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nEWSCAn World’s first knowledge portal on climate and health
GENEVA: With assistance from the Wellcome Trust, the Joint Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) inaugurated climahealth. info, the first global knowledge portal devoted to climate and health. It is in response to the increased demand for knowledge that may be used to safeguard people from the health risks associated with environmental dangers and climate change. Extreme weather, environmental degradation, and climate change significantly affect human health and welfare. More people than ever before are at risk for increased climate-related health concerns, including infectious diseases, heat stress, and poor water and air quality.
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There’s enormous life-saving potential in specialised climate and environmental science and public health technologies, such as illness forecasting and early warning systems. This new worldwide open-access portal was created to serve as the go-to resource for users of interdisciplinary health, environmental, and climate science.
World Cities Day returns to Shanghai
SHANGHAI: Every year on October 31, World Cities Day, which was first observed in 2014, concludes Urban October, which is a month-long series of events highlighting urban transformation and its challenges. Like World Habitat Day, a worldwide celebration is conducted in a different city every year, and the day is centred on a particular subject.
This year Shanghai, China, is hosting the events. António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, has said, “On this World Cities Day, we recognise the critical role of urban areas in achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Next year marks the mid-point to the deadline to reach the SDGs. Yet an honest look reveals a bleak picture. […] this year’s theme of World Cities Day highlights how: ‘Act Local to Go Global.’ The goals are global in scope, but implementation is local. And that means implementation happens largely in cities: Today, more than half of all people live in urban areas by 2050, and over two-thirds will do so.” After the global event was launched in the city, in 2014 to showcase the theme of the World Expo 2010 - Better City, Better Life - Shanghai is again hosting the Global Observance of 2022 World Cities Day. BrIEfS
Urban development dept organises orientation for urban engineers: Odisha
In order to develop urban infrastructure that is climate resilient, the Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha, on Wednesday, organised an orientation session for the urban engineers of civic organisations in the State. More than 320 engineers who work for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have received training on various technical aspects and SOP for taking on projects under the state government’s transformative urban programmes. G Mathi Vathanan, Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department requested that when working on development projects officials should concentrate on building climate resilient infrastructures.
The ULBs of Kashmir division has launched Sanitation-cumAwareness campaign in all the 40 ULBs as a part of the Jan Abhiyan Initiative under ‘Back to Village’ phase four, a programme launched by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir. Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, directed this campaign intending to clean nearby rural areas and water bodies with public participation. Mathoora Masoom, Director, ULBs, spoke about creating awareness among the general public on the 3R Principle of Waste Management.
BrIEfS
Delhi Airport installs 57 EVs; first one to do so
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a business under the direction of GMR Airports Infrastructure Limited, has installed 57 electric vehicles (EVs) at the airport and in the surrounding areas as part of its effort to reach net zero carbon emission status by 2030. As a result, the Delhi airport is now India’s first airport to deploy EVs within the airport ecosystem. The DIAL unveiled its innovative Green Transportation Program for World Environment Day in June, and these EVs have been put into service as a result.
A draft master plan for the city of Kochi outlining the future development and classification of Kochi in different zones was tabled before the Kochi Corporation council on October 28. As per the draft, most of the area of the city will fall into mixed zones, and there will be 18 zones in total. The formation of a master plan is necessary to obtain finance and technical assistance, for which a total of `92.5 lakh has been sanctioned under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
nEWSCAn New Climate Shift Index to map daily temperature shifts due to CC
NEW DELHI: The planet’s average temperature has increased by 1.1 degree Cesius since 1850, before extensive industrialisation. But the actual effects of climate change, such as how we debate whether this year was hotter than the last or how some parts of the world are warming more quickly than others, are unclear.
The US-based research and communications organisation Climate Central has created a new online mapping tool called the Climate Shift Index (CSI) that shows how daily average temperatures in more than 1,000 places around the world are affected more or less by global warming. The impact of climate change on thermostats across the US could be mapped almost in real-time in June thanks to Climate Central. The index uses data from National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Global Forecast System, presenting the probability of the difference on a scale from -5 to 5, with 0 representing no climate effect. If Miami receives a 5, for example, that day’s temperature is at least five times more likely to occur due to climate change. Or, if Kathmandu is covered in grey at -2, global warming will make the temperature there twice as unlikely.
438 ‘Namma Clinics’ to become functional
BENGALURU, Karnataka: Dr K Sudhakar, Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education, Government of Karnataka, in Mysuru, said that all the 438 Namma Clinics (Health and Wellness Centres) would become operational by November 8. These Namma Clinics are established in line with the central government’s Health and Wellness Centres (HWC) scheme. With the help of these clinics, the government aims to reduce the burden of patients from the existing health infrastructure. Dr Sudhakar highlighted that around 128 women’s clinics would be set up in the urban health centres where specialists will provide consultation services. Around 70 per cent of the Group D posts will be filled at the earliest date as staff availability is necessary to maintain hygiene in hospitals. The trauma care centre and super speciality hospitals, which are yet to become operational due to a lack of manpower and equipment, will become operational by the end of this year. The government has begun appointing doctors, nursing and other hospital staff along with procurement of essential equipment. Apart from that, the state government has cleared the proposal to set up sewage and effluent treatment plants in all the government medical colleges.
