’ are areas with tree cover density between 40-70 per cent. Between 2021 and 2019, the world below open forests elevated 0.09 per cent (1,582 sq km).

जहरीली हवा: रिपोर्ट में खुलासा, सर्दियों में उत्तर भारत में सबसे प्रदूषित रहे गाजियाबाद-दिल्ली

सार सीएसई द्वारा कराए गए सर्वे के अनुसार 2021-22 की सर्दियों में सभी क्षेत्रों में प्रदूषण ने उछाल दर्ज की। सर्वे में सभी क्षेत्रों, पूर्व, पश्चिम, उत्तर, दक्षिण, मध्य और पूर्वोत्तर को शामिल किया गया। ख़बर सुनें विस्तार मौसम विभाग द्वारा जारी हाल ही में जारी एक रिपोर्ट में खुलासा हुआ है कि सर्दियों में उत्तर भारत में सबसे ज्यादा प्रदूषित शहर गाजियाबाद रहा है जबकि दूसरे स्थान पर दिल्ली रहा है। विज्ञान एवं पर्यावरण केंद्र (सीएसई) द्वारा कराए गए ऑल इंडिया विंटर एयर क्वालिटी एनालिसिस के अनुसार 2021-22 की सर्दियों (15 अक्तूबर से 28 फरवरी तक) में सभी क्षेत्रों में प्रदूषण ने उछाल दर्ज की। सर्वे में सभी क्षेत्रों, पूर्व, पश्चिम, उत्तर, दक्षिण, मध्य और पूर्वोत्तर को शामिल किया गया।

India’s forgotten stray animals suffer under record heat

India’s extreme summer months are not only hitting humans hard but have taken a toll on the dogs, cats and other animals living on the nation’s streets. While dogs and cats have long lived side by side with humans and depended on them for food, they have never really been considered as valued members of the country. Part of that exclusion stems from people’s perceptions — that street dogs are dangerous and a nuisance, according to a study published by a group of biologists who track the behavior of street dogs. People’s aversion to stray dogs stems from their tendency to fight with each other over food and the fact that they can carry rabies, a disease that is still a major health concern in India. Around two in every 100,000 people are affected by the virus each year, according to the study. However, the researchers found that street dogs on the whole showed little sign of aggression. Nevertheless, the people who care for dogs and cats, providing them with food and water, are often harassed. New Delhi’s dog days of summer India repeatedly hit record temperatures in April and May, with the capital city New Delhi enduring temperatures of 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) in early June. While the early arrival of the dry summer months in the northern and central parts of the country was partly the result of an oceanic phenomenon called La Nina, Avikal Somvanshi, an urbanologist at the Centre for Science and Environment, said climate change has also played a major role. Raj Mariwala, an animal behaviorist who lives in Mumbai, explained that extreme heat puts all animals at risk of dehydration and heat stroke. Indias forgotten stray animals suffer under record heat Mukesh Verma, a veterinarian at Friendicoes, an animal sanctuary just outside New Delhi, said animals can also suffer an array of problems from lethargy to stomach problems. The vet looks after almost 1,700 stray animals at the shelter. Verma explained that horses, often used for weddings during summer, are barely taken care of and may not get their required intake of drinking water. Too weak to fly Nadeem Shehzad and his brother, the founders of Wildlife Rescue, a bird rescue NGO in Delhi, explained that they have already treated up to 700 birds, mostly kites, this summer. Delhi’s slaughterhouses and meat processing plants have attracted a large population of predatory birds like kites. But a lack of water can keep them grounded as they are too weak to fly, leaving them even more vulnerable. “When the heat was unbearable this summer, we saw 50% in the number of baby kites that needed treatment,” Shehzad said. A large number of them were dehydrated. Cities offer little refuge from sweltering heat Experts maintained that besides the risk of dehydration, it was becoming almost impossible for animals to cool themselves down in urban centers. Not only is there a lack of sheltered spaces for them, but cities are also getting hotter than their surrounding areas, a phenomenon known as Urban Heat Island effect, explained Somvanshi, who is also an architect. The evaporation of water from the soil and plant leaves helps to cool the air in rural areas, but that effect is lost in cities because of their lack of green spaces. Indias forgotten stray animals suffer under record heat A rise in “nighttime temperatures is particularly problematic” and puts people and animals at greater risk, Somvanshi added. In addition, cities also dump waste heat — from cars or air conditioners — directly into the outside air. Animal cruelty goes largely unpunished Even though there are several laws against animal cruelty in India, they do little in terms of punishing offenders. India’s animals are protected by three broad laws — Sections 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code, where killing or maiming animals is considered a serious crime and can result in arrest, the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. The last one criminalizes cruelty to animals — which covers everything from torture to not providing them with adequate food and shelter. But the associated punishments — first-time offenders are fined between 10 rupees ($0.13) and 50 rupees. Repeat offenders can be imprisoned for up to 3 months. “No one takes the laws seriously and people constantly harass us if we feed dogs,” explained Mariwala. Similar animal cruelty crimes in the UK, for example, can result in a lifetime ban from owning pets or a fine of up to £20,000. Communities organizing to protect our furry friends There are no official figures for the number of stray dogs or animals in India, though Mariwala and other experts estimate that there are around 35 million street dogs. Indias forgotten stray animals suffer under record heat A lot of neighborhood organizations often use different ways of marking dogs to keep track — like having them wear collars. Sudhir Kudalkar, a police officer in Mumbai, established an animal welfare group in December 2020 that carries out different missions — some teams provide food for stray animals while another team takes care of complaints from feeders and tackles other civil issues. Kudalkar told DW that he is especially proud to have led a legal team to tackle animal cruelty. As a further possible sign of changing perceptions, earlier in June the eastern Indian state of Odisha also launched an animal helpline as well as a telephone veterinary service for the protection of stray and abandoned animals.