Tag: ‘severe’ air quality in delhi

Exclusive: Rail Ministry Overlooked CBI FIR Against Key PSU Head Named for Causing Rs 144 Crore Loss

The vigilance directorate of the railway board gave a clean chit to Amitabh Banerjee despite CVC guidelines.

New Delhi: In October 2020, the Ministry of Railways gave vigilance clearance to Amitabh Banerjee, chairman and managing director of one of its key public sector units, the Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC), for a full term. It did so without taking into account the fact that the Central Bureau of Investigation had by then named him in an FIR about a multi-crore case of financial bungling at another PSU where he had earlier worked. 

The ministry’s move appeared to have gone against its own precedent on zero tolerance to allegations of corruption. Banerjee’s predecessor, S.K. Pattanayak, did not make it past his probationary period in 2018, while National High Speed Rail Corporation managing director Satish Agnihotri – brought in to handle the Narendra Modi government’s dream bullet train project – was removed by the ministry earlier this year after graft charges surfaced against him at his previous position at another PSU, the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited. 

Like Pattanayak, Banerjee, who was approved for post by the cabinet committee on appointments (ACC) in October 2019, was supposed to go through a mandatory one-year probation period – after which he would be confirmed provided he met benchmark norms for confirmation

According to guidelines set by the Central Vigilance Commission for confirming an officer, the Railway Board’s  vigilance directorate was supposed to not only check for any allegation of misconduct involving vigilance against Banerjee while at the post for the year (October 2019-October 2020), but also run a background check on his integrity for the past 10 years. 

Though the principal executive director of vigilance – which reports to the Railway Board – cleared Banerjee at the end of his probation period in October 2020, official documents reviewed by by The Wire indicate that the vigilance check overlooked an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in March 2020 which named Banerjee, among others, as an accused in a corruption case at the Hindustan Paper Mill Corporation Ltd (HPCL) in Shillong. Banerjee was accused of abetting a loss of at least Rs 144 crore to the Union government between the years 2011-2013, when he was director, finance at HPCL, a PSU under the ministry of heavy industries. 

The FIR was filed on March 4, 2020 in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district by Vivek Dutta, head of the CBI’s Shillong branch. The formal legal move was based on the verification of a written complaint by the Ministry of Heavy Industries in 2017 to the agency, seeking registration of a case against all persons – “private or serving or retired” – responsible for causing heavy losses to the PSU by indulging in “serious irregularities” in procurement of bamboo from Assam’s Dima Hasao Autonomous Council.

The FIR named Banerjee as the third accused in the case, after the former HPCL chairman and managing director V.N. Rao and former director of operations, S.N. Bhattacharya.

Cachar HPCL Mill workers at a protest in 2019. Photo: Manabendra Chakraborty/Files

In fact, HPCL had ended up as a sick enterprise a few years ago due to massive financial irregularities, leading to its eventual shutdown. The Wire has extensively covered the suffering, including claims of deaths by suicide by the families of HPCL employees in Assam due to the financial crisis its two units found themselves in.  

Also read: Assam: As Two Debt-Ridden Paper Mills Go Under the Hammer, Workers’ Worries Multiply

On February 22, 2017, the then joint secretary at the heavy industries ministry, Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta (now director general of police in Assam), wrote to the CBI, asking it to investigate the matter. However, by then – and in fact four years before that, in October 2013 – Banerjee had resigned from his post and moved to Konkan Railway as director of finance. He joined the Indian Railways Finance Corporation in October 2019 from Konkan Railway.     

On September 26, The Wire asked V.K. Tripathi, chairperson of the Railway Board, how the Railways’ vigilance department had cleared  Banerjee for a position that involves taking sensitive financial decisions on behalf of the ministry – including the authority to withdraw foreign exchange from the Reserve Bank of India  – in spite of a pending CBI inquiry against him for financial bungling. Tripathi has not responded.

Also unanswered were queries sent on September 30 to Chandra Vir Raman, principal executive director of vigilance – including the grounds on which his department decided to go against the CVC’s guidelines in clearing Banerjee for a full term after probation, especially given the fact that the CBI FIR was filed seven months before Banerjee’s probation period had ended.

‘Wasn’t informed’: Banerjee

When The Wire contacted Banerjee on September 26 with a copy of the CBI FIR on which the date of filing is clearly stated, he said that since he himself was ‘not informed’ about the CBI FIR at the time, he did not inform the ministry about it.

“It came to notice only after a few months of the completion of (the) probationary period. It has been reliably learnt that the case has since come to an official closure after a detailed investigation by the CBI,” he told this correspondent in an email.

Though Banerjee denied any knowledge of the CBI FIR at the time it was filed, the case – including the names of the HPCL officers involved – was widely reported in the media at the time. A sample of a PTI report then, naming him as an accused, can be read here.

As per rules, Banerjee was supposed to mention this FIR while filing a report on completion of his probationary period at the IRFC. Additionally, the railway vigilance department was supposed to conduct its own background check on Banerjee’s conduct and file a report to the chairperson of the Railway Board. That report had to then be forwarded to the ministry for approval of the Union railway minister, which, in this case, was Piyush Goyal at the time.

Vigilance directorate under fire from finance ministry

Aside from the CBI FIR, the vigilance directorate of the Railways had also not taken cognisance of the fact that the CVC had flagged the financial bungling at HPCL to the heavy industries ministry as far back as 2016 (CVC case no 011/HVI/007 dated 23.09.2016).

