Prakash Javadeker launches India Climate Change Knowledge Portal
Minister of Environment,Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar today launched the India Climate Change Knowledge Portal. The portal will have all the major steps the Government is taking at both national and international levels to address the climate change issues.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Javadekar said,it will be a single-point information resource that provides information on the different climate initiatives taken by various Line Ministries enabling users to access d status on these initiatives.
With regard to climate actions after the Paris Agreement, Mr Javadekar said, India has practically achieved its pre-2020 climate action targets. He said, though India is not responsible for climate change but it is taking responsible action to mitigate the challenge. Mr Javadekar also demanded that other countries must commit to the advance commitments of Kyoto Protocol which has not been followed by the countries that must be done.
Odisha Forest Officer Suspended After Arrest In Disproportionate Asset Case
The Odisha government on Friday placed a senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer under suspension hours after he was sent to jail following his arrest by the anti-corruption vigilance in a disproportionate asset case, official sources said. Abhay Kant Pathak, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Plan, Program & Afforestation, was arrested along with his son Akash Kumar Pathak in connection with the case. The court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar remanded them to judicial custody till December 9. According to some media reports, the father-son duo had also chartered planes during the lockdown.
The 1987 batch IFS officer was found in possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 9.35 crore beyond his known sources of income. This amount was about 435 per cent of the total income from all his known sources, an official statement said.
Since huge cash deposits have been made in private banks through deposit slips and ATM counters and high-value transactions have been made in the accounts by the father-son duo, details of operations of the banks concerned in this regard are being probed, it said. Details of their income tax returns, investments in shares, mutual funds and other market instruments are also being ascertained.
Before arresting the officer and his son, vigilance sleuths had made simultaneous searches at five places in Bhubaneswar, seven places in Mumbai and Pune and one place in Bihar on November 25 and 26. During the search, they found Rs 60 lakh in cash, gold ornaments weighing 800 gm and documents relating to purchase of gold jewellery worth Rs 23 lakh, the statement said. Expensive cars and motorbikes have been found registered in the name of his son, it said.
DDA notifies change in land use of plot in city forest for Ravidas temple construction
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has notified the change in land use of a plot in Jahanpanah City forest in South Delhi’s Tughlaqabad to facilitate the building of Sant Ravidas temple . The land will now be handed over to the devotees of Guru Ravidas for temple construction.
As per the Gazette notification, the land use of a 400 square metre plot has been changed from “recreational” to “public and semi-public”. The change is land use was approved by the DDA in September in a meeting chaired by Delhi’s lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal, who is also chairman of DDA.
The DDA officials said after all the necessary approval, the land use has been changed in the Master Plan of Delhi-2021.
In August last year, the DDA had demolished the temple, located at the city forest, in pursuance of a Supreme Court order. This had led to larges-cale protest by the devotees of Guru Ravidas in Delhi and several parts of north India. In November 2019, the Supreme Court had allowed construction of the temple at the same location.
A DDA official said the process to allot the land to devotees will be initiated once they register themselves as a society or committee. “According to rules, the land can only be allotted to a committee and there is no committee as such registered at present,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.
MR Balli, general secretary of the 11-member committee that was constituted following the Supreme Court order, said the devotees are in the process of registering themselves as a society under the Societies Act. “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a delay in getting the society registered as our members are spread across the country. But we will very soon get it done, as we want the temple to be rebuilt at the earliest,” he said.
Green Court Takes Cognisance of Workers’ Issues in Ship-breaking Yard, Orders Remedial Measures
Taking cognisance of poor working conditions of manual labourers and the environment in general at Alang ship-breaking facility in Gujarat, the National Green Tribunal issued an order on Friday, November 27, directing for the formation of an expert panel to recommend ameliorative measures. These recommendations will be included in the list of terms and conditions of the Environmental Clearance that has been granted to Gujarat Maritime Board for expanding the existing ship breaking facility.
The tribunal has also directed for the upgradation of yards at the facility and regular monitoring of the coastal zone area to assess adverse impact on the environment from ship-breaking activities. It has directed the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to monitor compliance with these directions twice every year.
