Newscan

Telangana, West Bengal, Gujarat producing highest amount of unclean coal power

NEW DELHI: An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment has found Telangana, West Bengal, and Gujarat to be the top three states producing and procuring unclean coal-based power which is severely affecting the environment. The CSE study assessed and ranked the states and Union territories (UTs) based on how much electricity they get from unclean coal-fired power plants.

It found West Bengal, Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu to be the major defaulters as per the study. The report states that these states have been procuring around 60 per cent of their thermal power from unclean coal-fired stations on an average. Of the nine states buying maximum unclean power, only Gujarat and West Bengal have the full authority to monitor the stations for they are located within their state boundaries. The rest of the states have dual accountability of cleaning up both their own stations as well as ensuring that stations supplying to them from other states are clean.

According to Soundaram Ramanathan, Deputy Programme Manager, Industrial Pollution Unit, CSE, coal-fired power plants, which have not made any progress to comply with the emission norms so far have been termed ‘unclean’, and those who have awarded work to meet the standards have been considered under the ‘cleaner’ coal-fired stations. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had notified emission norms for particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen in 2015. These had to be complied with by power stations from 2017.

Nivit Kumar Yadav, Programme Director, Industrial Pollution, CSE, mentioned that the coal-fired power stations emit three major pollutants, including particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, and sulphur dioxide. He added that power stations have been specially lagging behind in their compliance with the sulphur dioxide norms. Hence, the researchers from CSE in this study have considered the progress made by stations to meet the sulphur dioxide norm as a measuring scale to identify the ‘dirtiest’ power.

Current installed power capacity in India is 374 gigawatts (GW). Coal and ignite contribute 55 per cent, and account for around 205.8 GW of the total power capacity installed. Renewable sources such as solar, wind, and biomass account for 90 GW of the total. Data available on the website of the Ministry of Power states that of around 162 GW of coal power capacity, 58 per cent on an average comes from ‘unclean’ coal-based power plants.

According to the study, 84 per cent of the thermal power comes from “unclean” coal-based power plants in West Bengal, which are far away from meeting the norms made on emissions of sulphur dioxide. This figure stands at 71 per cent in Gujarat and at 74 per cent in Telangana.

The study also found that unclean power stations were one of the key sources of ambient air pollution in non-attainment cities in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Unclean power stations in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh are located in clusters, and the study mentions that they are not making sufficient efforts to comply with the norms.

The assessment established that Delhi and Goa are presently very close in terms of procuring clean power — only 5-8 per cent of their electricity comes from unclean sources. The researchers found only 13 states across the nation to be sourcing 100 per cent of their requirements from clean coal-based power stations. These states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir.

Resilient Recovery Cities link pandemic, climate adaptation responses

‘1,000 Cities Adapt Now’ global program will focus on tackling water issues - from storm water to drought – using natural systems to protect urban areas from climate change impacts

WASHINGTON: Urban residents in cites all over the world are facing devastating health and economic impacts due to COVID-19 pandemic. Cities all over the globe have committed to use their post-pandemic recovery plans to strengthen ways to adapt to the growing risks posed by climate change. The ‘1,000 Cities Adapt Now’ initiative, launched by Global Center on Adaptation; World Resources Institute; Resilient Cities Network and United Nations Habitat, will initially start operating in 100 urban areas but eventually expand to 1,000, organisers said at the opening of the two-day virtual Climate Adaptation Summit.

As per a joint statement on the initiative, the project was developed amid the concern that adaptation had received relatively lesser priority in the international climate discussion, and it will now use the issue to drive a complete and resilient postpandemic recovery.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester, addressing a summit mayor’s forum, said that after the pandemic, we need a green recovery led by the cities. He added that given what everyone has lived through over the past year, he thinks, people are more open to make change to the way we live, the way we work and the way we move around.

Manchester and other members of the 1,000 Cities project pledged to combine these two efforts first to focus “immediate benefits” on the most vulnerable communities, including through job creation. Arnoud Molenaar, Chief Resilience Officer for Rotterdam, said that all city leaders were urging work on a resilient recovery, to work on an economic recovery but one that includes adaptation, justice and equity.

Amidst the pandemic, all corners of city life - from home to office, park to pub - are undergoing a reboot, with some cities increasing parkland, others cycle lanes, and flats redesigned to work at home.