Sources in the heavy industries ministry confirmed to The Wire that Mahanta’s letter to the CBI in 2017 had cited the CVC complaint stating that inflated rates for bamboo were decided for both the HPCL mills in Assam at a meeting “attended by Amitabh Banerjee, director (finance)” aside from some other senior officials of the Corporation, including “S.N. Bhattacharya, director (operations).”

The railway vigilance directorate’s decision to clear Banerjee despite a pending charge figured indirectly in a note filed by a panel headed by Sanjeev Sanyal, then the principal economic advisor to the Narendra Modi government, in September 2021.

Sanyal noted that though the railways has the largest vigilance department in the Union government, it has barely followed CVC guidelines. Strongly recommending that the railways follow those guidelines, Sanyal’s note raised questions “on the legality of the decisions made in the past and pending cases of the Vigilance Directorate relating to allegations of corruption and other irregularities involving thousands of employees, including senior officers, in the past.”  

Interestingly, Banerjee was appointed by the ACC a month before the PMO issued instructions to all ministries to weed out ‘dishonest officers’ from Union government departments. 

Accusations during tenure at IRFC

Barely eight months after the the railway board cleared Banerjee and he was regularised, a case was registered at the vigilance directorate to probe financial discrepancies at the PSU on as many as 30 counts against ‘IRFC employees’ including Banerjee, company sources told The Wire.

An RTI applicant, who has requested that his name be withheld, asked the vigilance directorate of the railways whether any complaint was registered against IRFC employees including CMD Amitabh Banerjee, from June 2021 onwards.

The March 5, 2022 reply by Sunil Kumar Singh, director in charge of vigilance of the Railway Board, said somewhat cryptically:

“Yes, complaint is registered against employees of IRFC. Further, prescribed information sought for cannot be provided as the case is still ongoing and under submission to higher authorities thus it may impede the process of investigation.” 

According to ministry sources privy to the pending vigilance inquiry against Banerjee, the allegations are also against Banerjee, and include “spending around $ 27,000 of  as ‘entertainment allowance’ to buy expensive watches, mobile phones, laptops, gold coins, expensive shawls, etc.”

The sources told The Wire that though Banerjee had stated that those were “gifts” meant for clients he was to meet during an official foreign trip, but sources questioned the rationale for the purchases because the clients for whom the ‘gifts’ were intended “want to invest in India and make profits. There has never been any need for the IRFC to bribe clients to give loans to the Union government in lieu of an interest in private entities to build wagons, rolling stocks, etc.,” one source said.

On asked about the allegations, Banerjee told this correspondent, “No such charges as per my information”, urging The Wire to “desist from (publishing) misinformation and willful canards spread by vested interests.” 

In April 2022, taking serious note of the ongoing inquiry, the office of the Union cabinet secretary refused to clear Banerjee’s business trip to Singapore. Sources in the government told The Wire, “On cabinet secretary’s refusal to clear his trip to represent the government of India, the Ministry of Railways had to then send two junior officers on that trip.” 

Sources at the railway ministry confirmed this.

“A note to that effect was written to the ministry by the cabinet secretary’s office, forcing it to send two junior officers – Shelly Verma (director of finance of the Indian Railways Finance Commission) and Ajit Srivastava (a Railway Board Officer) – on that official tour to carry out market study/survey and meet investors while the country is facing global crises due to the Ukraine war, etc.,” a source said.

A source added, “Aside from Banerjee, the cabinet secretary’s office also refused to clear the name of another senior official who was to accompany him based on a technicality.”  

Other vigilance allegations against Banerjee include staying with his family at the IRFC guest house in Green Partk for a long period and getting the company to pay for a more expensive 10-year British visa  on his personal passport despite having around a year to go in service.

Delhi Govt Bans Storage, Sale and Use Firecrackers During Diwali

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that like last year, it was essential to implement the ban in order to save lives.

New Delhi: The Delhi government on Wednesday banned the storage, sale and use of firecrackers during Diwali owing to the “dangerous pollution levels” in the national capital around the time of the festival.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that like last year, it was essential to implement the ban in order to save lives.

“In view of the dangerous condition of pollution in Delhi during the Diwali period for the last three years, and like last year, a complete ban is being imposed on the storage, sale and use of all types of firecrackers. So that people’s lives can be saved,” he said in a tweet written in Hindi.

“Last year, a complete ban on firecrackers was imposed late after assessing the seriousness of the situation. This caused losses to the traders. It is an appeal to all the traders that this time in view of the complete ban, please do not stock,” he said.

Environment minister Gopal Rai said that the National Green Tribunal had called for a complete ban on firecrackers in poor air quality regions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Read: As Delhi Declares Emergency Over Air Quality, a Look at What Needs to Be Done

“The data of CPCB for the last three years shows Delhi is almost in the poor pollution index. Last year, besides Delhi, other states such as Rajasthan, Orissa, Sikkim, West Bengal, Chandigarh, 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh had imposed a complete ban on firecrackers,” he stated.

Rai said that last year, the Delhi government decided in favour of the complete ban on November 6, which was just before Diwali.

“The Delhi Police had already issued temporary licences for sale of firecrackers and because of this, traders and dealers suffered losses. There were also incidents of bursting of firecrackers in Delhi by the residents due to easy availability. To avoid any such situation, we decided that the DPCC, like last year, will issue directions for complete ban on sale, use and storage of all types of firecrackers with immediate effect,” he added.

Behind the Enduring Relevance of the Suez Canal Is the Long Shadow of European Colonialism

The political map of the world today is starkly different from that of a century ago. However, the West’s consumer capitalism continues to hold the world in its thrall.