The directions were issued by the tribunal while disposing off an application filed by a Mumbai-based non-profit organiSation, Conservation Action Trust, challenging the Environmental Clearance and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance granted for the expansion project. The primary contention of the petitioner was that the ‘beaching method’ of ship-breaking, which is being followed at the Alang facility, is unsafe and hazardous for environment and marine biodiversity.
A four-judge bench of the tribunal – Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and Expert Members Satyawan Singh Garbyal and Nagin Nanda – found no merit, however, in the contention that run offs from ship-breaking activities in Alang over the past around 40 years has been polluting the environment of the region. However, the bench stated that there exists the need to periodically monitor the coastal ecology of the region to examine impacts of ship-breaking activities.
“While we are in agreement with the broad conclusions in the [MoEF&CC-commissioned] report that there is no serious adverse impact on the environment by the project, we are of the opinion that there is a scope for improvement of environment and public health in general and the health and welfare of the workers. This aspect may be independently considered by the MoEF&CC by appointing a five members Committee of domain experts, including from the Institute of Occupational Health, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Labour. Such a Committee may be constituted within one month which may give its report within six months. The project proponent [Gujarat Maritime Board] may take action on such recommendations which will be treated as a condition for the EC [Environmental Clearance],” the bench has stated in the judgement.
G20 stimulus potential triple win for climate, biodiversity and pandemic prevention
A new report is calling on the G20 to fund ‘Nature-based Solutions’ that address three main risks to humankind: biodiversity loss, climate change and global pandemics.
In the lead up to the G20 summit in Saudi-Arabia, the “Nexus Report: Nature Based Solutions to the Biodiversity and Climate Crisis”, co-authored by Professor Brendan Mackey Director of the Griffith University Climate Action Beacon, highlights the crucial need for increased protection and restoration schemes in tropical forests and coastal ecosystems.
Professor Brendan Mackey, Director of the Griffith Climate Change Response Program and Co-Director of the Whales and Climate research
“There’s a proven link between the current pandemics we are facing and biodiversity and climate change, and that nexus is forest conservation,” Professor Mackey said.
“Conservation of the most carbon-dense and biodiversity-rich forest ecosystems not only protect the biodiversity of plants and animals, it stores carbon in the trees and soil helping prevent global warming. Protecting tropical forest also acts as a natural quarantine zone, restricting the spillover of potentially harmful viruses from wildlife into human populations and livestock.”
He said COVID-19 had demonstrated the cost of imbalances between people and nature.
“Unfortunately, current economic stimulus packages launched by many G20 nations in response to the COVID-19 crisis could reinforce negative environmental trends, leading to further irreversible damage to both ecosystems and the climate, and to the possible outbreak of new pandemics.
“The members of the G20, constituting most of the world’s people, economic and trade activity, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, and COVID-19 cases – have a critical leadership role to play in ensuring this doesn’t happen.”
The report, commissioned by Foundation 20, Campaign for Nature and the Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE), found that integrating Nature-Based Solutions as a core element of G20 nations economic stimulus packages is the most promising pathway to achieving the G20 summit’s key objective of safeguarding the planet.
New study links rate of COVID-19 spread to PM 2.5 concentration in ambient air
Ambient particulate matter 2.5 concentration directly corresponds to the speed at which the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreads through a population, a recent study from the United States has said.
It added that the presence of secondary pollutants such as nitrates and sulfates increase the reproduction rate of the virus SARS-CoV-2.
Several studies had earlier highlighted that long-term exposure to air pollution renders a population more vulnerable to COVID-19. The lungs of those exposed to air pollution experience faster disease prognosis and hence, result in higher mortality rates.
The latest research from the lab of professor Rajan Chakrabarty at University of Washington at St Louis, to be published in Journal of Science of the Total Environment, found a positive correlation between state wise R0 and PM 2.5 between March 2 and April 30, 2020.
This period was marked by a rapid surge in COVID-19 cases across the US, despite implementation of strict social distancing norms and a significant drop in air pollution.
Scientifically, the pace at which a disease spreads through a population is estimated using a dimensionless epidemiological parameter knows as the ‘basic reproduction ratio’ and denoted as R0. It is the average number of individuals that one infected patient would infect in a susceptible population.
Tackling air pollution, therefore, must be integrated with all strategies to control the surge in COVID-19 cases. Our standards that are already much weaker than those of the United States need a major revision. What we Indians have traditionally considered safe and clean air — is the air actually safe?
