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Cse In News

Nepal floods halt contentious hydropower exports to Bangladesh via India

The Baharampur-Bheramara corridor is also loaded with India’s own exports to Bangladesh. India’s Central Electricity Authority “doesn’t want to run the line close to its thermal limit … on a line that also carries India’s own bilateral exports”, notes Binit Das, deputy programme manager for renewable energy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). For the India-Bangladesh link, battery storage could potentially help if the line has spare capacity during periods of lower demand, Abhyankar adds. But feasibility depends on how much the power flow on the interconnection varies over the day.

Delhi-NCR to get 55 new air quality monitoring stations by year-end, total to reach 157

The ambient air quality monitoring network across Delhi-NCR is set to become significantly denser, with 55 more continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) to be added by the end of this year, officials aware of the matter said. The expansion will take the total number of operational stations across Delhi and NCR towns in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan from the current 102 to 157, meeting a coverage criterion of a station every 25-50 square kilometres (5km x 5km) set by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and the Union environment ministry. Plan to increase monitoring stations The plan requires at least one monitoring station for every 25 sq km in Delhi and contiguous NCR cities such as Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad and Sonepat. For other district headquarters and cities in the NCR, the criterion is one station for every 50 sq km. The ministry and CAQM announced the expansion plan in February 2026, when Delhi-NCR had 84 stations. Of these, 40 were in Delhi, 22 in Haryana, 18 in Uttar Pradesh and four in Rajasthan. A senior CAQM official said several review meetings had been held since February, both at the ministerial level and by the commission with individual states. “In the latest review meeting, held in August, the figure has increased from 84 stations to 102 stations. However, another 55 stations will be added by the end of this year, taking the total across NCR to 157 stations. This will satisfy the criteria set in February and will be a scientific approach towards data monitoring,” the official, who requested anonymity, said. Delhi currently has 47 CAAQMS and will get another 13, taking the total to 60. Haryana’s NCR towns, which currently have 22 stations, will get 23 more, taking their total to 45. Uttar Pradesh will add 16 stations to its existing 27, taking its total to 43, while Rajasthan’s NCR towns will add three to their existing six, taking the total to nine. The final locations are yet to be decided, the official said. “The final locations are still being fixed so the final list will only be shared in the coming months. However, a number of these stations are already in the tendering stage and we expect them to be able to generate air quality data this winter itself,” he said. The expansion is aimed at addressing gaps in the region’s air-quality data, particularly in areas that currently have limited or no continuous monitoring. A Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report released in September last year had highlighted the gaps in Delhi’s existing network. It found that monitoring stations covered only 26% of the city’s geographical area within a 2km radius, while 75% was covered within a 5km radius. This left around 25% of the city as a monitoring “shadow area”, largely in peripheral districts.

Delhi-NCR to get 55 new air quality monitoring stations

Gaps in air quality data The expansion aims to fill gaps in air quality data, especially in areas with little or no continuous monitoring. A report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had pointed out these gaps last year. It found that monitoring stations covered only 26% of Delhi's geographical area within a 2km radius and 75% within a 5km radius, leaving around 25% of the city as a "shadow area," mostly in peripheral districts.

BPCL and CSE Join Hands to Expand Biofuels and Circular Economy Solutions

BPCL and the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) have signed a partnership targeted at promoting the development of bioenergy solutions, waste-to-resource projects, and circular economy initiatives in India. Using waste-based resources more extensively could help lessen the heaviness on landfills and assist India's target to diversify its energy sources. The MoU offers an opportunity for industry knowledge and environmental research to combine their efforts in order to find solutions that can be applied beyond small-scale projects. The initiative is being launched as businesses are coming under increasing pressure to improve their resource efficiency and decrease their environmental impacts. The purpose of the alliance is to promote and expand the use of technologies capable of converting waste into valuable biofuels, materials, and other useful products. Biofuels could open up new possibilities for making use of agricultural and organic residues while maintaining economic value. The partnership's success will depend on how well promising solutions are turned into commercially viable projects throughout India.