The scope of the latest initiative, which was introduced in Rotterdam, a Dutch port city, is far broader than the pandemic recovery, too. Over the next few years, its work will also prioritise water resilience including how to deal with storm water, how to prepare for drought, as well as using natural systems to safeguard cities from the effects of climate change, such as reinforcing coastal areas with reefs and mangroves.

But beyond these more traditional safeguards, the pandemic has boosted awareness of the vulnerability of cities to sudden health crises, said Katharine Burgess, Vice President of Urban resilience at Urban Land Institute, a think tank in Washington. She added that the pandemic has made it clearer that society needs to be ready for major disruptions.

Burgess and her colleagues last week co-published a global report on emerging best practices among cities implementing climate-planning measures, and she emphasized on the growing evidence of the broader knock-on benefits of city spending on resilience projects.

She said that in southern Florida, highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, community-wide schemes offered an average 2-to-1 return on investment, citing impacts on job creation, property preservation, property taxes and more.

Mark Watts, Executive Director of the nonprofit organisation C40 Cities, are now hoping to use the pandemic’s devastation to help officials focus on strengthening their communities for the long term. 17 million inhabitants in Istanbul currently fear they’ll run out of water while coping with the COVID-19 crisis. He also told the virtual summit, referring to severe water shortages in Turkey’s most populated city, that the recovery from COVID-19 really builds the foundation for resilience everywhere. (Source: Thomas Reuters Foundation)

Assam introduces free bus service for women, senior citizens

Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister of Assam, on January 9, 2021, flagged off 25 Pink buses under Bhraman Sarathi Scheme, which will provide free transport service to women and senior citizens in Guwahati. The new bus service of the Assam State Transport Corporation has been introduced in a bid to make their travel safe and comfortable, thus giving a new dimension to the state government’s welfare measures in the new year. At the ceremony held at Assam Administrative Staff College at Khanapara, Sonowal requested all commuters to take care of these buses which will ply in five routes within the city of Guwahati.

WHO team visits Andhra as mystery illness affects 593

The number of cases due to a mysterious illness in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh reached 593 on Wednesday, December 12. The symptoms of the disease included three to five minutes of epileptic fits, forgetfulness, anxiety, vomiting, headache, etc. A team of four constituted by the National Institute of Nutrition has been appointed at Eluru and a two member team of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has also arrived in the city. 10 blood samples tested for heavy metals after the breakout found the presence of lead and nickel.

PM Modi inaugurated LHPs in six states

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Light House Projects (LHPs) in six states across the nation. Chief Ministers of these six states- Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Tripura, attended the inauguration event. PM Modi said during the launch that these six projects will give a fresh boost to housing development in the country and will strengthen the concept of cooperative federalism. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, said that the PM has the vision of providing ‘Housing for All’ by the year 2022 which is also the year when India will complete its 75 years of independence. He added that the project will be a boon for Andhra Pradesh as the state is highly prone to natural disasters like cyclones and floods. LHPs will, for the first time, show the best usage of new-age alternate global technologies and processes in the construction industry. The project will comprise of 1,000 houses at each location with allied infrastructure facilities. It will deliver ready-to-live houses within 12 months and the facility will be better built, sustainable and durable compared to the traditional mortar and brick construction.

PM Modi also conferred the winners under Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators (ASHA) - India during the occasion and also presented the annual awards for excellence in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban mission. ASHA is aiding the country in bringing research and startups in housing sector of the country.

Hyderabad, Dubai airports unite for movement of COVID vaccines

NEW DELHI: To address the challenge of moving billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses, Gandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR) Hyderabad International Airport Limited, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo, and Dubai Airports joined hands in a first of its kind initiative to construct an exclusive Vaccine Air Freight Corridor called ‘Hyderabad to Dubai global Vaccine Corridor’ (HYDXB-VAXCOR). As Hyderabad and the nearby regions are the centres for most of the vaccine manufacturers, it is expected that majority of domestically manufactured vaccines will be exported from Hyderabad airport to various parts of the world. According to a statement by GMR on Monday, January 4, a memorandum of understanding regarding the exclusive HYDXB-VAXCOR was signed by Pradeep Panicker, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), GMR Hyderabad International Airport; Saurabh Kumar, CEO-GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo; and Eugene Barry, Executive Vice President- Commercial, Dubai Airports Corporations, in a virtual ceremony held last week. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports said that a major surge in demand for the efficient, safe and reliable global distribution of high volumes of COVID-19 vaccines is expected in the coming months. Griffiths added that as the world’s preeminent hub of choice, they wanted to be ready to respond to and accommodate that demand. This corridor is the result of a proactive strategy to be ready with innovative, collaborative and agile shipping solutions for the industry. This collaboration will release modified and uncomplicated processes and infrastructural support to streamline the journey of COVID-19 vaccine right from the manufacturing unit to the airport and logistics hub to delivery to endcustomers, the release said.