If even low levels of PM2.5 can increase the rate of infection, one can compute horrific possibilities with levels such high as ours
The pandemic can help us help us learn many lessons regarding public health measures. Tackling air pollution at the source and revising out standards is just one of them.
Environment ministry defers clearance to dam in M.P., part of Ken-Betwa interlinking project
- An expert panel of the environment ministry has deferred clearance to the Lower Orr dam project in Madhya Pradesh, which is part of the phase-II of the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project.
- The expert panel has sought fresh environmental data to study the anticipated impact on the environment and finalise if a new public hearing is required before the project is considered for environment clearance.
- Identified as a national project, it is part of the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project and envisages construction of a 45 metre high and 2,218-metre long dam across Orr river near village Didauni in Madhya Pradesh to provide irrigation facility to 90,000 hectares of area.
- Subsequently, the forest clearance was recommended in February 2019 by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the MoEFCC allowing diversion of 968.24 hectares of forest land. The project proponents finally submitted the forest clearance in October 2020 to seek a final environment clearance which was recommended to them in 2016.
- As the project would lead to submergence of prime forest area, which is also the habitat of endangered species like tiger and vultures, it had faced stiff opposition from the wildlife experts and conservationists.
- One of the arguments against the project has been that it will lead to the destruction of dense forests and that it is trying to build a solution by threatening the existence of existing conservation success – successful relocation of tigers to the Panna Tiger Reserve.
- The Supreme Court’s committee in its report had noted that the cost of implementation of the landscape management plan for tiger conservation and the species recovery programme for vultures and gharial is yet to be worked out and once included in the cost-benefit analysis, could make the Ken-Betwa project economically unviable.
Delhi hasn’t done enough to contain COVID-19, Centre tells Supreme Court
An unbridled surge in the novel coronavirus disease has already added the ‘COVID capital’ moniker to Delhi. Now the Narendra Modi government has blamed the Arvind Kejriwal administration for the situation, that too in front of the Supreme Court.
The Delhi government took “no effective preventive steps to contain the infection” despite repeated warnings and specific guidelines, even when indications of an impending surge was clear, the Union home ministry alleged November 26, 2020.
The state government knew winter, festivals and polluted air together could drive up cases, the Centre claimed in an affidavit. A high-power committee had warned it of about 15,000 cases per day and recommended that 6,500 beds be readied at intensive care units (ICU) in city hospital.
According to the affidavit:
The Government of National Captial Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) did not take any timely measures to increase the ICU beds from the present level of around 3,500, thus causing a sudden pressure to come on the health and medical infrastructure in Delhi.
The Centre alleged Delhi did not beef up testing — especially through RT-PCR kits — enough; they remained static around 20,000 for long despite “repeated exhortations”.
Amit Shah’s ministry also blamed the situation on lacunae in containment measures — including house-to-house surveillance, contact-tracing, quarantine and clinical management. Those who came in contact with patients isolated at homes were not traced properly, it claimed.
Calls to Delhi government officials, including Principal Secretary in health department Vikram Dev Dutt went unanswered.
Expect more elephant raids during paddy harvest in Dooars this year
People in north Bengal are on tenterhooks this November as the paddy harvesting season starts. They have reason enough to be so. The region is known for human-elephant conflicts. Add to this, more paddy has been planted this year due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Lakshman Oraon sounds anxious. He is a small-scale paddy farmer from the Patibari division of Jalpaiguri district in the Dooars region of north Bengal.
Oraon said this year, COVID-19 returnees had brought more area under paddy cultivation than usual. “Migrants have not left any space and covered every inch of the ground with paddy. Last year the situation was not like this,” he said.
Paddy farmer Om Narayan from Bagrakote gram panchayat of Jalpaiguri corroborated Oraon’s statement.
He said in his area, 30 per cent of people used to cultivate paddy usually. But this time, it had gone up to 100 per cent due to the lack of jobs during COVID-19. Many workers came back from Kerala and Goa and grew paddy after a gap of seven-eight years.
Elephant raids in crop fields are not a new thing in north Bengal, which is interspersed with patchy forests, tea gardens, human habitations and paddy fields.