Himachal: Sujanpur school principal conferred with national award

President Droupadi Murmu honoured Manjari V Mahajan, principal of PM SHRI (CBSE) Senior Secondary School at Sujanpur Tihra in Hamirpur district, with the National Teachers’ Award in New Delhi on Saturday for her outstanding contributions to the fields of education and environmental conservation. Manjari was among 48 teachers selected nationwide to be honoured with this highest teacher award. Manjari was recognised not only as an outstanding educationist but also as a visionary leader who had been promoting environment conservation and innovation at the school level. She had earlier been awarded citations like the Environment Leadership Award, Waste Warrior Award, Green School Status from the Centre for Science and Environment while the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) had included her in the list of the country’s select innovative school heads. Manjari, while talking to The Tribune, said that she believed in a practical approach to education and taking students beyond textbook knowledge. She added that she was happy to get the national recognition of her work that had brought more responsibilities to her. “My husband had always encouraged and guided me as and when I sought his advice,” she added. Her husband Vikram Mahajan is an Himachal Pradesh Administrative Service (HAS) officer, at present serving as the Secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Rajay Chayan Aayog in Hamirpur.

देवभूमि की प्रेरणा : हिमाचल की शिक्षाविद् मंजरी वी. महाजन को मिला राष्ट्रीय शिक्षक पुरस्कार, राष्ट्रपति ने किया सम्मानित

हिमाचल प्रदेश के शिक्षा जगत ने राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर एक बार फिर अपनी सशक्त उपस्थिति दर्ज कराई है। नई दिल्ली में आयोजित भव्य समारोह में भारत की राष्ट्रपति द्रौपदी मुर्मू ने हिमाचल प्रदेश की प्रख्यात शिक्षाविद् एवं पीएम श्री (सीबीएसई) राजकीय वरिष्ठ माध्यमिक विद्यालय, सुजानपुर टीहरा की प्रधानाचार्या मंजरी वी. महाजन को प्रतिष्ठित राष्ट्रीय शिक्षक पुरस्कार से सम्मानित किया। देशभर से चयनित 48 शिक्षकों में शामिल होकर उन्होंने हिमाचल प्रदेश का मान बढ़ाया है। किताबी ज्ञान से आगे, प्रकृति और समाज से जोड़ी शिक्षा मंजरी वी. महाजन की पहचान केवल एक कुशल प्रशासक के रूप में ही नहीं, बल्कि एक दूरदर्शी और नवाचारी शिक्षाविद् के तौर पर भी बनी है। उन्होंने शिक्षण पद्धति को कक्षाओं की चारदीवारी तक सीमित न रखते हुए विद्यार्थियों को प्रकृति, पर्यावरण संरक्षण और सामाजिक सरोकारों से जोड़ने पर विशेष जोर दिया। उनके नेतृत्व में विद्यालय में शिक्षा के साथ-साथ नवाचार और पर्यावरण जागरूकता को बढ़ावा देने के लिए विभिन्न प्रयास किए गए। एक प्रशासक के रूप में भी मंजरी वी. महाजन के खाते में कई राष्ट्रीय और राज्य स्तरीय उपलब्धियां दर्ज हैं। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट की ओर से उनके विद्यालय को लगातार दो बार ‘ग्रीन स्कूल’ का दर्जा प्राप्त हो चुका है। इसके अलावा राष्ट्रीय शैक्षिक योजना एवं प्रशासन संस्थान, नई दिल्ली ने उन्हें देश के चुनिंदा अभिनव स्कूल प्रमुखों की सूची में भी शामिल किया है। बालिका शिक्षा के क्षेत्र में उनके योगदान को भी विशेष पहचान मिली है। जिला प्रशासन की ओर से उन्हें ‘विजनरी लीडर इन गर्ल एजुकेशन’ के विशेष सम्मान से अलंकृत किया जा चुका है। उनकी कार्यशैली में शिक्षा, नेतृत्व, पर्यावरण संरक्षण और विद्यार्थियों के सर्वांगीण विकास का समन्वय देखने को मिलता है। मुख्यमंत्री ने दी बधाई मुख्यमंत्री ठाकुर सुखविंदर सिंह सुक्खू ने मंजरी वी. महाजन को राष्ट्रीय शिक्षक पुरस्कार मिलने पर बधाई दी। उन्होंने कहा कि शिक्षा के साथ-साथ नवाचार, पर्यावरण संरक्षण और उत्कृष्ट नेतृत्व के क्षेत्र में उनका योगदान अनुकरणीय है। उन्होंने कहा कि यह उपलब्धि हिमाचल प्रदेश के समस्त शिक्षक समुदाय के लिए गर्व का विषय है और इससे शिक्षकों को नई ऊर्जा एवं प्रेरणा मिलेगी।

Plastic is key to food packaging. Who should bear its responsibility?

