Big cities are gasping for fresh air; air pollution worsens in metros

NEW DELHI: Along with your tablet, smartphone and car keys, get ready to pack a gas mask. And if you thought the recent smog in Delhi and the more-than-usual pollution levels (20% higher) in the last fortnight were due to the burning of residual crop in Punjab and Haryana, you are wrong.

After a steady improvement since the late-1990s, the air in Delhi — and all other Indian cities — has been getting worse in the last five years. The reason: differential norms in large and small cities. Overloading of trucks, time lag in emission norms and poor quality of fuel also contribute.

Some hard facts: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) levels in Delhi have gone up by 47% between 2000 and 2011, while nitrogen dioxide has gone up by 57%. PM10 is one-fifth of the human hair's diameter, small enough to penetrate the lungs. In IT hub Bangalore, PM10 has shot up 41% between 2005 and 2010.

In Kolkata, nitrogen dioxide emissions have increased 59% from the 2005 levels. In Mumbai, PM10 increased 18% between 2005 and 2010. And there aren't enough carbon monoxide emission detection centres, even in big cities. "We have multi-polluter crisis situation," says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, Centre for Science & Environment.

"Ozone, sulphur, carbon monoxide, NO2 (nitrogen dioxide), PM10, PM2.5, air toxicity are contributing to a deadly cocktail. Even tier-II cities like Nagpur, Kanpur, Mysore are seeing rising pollution — small cities are the new air pollution hot spots." While Roychowdhury paints a grim situation, the air quality had actually improved between 1998 and 2006, due what she calls "first generation" action.

"Supreme Court orders in 1990s relocate industries outside cities helped. There was a lot of improvement in air quality, but we lost that initiative and polluters have come closer to people. That's due to more than 100 increase in the number of vehicles on the road in 5-6 years," says Roychowdhury . Specific incidents aside, it's the cars you drive in, galloping population of low-technology two-wheelers and trucks that are contributing to the deteriorating air quality.

5 years behind europe in emission norms

According to the Society of Indian Automobiles Manufacturers (SIAM), 2.5 million cars are sold every year and 12 million twowheelers — more than double the numbers sold per year six years ago. With petrol almost 40% dearer than diesel, buyers opt for diesel cars, comprising 60% of the total car sales. The share of diesel cars has jumped from 4% of all cars sold in 2000 to 50% of all cars sold in 2010.

While more diesel vehicles are sold in Europe as well, the difference lies in poor quality of both the engines and the fuel burnt in India. Says Vishnu Mathur, director general, SIAM: "We are five years behind Europe when it comes to acceptable levels of vehicular emission norms."

In India, 13 cities follow Bharat Stage IV (BS4) emission norms (used in India from 2010; equivalent to Euro IV, which became outdated in Europe in 2006) and, for rest of the country, it is BS III, the equivalent of Euro III, which was discontinued in Europe more than a decade back. Europe now has Euro V norms and India looks nowhere near getting there.

"That only adds to worsening air quality," says Ganesh Guruswamy, vice-president & country manager, Freescale Semiconductor, the world's largest maker of computer chips for automobiles. The various norms set the acceptable levels of pollutants. For example, under BS III, sulphur in diesel is 350 ppm (parts per million ) and in BS IV, it's 50 ppm. Euro V or BS V (not implemented in India ) brings down sulphur levels to 10 ppm. In India, dual norms — both BS III and BS IV are accepted — creates a situation that is difficult to control.

A car driven outside any of the 13 cities where BS IV is valid gets fuel that's of BS III level, contributing to the high levels of pollution. Says Mathur, "BS IV should be implemented across the country so that we have a single emission norm. Oil companies say BS IV fuel will be available only in 50 cities by 2015, and that doesn't help."

Dual norms also mean that trucks, the worse polluters due to their higher diesel consumption and rampant misuse (overloading), can be bought in Delhi or Mumbai or Chennai, but registered under BS III norms as they have a national permit to ply. Says Roychowdhury: "In big cities, the highest pollution is between 1 am and 5 am. That's because of the trucks going through the cities in these hours. So, you wake up breathing the most polluted air."