Delhi to set up dedicated cell to monitor tree transplantation

NEW DELHI: In view of the recently passed Tree Transplantation Policy, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) will launch a dedicated Tree Transplantation Cell to build technical knowledge around transplanting trees and help agencies understand the process.

In accordance with the new policy, 80 per cent of all trees to be affected by a development project will have to be compulsorily replanted. The process is complicated as many transplanted trees either do not survive beyond two years or end up achieving only stunted growth. Hence, the Cell has its significance in prolonging the survival of those trees.

Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi and Minister of Environment, GNCTD, met officials of Environment and Forest Department, on Wednesday, January 6, and directed them to initiate work on setting up the Cell and build technical know-how of the transplantation process. According to a government statement, Sisodia also directed the Forest Department to begin the process of empanelment of agencies that carry out tree transplantation.

The policy has however received criticism from several quarters according to which, the transplantation should be infrequent and all the developing projects must be constructed around the existing tree cover so that no area is lacking its green cover. However, according to the department officials, the policy makes it mandatory for project executing agencies to transplant trees in the vicinity of their original location to make sure that the ecology and character of the area does not change. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee has also been devising a separate policy for controlling dust at the construction sites bigger than 20,000 metre square.

Pfizer vaccine effective against mutated SARS-CoV-2 variants: Study

NEW DELHI: A laboratory study conducted by the drug maker Pfizer has revealed that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by them and BioNTech is effective against the new highly transmissible mutation of the novel coronavirus discovered in South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK). The in-vitro study conducted by Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) showed that the antibodies from people who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, effectively neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 with a key mutation that is also found in N501Y mutation’s highly transmissible strains. The study was conducted on the blood samples of people who have already been provided the vaccine shots. To determine if sera of people who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could neutralize SARS-CoV-2 with the N501Y mutation, a virus with this substitution was generated in UTMB’s laboratory. The sera of 20 participants from the previously reported Phase 3 trial neutralized the virus with the mutation as well as they neutralized virus without the mutation. The findings of the study are limited as it does not test the complete set of mutations found in the new variant of novel coronavirus. Phil Dormitzer, Vaccine Scientist, Pfizer, said that the company has tested the vaccine for 16 different possible mutations and none of them had any significant impact. He added that another mutation from South Africa variant is raising concerns called the E484K mutation.

Free sanitary pads for female students in Punjab

Captain Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, on January 8, announced an initiative taken by the Government of Punjab, which will provide free sanitary pads to girls studying in high schools and colleges across the state. The announcement was made during the launch of a bunch of welfare projects, which includes dedication of the month of January to the girl child through ‘Dheeiyan Di Lohri’ programme. Raveen Thukral, Media Advisor to the Punjab CM, tweeted about other initiatives launched by Punjab Government including ‘BASERA’ for slum dwellers, Smart Metering for power consumers, 2,500 cricket kits for young players, and E- Daakhil, a registration portal for legal matters.

PM inaugurates gas pipeline for Kerala, Karnataka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 450 kilometre (km) gas pipeline, on Tuesday, January 5, which joins Kochi with Mangalore. This project of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) is worth Rs 3,000 crore and has brought the two states of Kerala and Karnataka closer to the National Gas Grid. The state-run gas facility has made the life of people in the state easier by giving clean fuel at affordable prices to households, city transport services and industries. The project has provided clean fuel to Dakshin Kannada district of Karnataka, and will pass through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts of Kerala.

Sewage treatment at Pune metro stations as Maha Metro signs MoU with DRDO

PUNE: The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro), on January 5, 2021, inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for adopting the Bio-digester Technology for treating all sewage generated at its metro stations and offices. The decision comes after noting efficient usage of “Biodigester Technology” in the Indian Railways and the Nagpur Metro. The Maha Metro Nagpur had adopted the above technology for achieving its environmental commitment of Zero Liquid Discharge.