On March 23, container ship MV Ever Given ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal. During the week for it to be dislodged and refloated, the attention of the world was focused on the Suez. Within a few days of the refloating on March 29, the backlog of waiting ships had been cleared. Traffic is now back to normal and the authorities in charge can heave a sigh of relief.

But it is a truism that throughout its history, whenever the Suez is in the news, it means that the world is in trouble. Indeed, the continued importance of the Suez Canal is nothing but the long shadow of European colonialism that haunts our contemporary world.

The idea of digging a canal through the Isthmus of Suez to connect the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean worlds was given concrete form by the Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps who obtained a concession from the Khedive of Egypt in 1854. After a decade of work, the canal was inaugurated in 1869.

Also read: Ever Given: The Physics of Big Ships Clogging the Suez Canal

While the Suez is closely associated with the British Empire, till 1863 the British were opposed to its construction. Having established themselves in India and other parts of Asia, the British were worried that the canal would allow other European powers to challenge their maritime advantages. But with the canal becoming a reality, the British insinuated themselves into its operations by buying out the shares of the bankrupt Khedive in 1875 and eventually invading and occupying Egypt in 1882. For many decades since its opening, about three-quarters of Suez traffic had been British.

By providing direct access to Asia and the East African coastline, the Suez greatly aided European powers in their projects of colonisation. Having earlier captured the strategic port of Aden, Britain used the Suez to strengthen its military grip over India.

During this period, there was also an explosive growth of railway networks in the subcontinent. The railways, in conjunction with the efficient maritime trade through the Suez, had a transformative impact on rural India.

With such infrastructure in place, Britain could institutionalise an unequal pattern of trade whereby the fruits of Indian labour, agricultural commodities and its natural resources were easily appropriated at a fraction of their value and exported to Europe.

In the opposite direction came a steady tide of goods manufactured in Britain that flooded Indian markets. The resulting devastation of the agrarian economy can be seen in the fate of cotton in the province of Berar (in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra).

In the 1870s, British observers noted that the railways had helped destroy Berar’s once vibrant handloom industry. Now, the region was growing cotton almost exclusively for export to European markets. They could have also noted that the Suez Canal was central to the smooth functioning of this exploitative arrangement.

Suez Canal in 1942. Photo: aussiejeff/Flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Gandhi and Suez Canal

In the 20th century, one of the key figures who challenged the idea of the Empire and the attendant economic exploitation was Mohandas K. Gandhi. Born a month before its operationalisation, Gandhi had travelled through the Suez Canal en route to England in 1888 and on his return journey in 1891.

In his ‘London Diary’ of 1888, Gandhi recorded his admiration for the canal and its builder: “The construction of the Suez Canal I am not able to understand. It is indeed marvellous. I cannot think of the genius of a man who invented it.”

The Suez was indeed a great feat of engineering, but these lines were written by a callow youth of 19 who was innocent of the whole truth. If Gandhi would go on to decry the destruction of India’s agrarian economy, a process aided by the Suez, he would have been no less disapproving if he had known that the canal was built using the forced and unpaid corvée labour of tens of thousands of Egyptians.

By the time Gandhi was to travel through the Suez Canal again in 1931, en route to London for the Second Round Table conference, he was a popular anti-colonial figure and had many admirers in Egypt. The colonial offices in Delhi, Cairo and London were worried about the impact of the Mahatma in Egypt and conspired against such a visit.

On the outward journey in September 1931, it was arranged for Gandhi’s ship to spend little time at Port Said. However, some local Indians and Egyptian political figures managed to meet Gandhi and it was agreed that he would visit Egypt on his way back home. Gandhi’s transit was given wide coverage in the Egyptian press and elaborate arrangements were made to host him on his return journey in December 1931.

However, the British prevented Gandhi from visiting Egypt by an act of deceit. Gandhi was told a falsehood that the ship would not call at Port Said long enough for him to visit ashore and participate in public engagements. He was given to understand that he would be left behind in Egypt if he disembarked. With India suffering under major repression, Gandhi could not afford any delays to his return home and did not step onto Egyptian soil.

Like Gandhi, many anti-colonial leaders struggled for the political emancipation of their homelands. However, unlike him, most of them ardently wished to emulate the European model of economic development and modernisation through large-scale industrialisation.

Suez Canal after the 1950s

In the 1950s, the powerful hold of this vision can be seen in the priorities of the leaders of India and Egypt, Jawaharlal Nehru and Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had envisaged the construction of large dams in their economic plans.

In 1956, triggered by an American refusal to fund the Aswan Dam on the Nile, Nasser decided to nationalise the Suez Canal which was controlled by Britain and France. Nationalist resentment of foreign control of the canal apart, Nasser wanted to finance the construction of the dam through the substantial revenues of the Suez Canal.

Britain and France wanted to retain control over the canal and made a secret pact with Israel. Soon Israel attacked Egypt and British and French forces contrived to join the invasion. The resulting Suez crisis threatened to draw the world into a new global conflagration.

Nehru disliked Nasser’s provocative nationalisation of the Suez, but he could not countenance the return of colonisation in the form of an invasion and annexation of Egyptian territory. “This is a reversal of history,” Nehru wrote to Nasser in October 1956, “which none of us can tolerate”.

While a number of global players, including the Soviet Union, India and the United Nations, got involved, the Anglo-French conspiracy failed to garner crucial support from the US. The crisis ended with Britain’s announcement of a ceasefire and replacement of British and French troops by UN peacekeeping forces. The Suez debacle is often taken to signify the end of Britain’s imperial era and its decline as a major world power.