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Delhi smog lifts somewhat, but pollution stays

NEW DELHI: A day after Diwali, the smog situation in Delhi saw a slight improvement with bright sunny on Wednesday as the level of dust particles in the air came down and the visibility turned near normal.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the visibility level Wednesday morning was 1,000 metres.

"Visibility was normal at 1,000 metres and there was a slight smog cover which enveloped the city Tuesday and early Wednesday morning as fire crackers were burst for Diwali, but the air cleared later as the sun went up," an IMD official said.

"It was a near clear morning a day after Diwali, with the level of dust particles in the air going down and the visibility level improved, which had dipped Tuesday evening due to pollution caused by bursting of fire crackers," the official said.

Delhi was in the grip of smog from Oct 27 to Nov 8 due to drastic increase in fine particulate matter suspended over the city skies.

"With the pollutants dispersing two days before Diwali, the smog situation in Delhi has seen an improvement. But that doesn't mean air pollution levels are low in the national capital," Anumita Roy Choudhary, an environmental scientist at Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), told IANS.

"Smog or not, crackers with dangerous toxic levels will add to the air pollution and will prove to be dangerous," Choudhary said.

She also said people in the national capital celebrated Diwali with a bang and many burst crackers only after 10 p.m. and this level of smoke is dangerous in Delhi's winter.

"While the Supreme Court had in 2005 put a ban on the use of firecrackers after 10 p.m. on Diwali night, many people burst crackers only after 10 p.m. With the nip in the air increasing in the night, the inverse condition gets worse from the smoke from cracker-bursting," Choudhary said.

However, there has been a dip in the sale of firecrackers this year, as awareness about pollution and wastage of money has increased.

"Two extreme pollution episodes back-to-back, would have had a worst impact on Delhiites. Though we don't know the exact air pollution levels post Diwali, efforts were made to minimise use of firecrackers that give rise to huge smoke. Exact data on pollution levels in the capital will be expected later in the day," said a senior environment department official said.

"This year, we had strict norms to check crackers sale. Only 804 retail cracker outlets were allowed in Delhi and even the noise levels of crackers were strictly monitored," the official added.

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President urges nation to celebrate pollution-free Diwali

IANS Nov 12, 2012, 05.28PM IST

(Light decorations are pictured…)

NEW DELHI: Conveying his greetings on the occasion of Diwali, President Pranab Mukherjee Monday urged the countrymen "to try and celebrate a pollution-free Diwali".

In his message, President Mukherjee said: "On the joyous occasion of Diwali, I extend my warm greetings and good wishes to my countrymen in India and around the world... I urge all Indians to try and celebrate a pollution-free Diwali."

"Diwali is a time for festivity and happiness cutting across all faiths and cultures. It is an occasion to share our joy with those who are needy and deprived. The diyas (earthen lamps) lit on the moonless night of Diwali signify the end of the darkness of ignorance and the beginning of light that enlightens all," he added.

The president urged people to channelise their energies towards vanquishing want and suffering and strive hard for the collective growth of the country on the auspicious occasion.

"May this festival of lights dispel darkness and bring joy and prosperity to all," he said.

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Two great Indian bustards sighted near Umred

NAGPUR: At a time when the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), the majestic grassland bird popularly called as Maldhok, is facing extinction, the sighting of two GIBs in Mandwa near Bhiwapur tehsil has thrilled bird lovers and conservationists.

The sightings triggered a wave of excitement, as these birds have been sighted after a gap of four years (2009). Honorary district wildlife warden for Nagpur, Rohit Karoo claimed that the birds were very much there but they could not be caught on camera as these very shy birds.

Nagpur forest division claimed that during its annual GIB monitoring exercise since 2009, not a single GIB was sighted. However, on Monday, Gajanan Ingle, a farmer, sighted a male and a female.