The bio-digester is not only ecofriendly and cost effective, but can also recycle 100 per cent of the effluent water, thus having the wastewater used for flushing and gardening. Data released by Nagpur Metro Rail in January 2020, established that recycling units in these bio-digesters installed at the metro stations recycle approximately 900 litres of water every day, at each station.

According to the DRDO, the digester has two components — anaerobic microbial consortium and specially designed fermentation tank. The consortium is developed by the enrichment of bacteria at low temperatures and bio-augmentation with the critical group of bacteria. The fermentation tank (bio-digester) is a device for accelerated microbial degradation of organic waste. This tank is made up of special material and has the power of immobilising the bacteria in large numbers. This technology reduces organic waste by more than 90 per cent from the sewage collected, and reduces pathogens by more than 99 per cent.

Hundreds of such bio-digesters have been installed at various locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, and hundreds of similar bio-digesters made of stainless steel are in operation in different trains of Indian Railways. They have been extensively fitted in different types of rail coaches by Indian Railways in collaboration with DRDO, which in addition to human excreta, can also be used for kitchen and animal waste disposal, and requires no sludge removal.

Brijesh Dixit, Managing Director of Maha-Metro, said that adopting this technology will help conserve a significant amount of water in a state where water scarcity is increasing day by day. He added that the decision was taken after observing the bio-digester’s accomplishment for the Nagpur Metro rail and said, “The collaboration would go a long way in achieving the objective of Pune Metro to adopt environmentally friendly measures.” Dixit mentioned that the Pune Metro is approximated to have a footfall of five lakh people daily and the Bio-digester Technology will be used at all metro stations. He said that this way, Maha-Metro will ensure that the metro does not generate sewage and burden the city’s sewage treatment plants. He added that they plan on reusing the water for flushing and floor cleaning. Earlier in 2020, the state cabinet of the Government of Maharashtra had cleared a proposal to set up sewage treatment plants in all urban local bodies in the state on the direction of the National Green Tribunal.

A K Singh, Director General – Life Sciences of DRDO, said that human waste is a major challenge in developing countries and inappropriate disposal leads to contamination of water resources, including ground and drinking water, which causes many health complications and diseases. He added that this technology developed by DRDE is a great tool as it is an efficient onsite alternative to traditional sanitation techniques at a reasonably low cost. He talked about how tweaking the design makes it successful in wide geo-climatic conditions as well. Stressing on the efficiency and importance of this technology, Singh said that earlier, all the railway tracks were stinking and flooded with human waste, but railways made technology mandatory, leading to zero toilet discharge on the tracks, and now all the tracks are clean.

‘Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised state’

CHENNAI: Edappadi K Palaniswami, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, said that Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised state of India with almost 48.45 per cent of the population living in urban areas. He added that more than 14 lakh people are living in urban slums and ‘Tamil Nadu Vision 2023’ was launched by Jayalalithaa, state’s former CM, to address their difficulties.

Palaniswami thanked the Government of India for the sanction of 31,62,720 storeyed tenements and 3,42,769 individual houses with a total cost of `27,000 crore. The per unit cost of houses is `1.20 lakh which includes `72,000 from the central government and `48,000 from the state government. In addition to this, state government will grant `23,000 in wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to the beneficiaries towards construction of toilets.

Palaniswami added that, when he reviewed the scheme, he found that the present unit cost was insufficient for the poorest of the poor to construct a house, due to rise in prices and loss of livelihood due to the pandemic. Hence, he sanctioned an additional `70,000 to each house, increasing the unit cost from `1.70 lakh to `2.40 lakh. This costed the state `1,805 crore for constructing of 2.5 lakh houses. O Paneerselvam, Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Tamil Nadu also attended the virtual event. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, government of India also laid the foundation of LHPs (Light House Projects) in Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh signs MoU for historic land survey

VIJAYAWADA: The Government of Andhra Pradesh has exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Survey of India (SoI) for the land survey in the state. The MoU for survey named ‘YSR Jagananna Saswath Bhoo Hakku-Bhoo Raksha Pathakam’ was signed in the presence of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The programme was launched on December 21. Reddy said that the survey is historic as a land survey on such a large scale will be conducted for the first time in almost 100 years. He added that the details in the survey will be highly accurate with a minimum error rate of 2 centimeters (cm).

