Pollution

Overall objective of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country and strengthening the awareness and capacity building activities.
Statement 1 is correct. The Central Government had launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 under the Central Sector “Control of Pollution” Scheme as a long-term, time-bound, national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 % to 30 % reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year.
102 non-attainment cities (not Aspirational Districts) mostly in Indo-Gangetic Plains have been identified based on ambient air quality data for the period 2011 – 2015 and WHO report 2014/2018. The city specific Action Plans have been approved for all 102 non-attainment cities for implementation on ground.
Other features of NCAP include, increasing number of monitoring stations in the country including rural monitoring stations, technology support, emphasis on awareness and capacity building initiatives, setting up of certification agencies for monitoring equipment, source apportionment studies, emphasis on enforcement, specific sectoral interventions etc.

CSIR scientists had developed Less Polluting Firecrackers which are not
only environment friendly but 15-20 % cheaper than the conventional ones. These crackers
have been named as safe water releaser (SWAS), safe minimal aluminium (SAFAL) and
safe thermite cracker (STAR).
SWAS crackers eliminates usage of (KNO3) Potassium nitrate and Sulphur with consequent
reduction in particulate matter (30-35%) SO2 and NOx. It has matching sound intensity
with commercial crackers in the range of 105-110 dBA.
STAR eliminates usage of KNO3 and S with consequent reduction in particulate matter (35-
40%), SO2 and NOx. It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range
of 105-110 dBA.
SAFAL has minimal usage of aluminium (only in flash powder for initiation) with
consequent significant reduction in particulate matter (35-40 %) compared to commercial
crackers.

Both statements are incorrect.
Dissolving the 22-year-old Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority
(EPCA) that has so far addressed air pollution in Delhi, the Central Government
promulgated an ordinance to constitute “permanent” body — the Commission for Air
Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.
The adjoining areas for the body include Delhi NCR, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh.
The proposed commission shall consist of a full-time chairperson who is or has been a
Secretary to Union Government or Chief Secretary to Government of State.

Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to
people interms, which are easy to understand. It transforms complex air quality data of
various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour.
There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very
Poor, and Severe. Each of these categories is decided based on ambient concentration
values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts (known as health breakpoints). AQ
sub-index and health breakpoints are evolved for eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2,
SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb).

In pursuant to the Supreme Court’s order dated December 02, 2016 in the matter of M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India regarding air quality in National Capital Region of Delhi, a Graded Response Action Plan was prepared and notified for implementation under different Air Quality Index (AQI) categories namely, Moderate & Poor, Very Poor, and Severe as per National Air Quality Index.
Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change had notified for implementation of
Graded Response Action Plan through Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control)
Authority in 2017.
# The Environment Pollution
(Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) has directed Delhi and neighboring States to implement air pollution control measures under “very poor” and “severe” category air quality of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) from October 15, including a ban on the use of diesel generators, except for emergency activities.

Statement 1 is correct. The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated in October, 2020.
It provides for constitution of a CAQM for better co-ordination, research, identification, and resolution of problems related to air quality in the national capital region (NCR) and adjoining areas.
Adjoining areas refers to areas in the states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh where any source of pollution may cause adverse impact on air quality in the NCR.
Statement 2 is correct. The Commission is to be the sole authority with jurisdiction over matters defined in the Ordinance and in case of any conflict, the orders or directions of the Commission will prevail over the orders of the state governments (of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), state PCBs, and state-level statutory bodies.

Statement 1 is correct. The Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) aimed to develop river Ganges as a safe mode of navigation and is being implemented with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank. ‘Project Arth Ganga’ envisages to re-engineer the JMVP by involving the local community with a focus on economic activities in and around the Ganga river.
Apart from providing benefits in terms of trade and access to markets, local community’s economic enhancement and passenger facilitation, the ‘Arth Ganga’ project will also ensure large scale skills enhancement and public/private sector capability development.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) is a think tank formed under the aegis of NMCG. The Centre is headquartered at IIT Kanpur and has representation from most leading science and technological institutes of the country.
cGanga’s mandate is to serve as think-tank in implementation and dynamic evolution of Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP) prepared by the Consortium of 7 IITs.
# The Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), has signed an MOU for development of sludge management framework in India, in collaboration with cGanga.