Smoke rises from oil tanks beside the Suez canal during the Anglo-French assault on Port Said, November 5, 1956. Photo: Fleet Air Arm official photographer, collections of the Imperial War Museums/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

In the age of colonisation, the European powers extracted commodities and labour from the tropics and also monopolised the markets of these regions in Asia and Africa. The political map of the world today is starkly different from that of a century ago. However, the West’s consumer capitalism continues to hold the world in its thrall. With the development of container shipping, the volumes of global trade have grown many folds over that in the 1950s. While the terms of trade between Western nations and erstwhile colonies have changed significantly, fundamental inequalities persist.

Also read: How a Full Moon Helped Free the Giant Container Ship From Suez Canal

The centres of industrial manufacture have moved eastward, notably to China and other East Asian nations. There, the frenetic pace of production has helped pull people out of poverty but at a great cost. Most of the consumer goods that are shipped westward through the Suez Canal are manufactured in exploitative sweatshops and inflict an enormous toll on the well-being of the labouring classes as well as the ecosystems of these Asian nations. Contemporary shipping itself consumes profligate amounts of energy, emits significant volumes of greenhouse gases and is one of the most polluting industries in the world.

Given the high volume of traffic it enjoys, the Suez Canal now earns the Egyptian government a handsome annual revenue of $5 billion. While this may suit the political elite of Cairo and provide the European consumer with cheap goods, the continued relevance of the Suez to global trade signifies an enduring problem – an economic order based on the exploitation of people and nature.

During the 1956 crisis, Gandhi’s colleague J.C. Kumarappa had argued that the canal represented a fundamentally unequal and unsustainable economic order based on long-distance trade. He titled his essay, ‘The Suez Teaches Us’. But, is the world willing to listen and learn?

Venu Madhav Govindu is working on a thematic history of Gandhi’s Sevagram years. He is on the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

Delhi’s Air Pollution is Forcing The City’s Urban Families to Move Out

Families who have moved or are planning to move say that relocating is not an easy decision— financially, socially. But the health benefits of living in a safer, cleaner environment is worth the risk.

It felt like the apocalypse.” The year was 2016 and it was a day after Diwali, one of India’s biggest festivals. Mukuta Das, a young woman who lived in Gurgaon in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi, said that it was a dark morning − literally and figuratively − with a thick cloud of smog enveloping the region, so much so that she could “barely breathe”. “I was pregnant at that time,” Mukuta recalled, “and I was really worried what the smoke would do to my health. So I took a day off from work.”

By the end of the day, Mukuta, who worked as a manager in a research agency, had made a decision: she didn’t want to live in such an environment anymore, joining a growing number of families who are choosing to relocate from Delhi and its vicinity to escape the air pollution.

Diwali, also called the festival of lights, is one of India’s biggest festivals. As part of the celebrations, bursting firecrackers is common, the scale of which has grown over the years. Diwali usually falls during the onset of winters and the climate and wind conditions further aggravate the pollution levels. Cities like Delhi are usually engulfed in a toxic combination of smoke and fog (smog) each winter, resulting in a health hazard.

Growing up, Mukuta, who hails from Assam in northeast India, said that pollution − air and water − was “of least concern” to her and her parents. “Now, of course, things have changed a lot there too but not to the extent I had seen in Delhi-NCR,” she said, “On that post-Diwali day, I realised that I did not want to breathe in so much toxic air and expose the ill-effects on my baby. More than anything and one of the basic things that I wanted to provide for my baby was clean air to breathe.”

Tora (meaning ‘star’) was born healthy and happy, but when her first Diwali was around the corner, Mukuta did not want to take any chances. They went away from the city for a small break − a trend she picked up from other parents with small children who had similar concerns.

Children wear air pollution masks in Delhi. Photo: PTI

But these temporary measures were hardly the solution and Mukuta and Chandan, her husband, who was working as the marketing director of a university back then, started looking at the relocating option more seriously. There were jobs to be sought after, a new house to look for, a life to be re-built − not an easy decision at all.

But when two-year-old Tora’s paediatrician told them that she would most likely develop signs of bronchitis early on, “a very common problem among children in Delhi and NCR”, the hunt to move became urgent. “We finally moved to Toronto (Canada) last year,” she said. Tora has adapted well to the change, her mother said, both health-wise and socially.

As the air quality in Delhi and its surrounding areas oscillate between very severe, severe, and poor, pollution and the impact of the environment on health have taken the centre stage and families that have the means are taking the exit route.

Also read: An Open Letter to the Supreme Court of India Against Outdoor Air Purifiers

According to multiple surveys, Delhi has among the worst air quality in the world, which also impacts its surrounding regions. Of the total deaths in India in 2017, 1.24 million deaths, equivalent to 12·5% of total mortalities, could be attributed to air pollution, according to a paper released last year by the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative, published in the Lancet. Scientists have also warned that inhaled air pollutant particles (particulate matter) are moving from the lung to the placentas of pregnant women and if they have an effect on the placenta, this will have a direct impact on the foetus.

The National Capital Region, which includes Delhi and major cities like Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad, with an estimated population of around 46 million people as per the 2011 Census, is known to attract people for work, at various levels.

Increasingly though, there are people who are opting to leave the region and its pollution, to start a life in less polluted cities in India or even abroad.

Thinking health, thinking long-term

Pollution and deteriorating air quality were among the primary reasons why another young couple, Namita Agarwal and her husband, moved from Delhi a few years back. The decision materialised just before their first child was born. “My husband is a sports person so health and a clean environment are always a priority for us,” Namita said. It became an “even bigger issue than it already was” when she became pregnant.