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Children in India facing ‘double threat of poverty & Climate Crisis: Study
NEW DELHI: According to a recent survey, 51 per cent of children in India are experiencing the negative impact of climate catastrophe along with poverty. The report titled ‘Generation Hope: 2.4 billion reasons to end the global climate and inequality crisis’ states that there are about 350 million children in Asia who are suffering from both extreme poverty and climate calamity, including 222 million in India. The report, which was prepared by the child rights NGO Save the Children and climate scientists from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, also states that Cambodia is the Asian nation most likely to experience this “double threat,” with 72 per cent of its children affected. Myanmar and Afghanistan are next, with 64 and 57 per cent of their children affected, respectively. Children in higher-income countries are also affected by the climate crisis. The study mentions that 121 million children who live in higher-income nations are also affected by poverty and the effects of climate change. Save the Children calculated the percentage of children affected by poverty and children affected by climate risk in 1,925 sub-national regions across 159 nations, accounting for 98 per cent of all children, to estimate the number of children living in poverty and in danger from the climate.
Half of world’s nations lack early warning systems: UN Report
GENEVA: The United Nations has cautioned that, despite the rise in catastrophic weather and climate disasters, half of the world’s nations lack the sophisticated early warning systems necessary to save lives. According to a recent assessment by the UN agencies for weather and disaster risk reduction, nations with weak early warning systems experience eight times more disaster-related deaths than those with robust safeguards. The world is experiencing more natural disasters that have “compounding and cascading implications”. Therefore, countries should be equipped with multi-hazard early warning systems. Poorer regions are the worst equipped even though they are most exposed to climatic shocks and natural disasters. The report states that just one-third of small, developing states and less than half of the world’s least developed nations have multi-hazard early warning systems. According to UN research, from 2012 to 2021, there were roughly twice as many persons affected by disasters, up from an average of 1,147 per 100,000 people per year between 2005 and 2014. But at the same time, the annual rate of disaster-related fatalities or missing persons decreased from 1.77 per 100,000 people in the earlier period to 0.84. BrIEfS
Odisha wins PMAY-U award
Odisha has been awarded the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) Award 2021, for ‘Best Policy Initiatives by State’ under the special category during the ‘Indian Urban Housing Conclave’ event. The event was held during the three-day Indian Urban Housing Conclave in Rajkot, Gujarat where Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, presented the award. Sangramjit Nayak, Municipal Administration Director, and Mission Director, Jaga Mission, and Debasish Singh, Mission Director, Odisha Urban Housing Mission-AWAS received the award.
Kerala aims for a capital investment scheme; to implement urban reforms
The Government of Kerala has decided to carry out urban reforms by implementing a local area plan, creating sponge cities, and modernizing building by-laws to be eligible for the Government of India’s Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment Scheme for this year. Under this scheme, urban reforms are one of the components for which financial assistance is provided to the state governments. Urban reforms also include the implementation of transit-oriented development and the adoption of transferable development rights. According to the government’s guidelines, Kerala is eligible to get central assistance up to `500 crore under urban reforms component of the scheme.
BrIEfS
Bhubaneswar to fine violators for not following two-dustbin rule
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued an order to all the waste generators under its jurisdiction to keep two proper sized dustbins within their premises and store dry and wet waste in separate dustbins. The corporation has warned that a penalty of `5000 will be imposed on those who fail to follow the norms. Not handing segregated waste to the waste collection vehicles will lead to a fine of `5000, an order under section 343(a) of the Odisha Municipal Corporation Act 2003.
Hyderabad wins ‘World Green City Award 2022’
Hyderabad has won the overall ‘World Green City Award 2022’ and ‘Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth’ at the International Association of Horticulture Producers (AIPH) World Green City Awards 2022, held in Jeju, South Korea on October 14. It is the only Indian city to get selected and win laurels on the International platform. It beat cities like Bogota, Paris, Mexico City, Montreal, and Fortaleza to be declared the grand winner. Its a matter of pride for the state said, K Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Minister, Government of Telangana, expressing his happiness.
nEWSCAn Wildlife Population declines globally by 69%: WWF
NEW DELHI: According to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, the world’s wildlife populations have decreased by more than two-thirds since 1970. Population sizes have decreased by 69 per cent on average, according to the analysis that used data from the Zoological Society of London from 2018 on the state of 32,000 wildlife populations comprising more than 5,000 species. The main causes of the loss were found to be deforestation, human exploitation, pollution, and climate change. The state of Latin America and the Caribbean was particularly bad, with a 94 per cent decline in wildlife populations in just five decades. According to the findings, between 1994 and 2016, one population of pink river dolphins in the Brazilian Amazon experienced a 65 per cent decline.