State-of-the-art technologies such as rovers, drones, etc will be used for the survey. A land titling card will be provided after the survey which will consist of a unique identification number, measurements of property, name of the owner with photo and total area. Reddy added that the survey will be done across the state whether it is a house site or an agricultural land or any real estate layout. After providing the title, the details will be mentioned for two years in the respective village secretariat to raise objections, if any. Lieutenant General Girish Kumar, Surveyor General of India, said that SoI will provide all the possible technical support for fresh mapping, integration of land records, supervision and quality control with the help of seamless geodetic infrastructure.

SC gives nod to Central Vista redevelopment project in Delhi

The Supreme Court of India on January 5, 2021, gave a verdict allowing the Central Vista redevelopment project in Delhi, which has been introduced by the Government of India to redevelop the Parliament area and government offices in Lutyens Delhi. The SC gave its judgment in a batch of pleas challenging the Central Vista redevelopment project, alleging certain violations, including change in land use and environmental compliances. The judgment held that the exercise of power by Centre is fair and proper to modify the change in land use of master plan 2021. It added that the recommendations made by the environmental committee are ‘just and proper’ as well.

3 Andhra irrigation structures awarded World Heritage tag

Three irrigation structures in Andhra Pradesh have been selected by the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) for World Heritage Irrigation Structures. Porumamilla Tank, Kadapa; Cumbum Tank, Prakasam and Kurnool Kadapa Canal were among the four structures chosen from India for the world heritage tag. 14 structures have been identified from around the world by ICID from several submissions made by each country. The commission has selected 14 structures, which are at least 100 years old, from across the world. Four of them are from India, including three from Andhra Pradesh and one from Maharashtra.

India slips two ranks in UNDP’s Human Development Index

NEW DELHI: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released the Human Development Index (HDI) for 2019 in December 2020, where India was ranked 131 of 189 nations assessed. In comparison to India’s rank in the previous year’s report, India has slipped by two ranks, although has improved its absolute value in HDI to 0.645 compared to 0.642, the previous year. Norway topped the index and Ireland, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Iceland acquired next top ranks in the index. Countries including India (131), Bangladesh (133), Pakistan (154), Bhutan (129), Nepal (142), were ranked among countries with “medium human development”.

HDI measures countries’ achievement on basic aspects of human development, which includes life expectancy, education, and per capita income. The index is a summary of long-term progress assessed in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of living. It is an assessment of a nation’s health, education and standards of living.

The 2020 Human Development Report (HDR) established the life expectancy of Indians at birth in 2019 at 69.7 years, while Bangladesh had a life expectancy of 72.6 years, and Pakistan had 67.3 years. It also noted that India’s gross national income per capita has fallen to $6,681 in 2019 from $6,829 in 2018 on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, where PPP is a measurement of prices in different countries that uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries’ currencies.

According to the report, native children in Cambodia, India and Thailand show increased malnutritionrelated issues such as stunting and wasting. It added that parents in India differ in their responses and behaviour, and exhibit some disinvestment in girls’ health and education, which ultimately has led to higher malnutrition among girls than among boys. HDR also said that the assessment of countries such as India and Colombia presents that financial security and ownership of land has been improving women’s security and reducing the risk of gender-based violence, which clearly indicated that financial independence and ownership of land can empower women.

Under the Paris Agreement, India had pledged to reduce the emission intensity of its gross domestic product by 33–35 per cent by 2030, and to obtain 40 per cent of electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030 as well. The report said that as part of the plan, India’s National Solar Mission aims to promote solar energy for power generation and other uses to make solar energy competitive with fossil fuel-based options. It added that solar capacity in India has increased from 2.6 gigawatts in March 2014 to 30 gigawatts in July 2019, thus achieving its target of 20 gigawatts, four years ahead of schedule. The report also mentioned that India has ranked fifth for installed solar capacity in 2019.

The report underlined that only 21.2 per cent of the total labour force in India is skilled, and the nation has a rate of child marriage still standing at 27 per cent. India is still facing a considerable amount of inequality in education, which stands at 38.7 per cent, according to the data released by UNDP in the report.

Shoko Noda, UNDP India Resident Representative, praised India’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions and initiatives taken for green energy and said that India is currently at a position from where it can help other nations too. She added that the drop in India’s ranking does not mean that India did not perform well, but other countries did better.