According to a study published by Souraditya Chakraborty, north Bengal experiences one of the highest levels of human-elephant conflict in Asia.
Another study published in July 2020 in the journal PeerJ, said: “The north Bengal region situated at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas is well known for the severity of human-wildlife conflicts with nearly 500 fatal attacks on humans by elephants in the last 15 years.” In fatal cases, the compensation paid to victims’ families is Rs 400,000.
According to a report by non-profit Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) titled Right of Passage, about 34 per cent of the elephant range in North Bengal was under forest cover, 22 per cent under tea gardens, 17 per cent under agriculture and 27 per cent under human habitation and development activities.
North Bengal has 13 elephant corridors that are narrow strips of land running from anything between 5 km and 50 km and connecting two habitats. According to Sourav Mandal who works with Spoar, paddy cultivated around tea gardens created obstructions for elephants as major elephant movement occured through tea estates. From 88 in 2005, the number of functional corridors has gone up to 101 in India. The idea is that even if there is a multiple land use system, the animals should keep on moving.
NTPC fly ash discharge in Chhattisgarh sparks water contamination fears in Odisha
A massive discharge of fly ash slurry from National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd’s (NTPC) Lara Thermal Power station’s ash pond in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district has raised concerns about the state efforts on fly ash management.
The fly ash slurry flew over nine hours November 23, 2020 into the adjacent Sukhanara nallah and entered into the agricultural lands nearby. The incident has raised contentiousness with the Odisha government as well: The three gates of the plant are merely 150 metres away from the Odisha border, and the discharge may affect the quality of drinking water there.
The discharge could eventually enter the Hirakud reservoir across the Mahanadi, contaminating the drinking water, aquatic lives and agricultural land.
Pradeep Biswal, sarpanch of Charpali panchayat, Lakhanpur block, Jharsuguda district, Odisha visited the spot and found the slurry flowed heavily from three outlet gates of the ash pond. Following this, he directed several calls to the general manager of the plant, Alois Topno.
The six panchayats — Kandekela, Remta, Charpali, Pithinda, Kanaktora and Badimal of Lakhanpur block — come under the buffer zone of Lara Thermal Plant. But since 2014, the inhabitants of these panchayats have been protesting, urging the NTPC management and Chhattisgarh government to hold a public hearing and environment assessment for these panchayats.
The incident needs to be handled with care; while the Mahanadi water dispute is still subjudiced, Lara Plant’s discharge issue is a contentious matter between the Odisha and Chhattisgarh governments.
Karnataka has proposed a new bill wherein all cattle will be defined as beef. This move would result in a complete cattle meat ban across the state.
Karnataka will have one of the most stringent anti-cow slaughter laws and a complete beef ban if a proposed bill goes through in the upcoming Winter Session of the Karnataka Assembly.
Minister for Animal Husbandry Prabhu Chauhan told that the proposed bill will be an enhanced version of Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2010, and it will also see modified punishments compared to the previous version of the bill.
“The new bill introduced will be a modified version of the 2010 bill and there will be some changes in the punishment as well,” Chauhan said.
Clause 5 of the 2010 Bill had proposed the prohibition on the sale, use, and possession of beef. It had also proposed not less than a one-year jail term and up to Rs 25,000 fine for the sale and the possession of beef. These provisions will be retained in the new bill, Chauhan added.
What is the 2010 Bill?
Karnataka already has an anti-cattle slaughter bill – Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964. The provisions of this, however, were restricted to the slaughter of cows, calves and she-buffaloes.
The law allowed for the slaughter of bulls, bullocks and buffaloes, provided they were aged above twelve, or were no longer fit for breeding or did not give milk. The law also required certification from the competent authority for slaughter.
The maximum imprisonment for violating the provisions of the 1964 Act is six months and a Rs 1,000 fine.
However, in 2010, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) proposed a bill to make slaughter of all kinds of cattle, including buffaloes, a punishable crime.
As per the 2010 draft, violations of the new law would be punishable with imprisonment for not less than one year, which may extend up to seven years, or a fine between Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000, or both. A second and subsequent offence would attract a fine of not less than Rs 50,000 up to Rs 1 lakh along with an imprisonment penalty.
This punishment is more than any other state in the country. The new draft is expected to retain these provisions.
Environment India 