To Siddharth Ghanshyam Singh, a plastic waste management expert at the Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi, regularising the packaging industry is our best chance to enhance recyclability without rejecting the material altogether. "Everybody is using different resins, colourings, and additives. All of this can be standardised," he says. Regulations can specify the permitted ways of manufacturing PET bottles, or LDPE packets, such that the permutations and combinations of plastics a recycler has to deal with reduces. "With standardisation, the acceptance of these materials at the end of their lives becomes better, because a recycler will also invest in equipment based on the kind of feedstock they receive." This allows plastic to retain its functions of protecting food, conveying product information, and marketing while giving a thrust to recycling. Siddharth points out that much stands between the idea and its implementation. "Such standardisation comes only with regulation, and at a cost to the polluter," he notes. This brings us to the question: what responsibility does a plastic producer have towards the plastic that enters the market, and later environment, because of them?

Nepal disaster linked to continuous development activities in Himalayas, says environmentalist

The recent catastrophic flash floods in Nepal is directly linked to decades of an engineering mindset which assumed that rivers and mountains could be re-engineered at will, environmentalist Sunita Narain said on Wednesday. Narain, the director general of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based think tank, said hydroelectric plants are being built back to back in the Himalayas and “what you are seeing today is the revenge of nature.” She was speaking at the inaugural session of the eighth International Conference on Sustainability Education, organised by the NGO Mobius Foundation. According to CSE analysis of the India Meteorological Department data, she said, an extreme weather event occurs in India roughly once a day. “Nature is telling us that the way we have been doing development clearly is not going to work in future,” she said. Narain recommended rethinking and reinventing the solution to impacts of climate change and environment-related issues. “The one thing we do not need more of is more reports and more incremental steps to fix what is today an existential crisis,” she said. Citing Delhi pollution as an example, the environmentalist remarked that a few electric vehicles cannot fix the issue. “Delhi’s air can be fixed only by completely reinventing the way we move, so that we can move without cars… (This) means an incredible augmentation of the public transport system so that we can walk, we can cycle, take a paratransit, take a metro, or take a bus,” she said.

BPCL, CSE join hands to develop biofuels, CBG and circular economy value chains

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on biofuels, biomass resource utilisation, waste-to-resource solutions and circular economy initiatives. The partnership will explore opportunities across the biofuels value chain, including Compressed Biogas (CBG), with a focus on feedstock assessment, supply chain development, biomass and waste resource management, by-product utilisation, technology assessment and pilot and demonstration projects. The two organisations will also work on market development, capacity building and knowledge sharing to support the development of scalable bioenergy solutions. The collaboration comes as India steps up efforts to promote cleaner energy sources and sustainable management of resources. Under the MoU, BPCL and CSE will explore the assessment and utilisation of biofuel by-products, including Fermented Organic Manure (FOM), digestate, Bio-CO₂ and Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS). The partnership will also examine sustainable value chains and potential carbon credit opportunities linked to bioenergy projects. BPCL Director (Marketing) Subhankar Sen said the partnership reflects the growing importance of collaboration and partnerships in scaling sustainable energy solutions. He said the two organisations would combine their respective strengths to pursue opportunities that could not be achieved independently.

Nepal disaster linked to continuous development activities in Himalayas, says top environmentalist

The recent catastrophic flash floods in Nepal were directly linked to decades of an engineering mindset which assumed that rivers and mountains could be re-engineered at will, environmentalist Sunita Narain said on Wednesday. Narain, the director general of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based think tank, said hydroelectric plants are being built back to back in the Himalayas and “what you are seeing today is the revenge of nature.”