Relocating is never an easy choice and it wasn’t so for Namita and her husband either who too moved out of India, to Italy. Ironically, Italy is among the most polluted countries in Europe, although still better off than Delhi. “My husband’s mother is Italian so, after weighing all our options, we decided to go to Italy for the delivery. It was a big challenge (to move to a different country) and it continues to be so, but honestly, for clean air and clean water, it’s a war I am willing to fight,” she said.

Monks wear anti-pollution masks, in New Delhi, on November 12, 2019. Photo: PTI

And a war-like situation it is. With people, including little children, wearing masks on the roads in Delhi; those vulnerable advised to stay indoors, and a depressing haze darkening the mornings. In the days following Diwali, celebrated on Oct 27, the Air Quality Index of Delhi stood steadfast in the ‘severe’ category, pushing the numbers much above 400.

Crop stubble burning in neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana at this time of the year, along with the bursting of firecrackers during Diwali, vehicular pollution and construction work are said to be the main reasons behind the spike in air pollution and the air quality index oscillating between ‘severe’ and ‘poor’ at this time of the year, every year.

This year, however, has been exceptionally bad. The National Air Quality Index under the Central Pollution Control Board says that the Air Quality Index of 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor, 401-500 is severe. On November 3 this year, the Air Quality Index had settled at 494.

The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority declared a public health emergency in the Delhi-NCR region and banned all construction activities till November 5. Schools were asked to close down in that period as well. The prominent pollutant in this period and as it continues to be is PM2.5. These are a fine particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter that enables them to easily lodge in the lungs and cause health problems.

PM 2.5 exposure was reported to be responsible for 7.6% of all global deaths in 2015. China and India each had the highest absolute numbers of deaths attributable to PM 2.5.

The National Air Quality Index says that very poor AQI can cause respiratory illnesses on prolonged exposure and severe AQI can affect even those with healthy lungs. Doctors say that an increase in the number of lung cancer cases in non-smokers indicates a link with indoor pollution, among others.

Pollution-related health problems common among children in Delhi

“My son was only eight months old when he had had to take the aid of a nebuliser for the first time for a respiratory problem,” said Nilangshu Nandi who worked in the corporate sector in Delhi but moved out of the city in May 2018 said. He now lives with his wife and son in Bengaluru. “The paediatrician told us that it was a very common problem for young children in Delhi, even newborns and that most parents have nebulisers at home,” he said.

Paediatrician Sudip Choudhury agrees that respiratory problems like asthma, bronchitis, cough, and cold—of different degrees—have become common among children in Delhi-NCR and “the main cause for this is air pollution”. “These problems spike during winters when there is heavy smog, but this time has been exceptionally bad,”  Choudhury of Columbia Asia hospital told Mongabay-India.

When they were in Delhi, Nilangshu said that they had to use the nebuliser once every fortnight for their baby boy, particularly around this time of the year. “We couldn’t take him out to the park, to the market (around this time of the year); just sit in the car or go to malls … as a father, it was too much to see your baby suffer so much.”

Architect Sona Mahesh similarly felt the sting of her five-year-old’s compromised health each time they went for a holiday, away from Delhi where they lived.

“If it was a long weekend, we’d head for the hills; if it was longer, we’d go to Goa or someplace else. It was as if we were just waiting for an excuse to run from the city! Each time we were in the hills or in Goa, my daughter would have none of her stuffy nose or cough problems and we’d feel much better too. It was only a matter of time before we called it quits with Delhi,” Mahesh said. She left her full-time job in an architecture firm in Delhi to move to Goa last year where she now works as a freelance consultant for similar firms. “Money-wise, I have taken a big cut, but there’s no compromising on the health of the family,” she said.

Also read: Government Denies Link Between Air Pollution and Disease, Deaths

Jobs and lifestyle compromises for health

Like Mukuta and her husband, relocating was not an easy choice for Nilangshu and his wife, nor was it for Namita, Sona, or the many other families who have already made the move or are in the process of doing so. At times, compromises have had to be made in terms of jobs and a trimmed-down lifestyle. “I am compromising my career, my social life, staying away from my family, just so my baby can be safe,” Mukuta, who is now in Toronto, said. Nilangshu similarly said that their move to Bengaluru did not help him “financially” because they had to move “out of desperation”.

Even for families without children, pollution, particularly air pollution, is becoming a driving force to take the exit route from Delhi. Pranjal Deka and his wife, for example, are planning to move to Canada next year. Apart from healthier air quality, easier immigration policies and good career prospects have been attracting young Indian professionals to Canada in large numbers over the last few years.

For Pranjal and his wife, who works with an embassy in Delhi, the tipping point has been the pollution.  “Mainly for its (pollution) effect on our health,” he said, “Both me and my wife have mild bronchitis, which aggravates with the rising smog.” That they did not want to raise a child in an increasingly unhealthy environment, also played a role in their decision-making.

“But the decision has not been easy. Both of us have been in Delhi for the last 13 years and are well-settled in our careers,” he said in retrospect. To move at this stage means rebuilding everything all over again − but Pranjal said it’s a risk worth taking. It certainly is for parents like Nilangshu, whose son has had to use the nebuliser only twice in the past year and a half, as compared to once every fortnight when they were in Delhi.

The article was originally published on Mongabay. You can read it here. 

Delhi: Task Force Recommends Ban on Construction During Night for Five Days

The city’s air quality plunged to a ‘very poor’ category on Thursday, after fluctuating between ‘moderate’ and ‘poor’ for six days.