Ingle, who has been regularly monitoring these birds, informed Karoo and GIB conservationist Gopal Thosar. While the male flew away, Era Wegad, an avid bird watcher, could photograph the female.

Karoo denied claims that the there was no sighting of GIBS in the area. "The department needs to change the annual monitoring exercise from August to November, the month when these birds have been sighted," Karoo said.

"In last four years, I've sighted GIBs in the area six times. As grasslands have vanished, these birds have made farmlands their homes. We plan to felicitate Ingle for his contribution," Karoo added.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified GIBS as a critically endangered bird.

Thosar said that human interference is causing problems for GIBS. Since 2006, there have been no reports of breeding of these birds. The GIB lays only one egg in a year and that too on the ground. "The female may not incubate the egg due to disturbance. Also, since the egg is laid on the ground other animals eat it," said Thosar.

"The lifespan of a GIB is 15-17 years and no breeding of these endangered birds may lead to its extinction. Addition of new population is necessary for their long-term survival," said Thosar. He called for regular monitoring of the birds.

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President urges nation to celebrate pollution-free Diwali

Light decorations are pictured at a shop ahead of Diwali in Amritsar. Electric lights and traditional lamps are in heavy demand for the forthcoming Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, which falls on November 13 this year marking the victory over evil and commemorating the time when the Hindu god Lord Rama achieved victory over Ravana and returned to his kingdom Ayodhya.

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Smoke from field fires can travel up to 1,000km: Study

NEW DELHI: Plumes of smoke and pollutants rising from the burning fields of north India can spread through the air to places as much as 1,000km away, cause persistent fog over the region and could even be playing a part in depressing rice yields, various scientific studies on the phenomenon have found.

The fires that raged through Punjab since the last week of October — deliberately caused by farmers to clear paddy stubbles and ready the fields for the rabi crop — were seen as a major cause of the 11-day spell of dense smog in the capital and surrounding areas. Biomass-burning is rampant, practiced in around 90% of Punjab's paddy fields, and has continued unabated for decades despite its obvious role in emitting greenhouse and a toxic mix of gases, and destroying soil nutrients.

The practice has been studied by atmospheric and earth scientists for more than a decade and many of these have thrown up more grim facts. A 2009 study by KVS Badarinath of Indian Remote Sensing Centre and others reported that aerosols and trace gases from crop-burning in north India had been found over Hyderabad and Arabian Sea.

"Particles from these fires can travel up to 1,000km," said Prof SN Tripathi of IIT Kanpur's chemical engineering department. "While smoke plumes usually clear out in a week's time, and particles rise higher in the atmosphere and can 'burn' clouds."

Fires from biomass burning are also a major cause of winter fog in north India as suspended pollutants attract moisture. "We have found a direct link between fires and winter fog in north India," said Dr MM Sarin, senior professor of geosciences at Ahmedabad's Physical Research Laboratory.

Sarin's team also found that biomass emissions contain a preponderance of organic carbon, a class of sticky particulates whose properties are different from soot, or black carbon. The proportion of black carbon — which absorb heat and light, and were linked to glacier melting — was earlier thought to be higher in these emissions.

"Our studies also found another class of possible carcinogenic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the biomass emissions," Sarin said.

In another paper published last year, Tripathi's team showed that once fog forms over north India, it gives rise to more particles — called secondary organic aerosols — which become seeds for more fog. "This becomes a vicious cycle and explains why winter fog persists for so long," he said.

Given the scale of burning across north India — an estimated 17 million tonnes of paddy stubble is set afire in Punjab alone — one study has indirectly linked the practice to slowing growth rate of rice yields. In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), Maximilian Auffhammer of UC-Berkeley and others used statistical models to show that a joint reduction in brown haze (partly caused by biomass burning) and greenhouse gases would result in a rise in rice harvests.

The results imply that adverse climate changes due to the winter brown haze and the rise in greenhouse gases have contributed to a slowdown in growth rate of rice yields in the past two decades.