BPCL, Centre for Science and Environment sign MoU to collaborate on biofuels, circular economy initiatives

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore collaboration in biofuels, biomass resource utilisation, waste-to-resource solutions and circular economy initiatives. Under the MoU, the two organisations will identify and explore opportunities across the biofuels value chain, including Compressed Biogas (CBG). The collaboration will cover areas such as assessment of feedstock and development of supply chains, biomass and waste resource management, utilisation of by-products, technology assessment, pilot and demonstration projects, market development, capacity building and knowledge sharing. The partnership comes as India accelerates its transition towards cleaner energy and sustainable resource management. BPCL said the collaboration aims to combine its growing biofuels portfolio with CSE's expertise in research, policy advocacy, waste management and sustainable development. The two organisations will also explore opportunities to assess and utilise biofuel by-products, including Fermented Organic Manure (FOM), digestate, Bio-CO₂ and DDGS. The initiative will also look at developing sustainable value chains and potential carbon credit opportunities associated with bioenergy projects. Speaking on the occasion, Subhankar Sen, Director (Marketing), BPCL, said the partnership marked an important stage for the company as it looks to work more closely with other organisations to develop sustainable solutions. "This close collaboration with CSE represents a defining moment in our organization's life cycle. We are entering an era where organizationxal success is defined by collaboration and partnerships--combining our strengths to achieve what neither could do alone," Sen said. CSE's Director General said the organisation would bring its experience of working with municipalities and its understanding of the CBG ecosystem, while BPCL would contribute its industrial capabilities and execution strength. "I am highly confident that we will leverage our respective strengths. While CSE brings its deep expertise in working with municipalities and understanding the Compressed Biogas (CBG) ecosystem, BPCL brings the industrial capability and execution strength to scale these solutions," the Director General said. The MoU provides a broad framework for cooperation and knowledge exchange between BPCL and CSE. Specific projects and activities will be taken up through separate agreements, wherever mutually agreed, with such agreements defining the scope, responsibilities and mechanisms for implementation. The collaboration is expected to support the development of innovative and scalable bioenergy solutions by bringing together expertise in research, policy, waste management and industrial execution. (ANI)

Nepal disaster linked to continuous development activities in Himalayas, says environmentalist

The recent catastrophic flash floods in Nepal is directly linked to decades of an engineering mindset which assumed that rivers and mountains could be re-engineered at will, environmentalist Sunita Narain said on Wednesday. Narain, the director general of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based think tank, said hydroelectric plants are being built back to back in the Himalayas and "what you are seeing today is the revenge of nature." She was speaking at the inaugural session of the eighth International Conference on Sustainability Education, organised by the NGO Mobius Foundation. According to CSE analysis of the India Meteorological Department data, she said, an extreme weather event occurs in India roughly once a day.History "Nature is telling us that the way we have been doing development clearly is not going to work in future," she said. Narain recommended rethinking and reinventing the solution to impacts of climate change and environment-related issues.

‘The Yamuna is dead; it has just not been officially cremated’. ICSE 2026 asks India to make sustainability education a public practice

The children on stage at India Habitat Centre opened the eighth International Conference on Sustainability Education (ICSE) with a song. Behind them sat educators, environmentalists, policy leaders and development practitioners; before them was the central question of the two-day gathering: can education prepare a generation not merely to understand the climate crisis, but to alter the systems that are producing it? The opening session of ICSE 2026, convened by the Mobius Foundation under the theme “Sustainability Education for Transformative Action,” made clear that the answer cannot lie in another chapter in a textbook or another campaign of awareness alone. The discussion placed education at the intersection of public transport, water, waste, livelihoods, public health, civic participation and the everyday choices that shape India’s development pathway. The most arresting intervention came from Sunita Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Describing the condition of Delhi’s river, she said: “The Yamuna is dead; it has just not been officially cremated.” The remark was deliberately unsettling, but it was grounded in a larger argument: ecological collapse is the result of systems designed as though rivers, mountains and communities can be endlessly engineered around. Narain linked the recent disaster in the Nepal–Tibet region to decades of an “engineering mindset” that treated fragile landscapes as objects to be remade at will. The lesson, she suggested, is not to reject engineering or technology, but to restore ecological limits, local knowledge and public purpose to development decisions. She argued that Delhi’s air will not be cleaned merely by replacing petrol cars with electric ones; the decisive shift is to build public transport good enough that people do not need to depend on private cars in the first place. That distinction between a technical fix and systemic change became the intellectual centre of the inauguration. It also gives sustainability education a much more demanding task. Learners must be equipped to ask: Who benefits? Who bears the risk? What is the ecological cost? And which institutions must change?