New Delhi: A 10-member task force on the Graded Response Action Plan on Thursday recommended that construction activities in Delhi and satellite towns be banned between 6 pm and 6 am from October 26 to October 30.

The Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority will take a call on the recommendation on Friday.

During a meeting, the task force headed by Central Pollution Control Board member secretary Prashant Gargava also recommended closing coal-based industries, barring power plants, in satellite towns of Faridabad, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Sonepat, and Bahadurgarh during the period.

“In Delhi, industries which have not yet shifted to piped natural gas to remain closed from October 26 to 30,” the task force suggested.

It also asked all implementing agencies to take strict action to check stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, and ensure enforcement of the Supreme Court’s directions regarding firecrackers and impound “visibly” polluting vehicles.

“Hot mix plants, stone crushers and construction activities, such as earthwork, which have potential to generate dust to be banned between 6 pm and 6 am from October 26 to 30 in Delhi and satellite towns namely Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Sonepat, and Bahadurgarh,” it recommended.

Also read: Should We Generate Energy by Burning Trash?

The task force also suggested the traffic police of Delhi and adjacent NCR towns to deploy additional manpower to ensure the smooth movement of vehicles in all areas, especially the identified high-traffic corridors in the national capital. “Visibly polluting vehicles should be impounded,” it said.

The task force also suggested that the district administrations of Delhi-NCR ensure zero tolerance towards the operation of illegal industries and the use of unauthorised fuel.

At the meeting convened to review the air quality situation in view of Diwali, stubble burning and changing weather, V.K. Soni, a scientist at the India Meteorological Department, said wind speed and direction will fluctuate.

“Easterly winds are expected to turn northwesterly from October 27. On October 28, fog is also expected,” he said.

The CPCB member-secretary emphasized that the next few days will be challenging and in addition to intense actions by implementing agencies, additional preventive measures may be required to check the deterioration of air quality.

Days before Diwali, the city’s air quality plunged to a ‘very poor’ category on Thursday, after fluctuating between ‘moderate’ and ‘poor’ for six days, due to unfavourable wind speed. The overall air quality index stood at 318 and entered the severe category in Mundka (418).

After Slight Improvement, Delhi’s Air Quality Turns ‘Severe’ Again

According to the Air Quality Index, 26 areas in Delhi recorded ‘severe’ air quality, while 8 gauged ‘very poor’ due to unfavourable meteorological conditions.

New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality deteriorated again to the severe category on Saturday due to unfavourable meteorological conditions after showing a slight improvement on Friday, authorities said. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city reached 417, which is in the ‘severe’ category.

Twenty six areas in Delhi recorded ‘severe’ air quality, while eight gauged ‘very poor’, it said. In NCR areas, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Noida recorded ‘severe’ air quality, the CPCB said. Delhi’s air quality slightly improved on Friday with improved wind speed but due to unfavourable meteorological conditions again turned severe, officials said.

The overall PM 2.5 level (fine particulate matter in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) in Delhi was recorded at 298 μg/m3 while the PM 10 level was at 468 μg/m3, the CPCB said.

An AQI between 100 and 200 comes under ‘moderate’ category, 201 and 300 is considered ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, while that between 401 and 500 is ‘severe’.

Also Read: The Human Cost of Delhi’s Quick-Fix Pollution Control Measures

Authorities said the severe air quality is due to unfavourable meteorological conditions and sufficient rainfall that is predicted for Saturday might improve the air quality but warned that little showers with calm winds would only aggravate the situation rapidly.

As per the centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR) model, fog intensity is likely to decline with increased gusty winds.

“An active western disturbance is very likely to cause fairly widespread moisture intrusion over the northern region, including Delhi, but only after three days when withdrawal is expected,” it said.

In view of the air quality in Delhi, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) had ordered a 24-hour ban on the entry of trucks into the national capital. The entry of trucks to Delhi would be disallowed “from 11 pm on Friday to 11 pm on Saturday in view of the severe pollution in the city”, the EPCA instructed authorities.

In a letter to the chief secretaries of Delhi and the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, EPCA chief Bhure Lal directed them to stop the entry of truck traffic into the national capital (except essential commodities) during the period.

This would be a second time this season that a ban on the entry of trucks would be imposed. Earlier, it was done in November when the deterioration of air quality was observed.

Delhi’s Air Quality Remains Very Poor, Slight Reprieve Expected

Increased wind speed may improve the air quality over the next few days.

New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality remained in the very poor category on Wednesday, though authorities expressed hope that a slight improvement may be observed in the next few days due to increased wind speed.

The Central Pollution Control Board recorded an overall air quality index (AQI) of 332, which falls in the “very poor” category.

An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered poor, 301 and 400 very poor and 401 and 500 is severe.

Mundka recorded severe air quality, while 24 areas reported very poor air quality. Eight areas recorded poor air quality, according to the CPCB.

The overall PM2.5 (fine particulate matter in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometre) level was recorded at 186 μg/m3 and the PM10 level at 360 μg/m3, it said.

In NCR, Ghaziabad recorded worst air quality in severe category at an AQI of 404. Faridabad and Noida recorded very poor air quality while Gurgaon recorded poor air quality.

The Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR) said the overall air quality over Delhi continues to remain in the very poor range.

“It may improve a few notches tomorrow (Thursday) but will remain in very poor category. Moderate surface wind speed is the only weather factor not allowing pollution to accumulate significantly and working positively to an extent. Rest of the weather conditions are unfavourable for the air quality,” it said.

According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, the maximum ventilation index was likely around 5000 sqm/second on Tuesday.