Department of biotechnology (DBT) and NWO, the Netherlands Science Agency announced a joint call for proposals to clean the Barapullah drain in New Delhi.
• LOTUS-HR stands for Local Treatment of Urban Sewage streams for Healthy Reuse plant.
• The project was initiated in 2017. It aims to demonstrate a novel holistic waste-water management approach that will produce clean water that can be reused for various proposes.
• The project also aims to simultaneously recover nutrients and energy from the urban wastewater thus converting drain into profitable mines.
• The project is jointly supported by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Government of the Netherlands.
• The partners in the project are IIT-Delhi, NEERI and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Cadmium is a heavy metal with a high toxicity. Cadmium is toxic at very low
exposure levels and has acute and chronic effects on health and environment. Cadmium is
not degradable in nature and will thus, once released to the environment, stay in
circulation.
•The major natural sources for mobilizations of cadmium from the earth’s crust are
volcanoes and weathering of rocks.
•Within the biosphere the cadmium is trans-located by different processes. The major
sources for emission to air from natural sources are volcanoes, airborne soil
particles, sea spray, biogenic material and forest fires.

India’s first e-waste clinic has been inaugurated in Bhopal and will enable
segregation, processing and disposal of electronic waste from both household and
commercial units.
•It was set up by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation and the Central Pollution Control
Board.
•The e-waste clinic is developed on the bases of a three-month pilot project and, if
successful, more clinics will be built throughout the country.
•The clinic is set up in accordance with the Solid Waste Management
Rules adopted in 2016.

World Air Quality Report.
•The World Air Quality report was released by the pollution tracker IQAir and
Greenpeace.
•The ranking is based on a comparison of PM 2.5 levels.
•India was the fifth most polluted country in 2019 and an account for almost twothirds
of the world’s most polluted cities according to the World Air Quality Report
2019.

The Executive Body adopted the Protocol to Abate Acidification,
Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone in Gothenburg (Sweden) on 30 November 1999.
•The Protocol sets national emission ceilings for 2010 up to 2020 for four
pollutants: sulphur (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and ammonia (NH3).
•These ceilings were negotiated on the basis of scientific assessments of pollution
effects and abatement options.
•The Protocol also sets tight limit values for specific emission sources (e.g.
combustion plant, electricity production, dry cleaning, cars and Lorries) and
requires best available techniques to be used to keep emissions down.
•VOCs emissions from such products as paints or aerosols also have to be cut.
•Finally, farmers have to take specific measures to control ammonia emissions.

Aqueduct’s global water risk mapping tool helps companies, investors, governments, and other users understand where and how water risks and opportunities are emerging worldwide.
• The Atlas uses a robust, peer reviewed methodology and the best-available data to create high-resolution, customizable global maps of water risk.
• With the support of a diverse group of partners, the World Resources Institute built Aqueduct to help companies, investors, governments, and communities better understand where and how water risks are emerging around the world.
• The World Resources Institute is committed to transparency and open data. The data and methodology behind Aqueduct are documented and available for download

The Actions on Air Quality report is released by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016, enacted since October 1, 2017, had further strengthened the existing rules.
• Over 21 products (Schedule-I) were included under the purview of the rule. The rule also extended its purview to components or consumables or parts or spares of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), along with their products.

•The present rule has strengthened the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which is the global best practice to ensure the take-back of the end-of-life products.
• A new arrangement entitled, ‘Producer Responsibility Organisation’ (PRO) has been introduced to strengthen EPR further.
• PRO, a professional organisation, would be authorised or financed collectively or individually by producers, to share the responsibility for collection and channelisation of e-waste generated from the ‘end-of-life’ products to ensure environmentally sound management of such e-waste.

Fly ash, the end product of combustion during the process of power generation in the coal based thermal power plants.
• It is a proven resource material for many applications of construction industries and currently is being utilized in manufacturing of Portland Cement, bricks/blocks/tiles manufacturing, road embankment construction and low-lying area development, etc.
• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad have developed a cheap waterproofing material by coating fly ash, a waste by-product from coal-based thermal power plants, with stearic acid, which is a surfactant.
• While fly ash is extremely water-loving (hydrophilic), it turns into a highly water-repelling surface once coated with stearic acid.
• Fly ash varies in size from 100 nanometres to a few microns and can thus provide surfaces with different roughness based on the size of the particles chosen.

In an attempt to protect the coral reefs that divers so admire they have dubbed them the underwater Serengeti.
• The Pacific nation of Palau will soon ban many types of sunscreen.
• President Tommy Remengesau Jr. last week signed legislation that bans “reef-toxic” sunscreen from 2020.
• Banned sunscreens will be confiscated from tourists who carry them into the country, and merchants selling the banned products will be fined up to $1,000
.