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Population of critically endangered vultures stable: Report

The survey shows that the population of the three critically endangered vulture species of long-billed, slender-billed and white-backed ones have remained stable in the last couple of years.

KOLKATA: After years of relentless efforts to save vultures in south Asia, numbers of the most critically endangered species have stabilised across India and Nepal, according to a latest study.

Published in the science journal PLoS ONE, researchers have reported the results of long-term monitoring of vultures across India and Nepal.

The survey shows that the population of the three critically endangered vulture species of long-billed, slender-billed and white-backed ones have remained stable in the last couple of years.

The surveys for vultures were undertaken across more than 15,000 km roads in western, central and eastern states of India by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) in the lowland regions of Nepal.

The study, however, warned that while the stabilisation in vulture numbers is encouraging, only a small number of the birds remain and they are still extremely vulnerable.

Vultures, which feed on carcasses of animals to survive, die because of the banned diclofenac drug which is still administered to livestock illegally.

Classified as critically-endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the population of vultures has been declined by an alarming rate of over 99 per cent during the last two decades.

Commenting on the positive development, Dr Vibhu Prakash, the lead author of the study and Deputy Director, BNHS said, "The stabilisation of vulture numbers across India for all the three critically endangered species is the first sign that the government's ban on veterinary diclofenac is having its desired impact".

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China surveys Yangtze dolphin as extinction looms

SHANGHAI: Chinese scientists on Sunday began a survey of the dwindling population of an endangered porpoise in the country's longest river, as the animal edges towards extinction from man-made threats.

Researchers will spend more than a month tracking the finless porpoise -- known as the "river pig" in Chinese -- in the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway at more than 6,000 kilometres (3,700 miles), organizers said.

It marks the most comprehensive survey of the species, found only in China, since 2006, when a similar expedition found only 1,800. The current number could be far lower, they said.

"Our expectation is maybe only 1,000 of them are left, but we have to see how it turns out from the survey," said Wang Ding, a research professor at the Institute of Hydrobiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"People have started to think of the finless porpoise as the symbol of the Yangtze River which also indicates the current status of the river," Wang, who is leading the expedition, told AFP.

The earlier 2006 expedition declared another species, a freshwater dolphin called the "Baiji", to be extinct.

The finless porpoise, which has only a small dorsal ridge rather than a fin, has been hurt by human intrusion and environmental degradation, said global conservation organisation WWF, which is supporting the expedition.

Deaths of the creature have been caused by boat strikes and fishing gear accidents as well as degradation of rivers -- and dolphin food sources -- due to pollution and severe droughts blamed on climate change.

"If we are going to save the Yangtze finless porpoise... we must take immediate action to keep the Yangtze River and its lakes healthy," Lei Gang, director of WWF China's freshwater programme, said in a statement.

"This means better laws and enforcement -- we need to see harmful fishing practices stop, sand-dredging better controlled and new reserves developed."

The WWF has said the porpoise could become extinct in 15 years if no action is taken.

Waterways in China have become heavily contaminated with toxic waste from factories and farms -- pollution blamed on more than three decades of rapid economic growth and lax enforcement of environmental protection laws.

Environmental activists have also blamed China's huge Three Gorges Dam and other hydropower projects on the Yangtze for upsetting the delicate ecological balance and harming aquatic life in the river.

The government-backed expedition set sail Sunday from the central Chinese city of Wuhan aboard two boats equipped with sonar and acoustic surveying equipment, organisers said.

They will travel upstream to Yichang, gateway to the Three Gorges Dam, before heading back downstream all the way to China's commercial hub of Shanghai at the mouth of the Yangtze, they said.

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Take immediate steps to cut pollution: EPCA tells to 4 states

In a meeting, the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) headed by bureaucrat Bhure Lal told senior officials of the three governments to work in tandem to ensure improvement of air quality in Delhi and the two states.

NEW DELHI: Taking a serious note of the drop in air quality and smog cover that has engulfed the city, a Supreme Court-appointed body today asked Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh governments to take immediate steps to cut pollution.