A ventilation index lower than 6,000 sqm/second with average wind speed less than 10 kmph is unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants, IITM said.

A Central Pollution Control Board taskforce has identified 21 hotspots of high pollution levels in Delhi-NCR and directed the respective area municipal corporations to take “focussed actions”.

The taskforce has also asked authorities to carry out inspection in Loni Bhopura, in Ghaziabad, from where repeated complaints of violations of norms associated with pollution-causing activities have been received, according to minutes of a meeting of the taskforce held in Delhi Tuesday.

The taskforce has identified 15 hotspots in Delhi. They are: Anand Vihar, Bawana, CRRI Mathura Road, DTU, Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, Dwarka-Sector 8, Jahangirpuri, Mundaka, NSIT Dwarka, Narela, Okhla Phase-2, R K Puram, Rohini, Shadipur, Wazirpur.

Many of the hotspots are already experiencing severe pollution levels.

In NCR areas outside Delhi, six hotspots have been identified. They are: Sector-16A in Faridabad, Vikas Sadan in Gurgaon, Vasundhara in Ghaziabad, Knowledge Park-III in Greater Noida, Sector-125 in Noida and RIICO Industrial Area-III in Bhiwadi.

Delhi’s Air Quality to Remain ‘Severe’ Till Saturday, Says SAFAR

The city recorded the overall air quality index of 642.

New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality would remain in the severe category till Saturday and the already toxic situation caused by smoke from fireworks is likely to aggravate further due to intensified stubble burning in neighbouring states, government-run agency SAFAR said Friday.

Delhi’s air quality showed “significant” improvement as compared to Thursday when it went off the charts to the “severe plus emergency” category. The city recorded the overall air quality index of 642, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

On Friday, the AQI was recorded in the severe category at 426.

“As per satellite images, heavy fire counts were recorded in the last 24 hour and the latest SAFAR model results show a movement of cold front carrying heavy air mass towards Delhi region,” SAFAR said.

Also read: Delhi’s Air Is Awful – and It’s Not Even the Worst India Has to Offer

Elaborating on it, the weather forecast system said the air in the surrounding stubble-burning areas is already heavy due to increased moisture and pollutants.This heavy air will travel towards Delhi, where a similar situations exists, in the next 24 hours. This combined effect might add to the pollution woes.

“There is a possibility that the wind may pick up at the upper level, late in the night and push the level of pollution and keep it in severe zone tomorrow with intensified fog which will further trap the pollutants,” it said.

The entry of heavy and medium goods vehicles into the national capital has already been banned for three days beginning 11 pm on Thursday night as a measure to check air pollution in Delhi.

(PTI)

Nearly 50 Lakh Kg of Firecrackers Burst This Diwali in Delhi

This was the same amount of firecrackers as those burst last year, equating 1,50,000 kg of PM2.5 mass (particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres).

New Delhi: Close to 50 lakh kg of firecrackers were burst in Delhi on Diwali despite a Supreme Court directive limiting the bursting of crackers to only two hours, according to a report by a research group.

That is the same amount of firecrackers burst last year, equating 1,50,000 kg of PM2.5 mass (particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres).

Reacting to the report by Urban Emissions, Ritwick Dutta, environmental lawyer, said the violation is not unexpected.

“One cannot expect an overnight change in people’s behaviour because of a court order. But at least there is a recognition by the court of the harmful consequences of crackers and the gradual realisation by the public that using crackers is not acceptable any more,” he said.

Partly as a result of smoke from crackers, the overall air quality index (AQI) in Delhi jumped to 642, which falls in the ‘severe-plus emergency’ category, according to the data by Centre-run SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research).

Delhi’s air quality is expected to remain ‘severe’ over the next two days as the smoke emitted by firecrackers has slowed down the process of pollutant dispersion, a report by a government-run agency said Thursday.

In a gross violation of the Supreme Court order, people in several cities burst firecrackers before and after the specified time period. Violations were also reported in Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur and other major cities.

(PTI)

Ground Report: Illegal Mining in Aravali Has Not Stopped Despite SC Ban

The electoral battle is a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. However, politicians from both parties have a stake in the mining business – it funds their election campaigns.

Alwar, Rajasthan: Last month, when the Supreme Court ordered the Rajasthan government to ensure that all illegal mining in the Aravali region was stopped within 48 hours, one man had doubts whether mining companies and contractors would comply. Haribol baba, a sadhu-activist who has been fighting against illegal mining in Aravali for more than 15 years, knew that the nexus between politicians, contactors and bureaucrats was too strong.

The sadhu wasn’t wrong. The illegal mining has not stopped. This reporter travelled in Alwar and Bharatpur districts and found mining and stone-crushing even after the SC lambasted the state government just a week ago. In some parts, like Ladiya near Bhiwadi, quarries even ran in the daytime.

Also Read: In Five Years, 98.87 Lakh Tonne Minerals Were Illegally Mined in Five Rajasthan Districts: CAG

“Many people mint money with this  activity here. The politicians put pressure on bureaucrats and even they (bureaucrats) find it lucrative,” said 44-year-old Haribol baba. “There was one officer who earned so much money during his tenure that he later became directly involved in the mining activity. The court has ordered mining to be stopped several times, but the government is not keen.”

A view of devastated Aravali hills in Alwar district of Rajasthan Credit: Hridayesh Joshi

The vanishing Aravalis

A Supreme Court bench had banned illegal mining in Aravali last month when the committee it had appointed said that 31 of the 128 of Aravali hills have vanished.

The court observed that “humans seems to be flying away with the hills just like Hanuman”, adding that the destruction of the Aravalis endangers lives of millions of people in Delhi as well.