The results showed that wildlife population levels were still declining at a pace of roughly 2.5 per cent annually, which was consistent with the findings of WWF’s most recent assessment in 2020, Terry said. To address the grave issue, delegates from all across the globe will assemble in Montreal in December to chalk out a new global plan of action to safeguard the planet’s flora and animals. Increased funding for international conservation efforts is perhaps one of the biggest demands.
Metropolis Mumbai 3.0 to include slums like Neral-Karjat
MUMBAI, Maharashtra: Around 50 per cent of the slums in Mumbai could be accommodated under the Metropolis Mumbai 3.0, which would include Neral-Karjat, Panvel and Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA) project. The NAREDCO Progressive Neral-Karjat began an inexpensive metropolis initiative aiming to supply reasonably priced houses along with the corrective infrastructure exercise. Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, highlighted that the Government of Maharashtra is taking all the necessary steps to provide mandatory infrastructure facilities to the citizens. He added further that all the tasks could be completed by 2023, and the authorities are aiming to create Neral-Karjat, Panvel and NAINA as Mumbai 3.0.
The initiative aims to provide enhanced connectivity to the people in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Additionally, four lanes of Kalyan Badlapur could be extended to Karjat station. Earlier, a report titled ‘Brick by Brick: Reimagining Inexpensive Mumbai’ highlighted the huge demand-supply gap for affordable housing in the MMR region. The housing models costing less than `25 lakh were in high demand, with 67 per cent of registered focus. While models costing between `25 – 50 lakh recorded 13 per cent demand, models above `50 lakh recorded 20 per cent demand.
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ULBs in MP collected only 60% of property tax in 5 yrs: CAG
BHOPAL: In the midst of the dispute between Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) and the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), a report claims that the urban local bodies (ULB) only collected 60 per cent of property tax during the five-year period from 2015 to 2020. According to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the financial state of urban local bodies of Madhya Pradesh, the average collection of Property Tax for the period 2015–20 was 60 per cent of the total demand. Between 2017 and 2020, the collection fell from 69 to 45 per cent. As of March 2020, certain selected Urban Local Bodies had `269.66 crore that needed to be collected. Only 123 urban local bodies, or 30 per cent, underwent a GIS survey. Only Raghogarh and Seoni, out of the 12 selected Nagar Palika Parishads, and Sultanpur, out of the 17 selected Nagar Parishads, collected service charges in place of property taxes. Further, the report mentioned that collection from water charges of 33 ULBs had gone down from 29 to 15 per cent during 2016-2020. On March 2020, a total of `375.40 crore of water charges was pending in these ULBs. Moreover, none of the surveyed ULBs had placed water metres for water connections.
FSTP improves septage management in Giridih
GIRIDIH: Giridih Municipal Corporation with State Urban Development Authority’s (SUDA) support has made significant progress in creating septage treatment infrastructure at Motileda. The Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (52 KLD) started operation in June 2022 under Giridih Municipality to create a Faecal Sludge Management model which can be replicated in other towns. It is in alignment with the national mandate to address onsite sanitation systems and septage management. The excreta from every household in the city will be collected by vacuum trucks provided by civic bodies. The collected material will be transported to the plant through the prescribed route. This can be treated and sold to farmers as fertilizer. The twophase treatment – slug treatment and superintendent treatment - will make all the harmful elements present in the septage ineffective. The water from the treatment will be used in horticulture, vehicle washing, construction work, etc. Then the remaining solid matter will be used as manure for agricultural purposes. This scheme started to provide citizens with basic facilities. It aims to cater to nearly 20,000 households in the city council area until 2032. BrIEfS
GOI ratifies Delhi delimitation report
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, through a gazette notification, has ratified the delimitation exercise of municipal wards in Delhi. With this, the way for local body elections has been cleared, which were postponed in April 2022. The gazette notification reads that the national capital will be divided into 250 wards, out of which 42 will be reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates. As per the Press Trust of India (PTI), the final delimitation report was submitted by the committee to the MoHUA on October 17.
Delhi Govt fined `900cr for
bad waste management
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a fine of `900 crore as environmental compensation for failing in the management of municipal solid waste. NGT noted that “citizens cannot be faced with an emergency situation due to lack of governance.” NGT bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that around 80 per cent of the legacy waste stored in the landfill sites of Delhi, Gazhipur, Bhalswa and Okhla, has still not been remediated. These landfill sites cumulatively hold 300 lakh metric tonnes of waste.