The Agasthyamalai Mountain falls in the Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari
districts of Tamil Nadu and the Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts of Kerala.
•It is a Sacred Mountain and pilgrim centre, where devotees come to worship
sage Agasthya. Agasthya was a Dravidian sage, and is considered to be one of the
seven rishis (saptarishi) of Hindu mythology. The Tamil language is considered to be
a boon from Agasthya. There is a statue of Agasthya at the top of the peak and the
devotees can render poojas themselves.
•The Agasthyamalai region constitutes an extensive and compact tract of forest-clad
mountains and plays a very important role as a watershed and repository of
biodiversity. The region receives precipitation from both the southwest and
northeast monsoons and has a very short dry season of less than 2-3 months
duration.
•Agasthyamalai is one of the few safest homes in Western Ghats for many endemic
animals such as Lion -Tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Langur, Brown Palm Civet, Malabar
Spiny Dormouse, Nilgiri Marten and Nilgiri Tahr. The eastern side of
Agasthyamalai is composed of the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
(KMTR), a 900 sq km. protected area.

Seeking to address some of the most pressing issues facing India, including air pollution, through innovation, the United Nations Development Programme in November 2019, launched the country chapter of its Accelerator Lab here.
• The laboratory that will be housed in the UNDP India office has partnered with the Indian government’s Atal Innovation Mission to achieve its objectives.
• Other issues that the laboratory will seek to address include sustainable water management and client-resilient livelihoods
.

The State of Global Air 2019 annual report and accompanying interactive website are designed and implemented by the Health Effects Institute in cooperation with the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Texas, Austin.
• According to the report exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to over 1.2 million deaths in India in 2017.
• The report added that worldwide, air pollution was responsible for more deaths than many better-known risk factors such as malnutrition, alcohol abuse and physical inactivity.
• In India, air pollution is the third-highest cause of death among all health risks, ranking just above smoking;
• Each year, more people globally die from air pollution related disease than from road traffic injuries or malaria.
• Meanwhile, for the first time, this year’s report and website include worldwide estimates of the effect of air pollution on life expectancy.
• Worldwide, air pollution reduced life expectancy by an average of 20 months in 2017, a global impact rivaling that of smoking; this means a child born today will die 20 months sooner, on average, than would be expected without air pollution.
• The report also highlighted that nearly half of the world’s population — a total of 3.6 billion people — were exposed to household air pollution in 2017. Globally, there has been progress: the proportion of people cooking with solid fuels has declined as economies develop.

E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016, enacted since October 1, 2017.
• Over 21 products (Schedule-I) were included under the purview of the rule.
• The rule also extended its purview to components or consumables or parts or spares of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), along with their products.
• Currently, India’s e-waste rules have no laws mandating solar cell manufacturers to recycle or dispose waste from this sector.

NOTE: Some of the 21 products of Schedule 1 are Centralized data processing: Mainframes, Minicomputers, Personal Computers (Central Processing Unit with input and output devices), Cellular telephones, Television sets (including sets based on (Liquid Crystal Display and Light Emitting Diode technology), Refrigerator, Washing Machine and Air-conditioners excluding centralized air conditioning plants.

Global sportswear giant Adidas aims at eliminating the use of virgin plastics in its products by 2024 — with a little help from a Maharashtra-based firm — the only one of its kind in the country to produce yarn out of discarded PET bottles.
• At its first factory set up in Nashik five years ago, Polygenta Technology Limited deploys a unique technology to break down used PET (short for Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles and convert them into polyester filament yarn.
• The firm, with a capacity to convert 30 tonnes of PET bottles into yarn a day, plans to scale up capacity to around 100 tonnes a day in the next two years to meet demand from the likes of Adidas — one of its first clients.

NOTE: According to the United Nations, around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year — roughly the weight of the entire human population. Of this, eight million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the oceans; PET bottles are the main contributors to plastic waste globally and in India.

Ahead of the upcoming 2019 Climate Action Summit, the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and Climate and Clean Air Coalition announced today the “Clean Air Initiative”, calling on governments at all levels to join the Initiative.
• The “Clean Air Initiative” calls on national and sub national governments to commit to achieving air quality that is safe for citizens, and to align climate change and air pollution policies by 2030.
• According to WHO, each year, air pollution causes 7 million premature deaths, of which 600,000 are children.
• According to the World Bank, air pollution costs the global economy an estimated US$5.11 trillion in welfare losses and in the 15 countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions, health impacts of air pollution are estimated to cost more than 4 per cent of GDP.
• Meeting the Paris Agreement on climate change, however, could save over 1 million lives a year by 2050 and yield health benefits worth an estimated US$54.1 trillion – about twice the costs of mitigation – through reduced air pollution alone.

: A local paint manufacturer and distributor have developed a type of paint that can eliminate harmful air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) and other volatile organic compounds.
• Mainly generated by vehicle emissions, NOx is a common air pollutant known to have serious consequences for health and the environment, including causing acid rain and smog.
• Called KNOxOUT, the paint – developed by Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc. – contains ultrafine titanium dioxide that breaks down NOx and converts it into harmless substances.

Earth Beats, an international and collaborative initiative gathering 18 news media outlets from around the world to focus on solutions to waste and pollution