The Aravalis are critical for recharging groundwater in Rajasthan and Haryana. They prevent the spread of Thar desert towards Delhi. Credit: Hridayesh Joshi

Apart from their ground water recharging capability, the Aravalis prevent the spread of the Thar desert towards the capital and block dust storms from an already choking Delhi. The Supreme Court echoed the views of environment experts, saying the hills work as a “barrier” and reduce the pollution in Delhi and its surrounding areas.

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“The air quality index (AQI) which crosses 400 or 500 every winter will easily reach 700 or 800 if the Aravalis are not protected,” says Harinder Dhingra, a Gurgaon based environmental activist.

Impounded vehicles carrying illegally mined material in Alwar. Credit: Hridayesh Joshi

The Aravalis are rich in biodiversity and function like mini-ground water towers that absorb rainwater, reviving the ground water level. In many parts of Rajasthan and Haryana, illegal mining has wiped out many hills. As a result, dealing with the rapidly falling water level will be a big challenge soon.

One mine worker in Bharatpur says that the the hill landscape has changed a lot over the past 15 years. “The hillocks have disappeared very quickly,” said the worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “A large number of contractors are involved in the illegal mining. The violation has increased by leaps and bounds in the past one-and-a-half decade,” he added.

The Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India (FSI) had also reported last year that illegal mining could be observed in 778 hectares of area in the Aravali region. State government officials dispute the FSI’s study. The government has admitted in court that illegal mining was observed in 115 hectares.

Illegal mining occurs even in daylight. Photo of mining equipment was taken in Ladiya region of Alwar after the workers fled, leaving the tools behind. Credit: Abhishek Upadhyay

Flouting court orders

When this reporter reached Ladiya, mining was underway. When the workers spotted us, they ran away, leaving behind the equipment. The administration and police’s sloppy attitude ensures that illegal activities are carried out brazenly in many places. Even in the Nagal area of Bharatpur, this reporter observed mining in action in broad daylight, apart from and stone crushers.

Illegal mining continues despite the Supreme Court’s order in Nagal area of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. Credit: Hridayesh Joshi

In several places, the stone crushers begin working at dusk and carry on till early morning. The stones are loaded onto trucks and tractors and are transported out of the quarries under the cover of darkness. In some places, it is business as usual even after daybreak.

Truck carrying illegally mined material. Credit: Hridayesh Joshi

Local activists and reporters also displayed videos and photographs showing mining activity in places like Gadhaner, Chinawada, Bolkhera, Lahsher, Indroli, Bhuapurgadi and Chapara. All of them fall under the Bharatpur and Alwar districts, where officials claim illegal mining is absent.

In the past, some government officials have paid with their lives for standing up to the ‘mining mafia’. Last year, Lalaram Yadav, a constable of Rajasthan police, was run over by a truck driver in Chaupanki area in Alwar district. He was trying to stop a vehicle that was transporting illegally mined materials.

Constable Lalaram Yadav was run over by a truck last year when he tried to stop it from carrying illegally mined stones. Credit: Hridayesh Joshi

A lucrative cottage industry

Chetan Agarwal, an ecological expert who has witnessed mining in the Aravalis closely over the past decade, says illegal mining has become a “lucrative cottage industry” and a “way of life”. “Even if the court bans mining, it carries on at several places on a smaller scale. Frequently, illegally mined materials are mixed with material that has been legally mined. This helps evade tax and makes it lucrative,” he says.

Most of the illegal mining occurs after dusk and the material is transported before sunrise. Credit: Hridayesh Joshi

The Rajasthan government informed the Supreme Court last month that it receives Rs 5,000 crore in royalties from mining. The government does not receive any revenue from illegal mining, resulting in a huge loss to exchequer. In 2013, Alwar district forest officer P. Kathirvel had calculated that the state had lost around Rs 50,000 crore over 15 years in just Bhiwadi area. When contacted, the officer declined to comment but confirmed that he had written to senior officers to set up an enquiry to reveal the gamut of illegal mining.

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Not an election issue

Despite the issue’s economic and environmental significance, political parties are not keen to make it part of their election agenda. With assembly polls due on December 7, the issue of illegal mining is completely missing from political discourse.

The electoral battle is a direct contest between the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Congress. However, politicians from both parties have a stake in the mining business, either directly or otherwise. Money generated from mining is used to fund their election campaigns.

Also Read: BJP Minister in Rajasthan Booked for Seeking Votes in the Name of Religion

“Why would any party make this an election issue when their own supporters benefit out of it? Members of Sangh parivar organisations such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal are involved in the mining today. If the Congress comes to power, their people have the contracts,” says Omprakash, a resident of Pahari tahsil in Bharatpur district.

The economic gains of mining are so overpowering that apart from the environment, the religious constituency is also ignored. The BJP, which often rides the election campaign on Hindutva issues, has dismissed the dissenting sadhus on this issue. Haribol baba and his guru Ramesh baba have been protesting against the destruction of the hills for many years because the Kama and Pahari Tehsil are considered part of Lord Krishna’s land. They say that the BJP government has not extended any support.

Haribol Baba, a sadhu activist fighting to stop illegal mining. Credit: Hridayesh Joshi

Haribol baba said the sadhus were disappointed with the BJP’s failure to save the dharamsthali (holy land). “When we organise protest they suppress us. They slap cases on us and other devotees and when we try to file a complaint against the illegal miners, they refuse to lodge them,” says Haribol Baba.

Hridayesh Joshi is an independent journalist. He tweets at @hridayeshjoshi.