In a meeting, the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) headed by bureaucrat Bhure Lal told senior officials of the three governments to work in tandem to ensure improvement of air quality in Delhi and the two states.

Officials of all the three governments told EPCA that they will crack down on polluting vehicles, particularly the diesel vehicles, so that they cannot enter Delhi from neighbouring states.

The Supreme Court had on Tuesday expressed concern over the rising pollution and smog in the national capital.

The EPCA, which called the meeting, asked Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab to restrain farmers from burning paddy stubbles. The Delhi government had blamed "massive" burning of farm wastes by farmers of Punjab, UP and Haryana for the smog.

The Delhi government on Friday had decided to punish those found burning leaves and garbage.

Officials present in the meeting said the EPCA asked Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to extend certain incentives to their farmers who refrain from burning of farm wastes. The EPCA told the states to encourage the farmers to compost their farm wastes.

The EPCA has told the states that it will independently monitor compliance of its direction. Officials said vehicles coming from neighbouring states will be monitored at five entry points.

Concerned over the smog cover, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had decided to seek intervention of the Union Environment Ministry to direct the neighbouring states to refrain their farmers from burning paddy stubbles.

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Yamuna a drain, not a drop of fresh water: CPCB

The Yamuna is a drain with not a drop of fresh water in its 22-km stretch through Delhi, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) informed the Supreme Court on Friday.

NEW DELHI: The Yamuna is a drain with not a drop of fresh water in its 22-km stretch through Delhi, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) informed the Supreme Court on Friday.

"River Yamuna ceases to exist downstream of Wazirabad barrage during a major part of the year and gets its flow due to Najafgarh drain at Wazirabad downstream," a two-member expert body appointed by the court said in its interim report.

Presenting the report to a bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and S J Mukhopadhaya, CPCB counsel Vijay Panjwani said, "Yamuna is a drain. Fresh water does not flow in the river except during monsoon. The entire flow of fresh water is harnessed at Wazirabad to provide drinking water to residents of Delhi."

Amicus curiae and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar supported the expert body's interim findings and said what flowed into Yamuna within Delhi was treated and untreated waste and sewage water. "So, it is nothing but a drain," he added.

The expert committee's interim report said, "The total installed sewage treatment capacity in Delhi is 2,460 million litres per day (MLD) as against the sewage generation of about 3,800 MLD. It is pertinent to mention that installed capacity is only 63% utilized in the absence of adequate coverage area."

The report found that 1,360 MLD of sewage water flowed into the river untreated and got mixed with treated sewage, bringing to naught the entire effort to reduce pollution in the river.

The apex court had taken suo motu notice of a news item 'And quiet flows maili Yamuna" in 1994 and, since then, has been making efforts to reduce pollution level in the river, which has remained unsuccessful in the absence of comprehensive and joint efforts from authorities.

The bench did not take kindly the state of affairs relating to Yamuna and virtually pleaded with the authorities to make "some collective efforts to make the river clean".

It gave three more weeks to the expert body to present its final report relating to closure of drains which discharged untreated waste water into the river. It also asked the expert body to suggest remedial measures to make Yamuna clean.

The interim report said, "Najafgarh drain discharges about 2,064 MLD of waste water into Yamuna. Of this, only 629 MLD (30%) of waste water is treated through the installed capacity in the Najafgarh drain basin. It clearly indicates that there is large gap of 1,435 MLD of waste water which remains untreated. Even the treated sewage from sewage treatment plants is discharged with the Najafgarh drain where it is mixed with the untreated sewage, thereby defeating the very purpose of waste water treatment."

Panjwani also informed the court the expert body found that many areas of the national capital did not have a drainage system at all. The report said, "As a result, large quantity of sewage is diverted to storm water drains while the STPs are underutilized by 37%. Besides, 45% of the population in villages/unapproved colonies (recently regularized) are not covered by sewerage system."

dhananjay.mahapatra@timesgroup.com

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