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Pawan Gupta's findings on trans-boundary movement of pollution (Punjab to Delhi) from biomass burning in 2015 spurred debates. He participated in discussions with Indian regulators early September at the Better Air Quality Conference in Busan on the advantages of using satellite data for air quality monitoring. He explains to Down to Earth how air quality monitoring is done using satellite data. How is satellite data used to measure air pollution? Satellites that provide information on atmospheric pollutants are normally (not always) in the low earth orbits (400-1000 km above the Earth’s surface). A single satellite can carry one or more remote sensing instruments onboard that look down to earth and obtain information about the object in the field of view of satellite sensor. The Earth receives electromagnetic radiation from the sun, which travels through space and reaches the earth-atmosphere system. The radiation then interacts with the Earth’s atmosphere and the surface...

Senior advocate and amicus curiae Harish Salve, on Wednesday (October 11, 2017), told the Supreme Court that the union government is contradicting its own reports and stand on various air pollution issues. While reading out the affidavit filed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) in response to Comprehensive Action Plan prepared by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), Salve told the bench consisting of Justice Madan Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta that the government is saying that air pollution is not a problem in Delhi and the international reports/studies, which showed health impacts of air pollution in Delhi, are very misguiding. The ministry, according to Salve, filed the affidavit after being briefed by the SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers). Salve pointed out that while the government, in its affidavit, said that CNG should not be promoted as it “is one of the major contributors of NOX and it is also expected t...

This year, Delhi’s air quality started to worsen since the end of September with both PM2.5 and PM10 level showing a gradual rise. So, will the city once again be choked by deadly smog? A lot depends on its neighbouring states and how they address the issue of crop residue burning. In both Haryana and Punjab, the state governments’ claims of offering support to farmers to prevent them from burning crop residue have been questioned. While Haryana government claims that they are holding awareness camps in villages and farmers are being offered subsidies up to Rs 63,000 on equipment to help clear crop stubbles without burning, reports suggest that stubble burning incidents continue unabated with farmers complaining of getting no help from the local authorities. Moreover, the authorities reportedly harassed marginal farmers in Panipat district by imposing fines for burning crop residue. Similarly, the Punjab government claimed that it has adopted farmers from Kalar Majri—a ‘model’ vil...

The Commonwealth Games (CWG) which India hosted in 2010 may have been forgotten for various reasons but one of its legacy projects is thriving and helping citizens with air quality information. The project known as “System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research” or SAFAR-India, initiated by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, provides location specific information on air quality in near real-time and forecasts up to three days. It was introduced in the national capital during the games, and later on in Mumbai and Pune. On Friday, the service will be launched in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. The system has been developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune along with India Meteorological Department (IMD). It is being implemented in various cities in collaboration with local authorities. The system synthesizes data on sources of air pollution, its transport over neighbouring states, modelling processes, its impact on public health, food, regional climate, to ...

The Supreme Court, on May 2, asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to frame emission standards for industries in the National Capital Region. The court directed that standards must be prepared by June 30 and must be complied with by December. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing in a 1985 PIL filed by environmentalist M C Mehta, said that pet coke and furnace oil, which are being used by industries, are harmful because of their high sulphur content. The Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) said that emission of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides has to be brought down for improving the quality of air in NCR. The EPCA representative added that China had stopped importing the two substances on environmental grounds. Currently, there are no standards for sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions from industries in the country. Use of pet coke and furnace oil, which are by-products from refineries, is banned in New Delhi, but remains rampant in other pa...

The Supreme Court on March 24, Friday, reiterated it firm stand against polluting vehicles and fuel, during a hearing on the registration of Bharat Stage III (BS-III) vehicles in the country. The final decision on the matter will be announced on March 27, Monday by the bench, which includes Justices Madan Lokur and Deepak Gupta. As per a Union government order, cleaner fuel complying with Bharat Stage IV standards will be available across India starting April 1, 2017. The automobile industry demanding an extension as there are over 820,000 BS-III vehicles instock, including 96,000 trucks, around 16,198 cars, close to 40,048 three wheelers and 671,305 two wheelers, which need to be released. Hearing arguments from industry representatives and amicus curie Harish Salve, the bench listed three options for dealing with the issue. First was a complete ban on BS-III vehicles which are more polluting as compared to BS-IV, as suggested by Salve. Second, the court proposed to allow registr...

In Hinduism the god of destruction is more powerful than the god of creation. There is an environmental lesson here. Today we are creating stuff—and lots of it—which is not possible to destroy in our lifetime. Think of plastic or carbon dioxide emissions. Or think of pet coke, a petroleum industry by-product. It is extremely polluting because of its high sulphur content as well as emissions of heavy metals and mercury. In fact, it’s the pollution that has been transferred from one product to another. Over the years we have progressively improved the quality of fuel for automobiles. To do this, the sulphur content in petrol and diesel has been reduced from 10,000 ppm in the mid-1990s to 50 ppm today. To meet BS VI vehicle emission standards refineries will further bring down sulphur to 10 ppm or lower. Only then can the after-treatment devices installed in vehicles work. We thought once this is done, the problem of air pollution will go away. Wrong. The fact is that the same sulphu...

Policy is perverse. Really unthinkably so. I said this before. I want to repeat and expand my reasons why. Earlier, I wrote this in the context of how policy ended up promoting the use of dirty and extremely polluting fuels in the region surrounding Delhi, even as we all shouted and howled to get rid of deadly air pollution. But this is not the full extent of the perversity of policy. There is more. But first a quick recap. Last few months, concerned about growing air pollution in our cities, I was looking at possible sources of emissions in the air. Our investigations revealed that extremely high-sulphur fuel—both furnace oil and pet coke—was being widely used in the National Capital Region (NCR). Why? Because it was cheaper than the available alternatives, natural gas and electricity. Policy ensured this happened. While natural gas was taxed, furnace oil was not. Pet coke, which has over 70,000 ppm of sulphur as against 50 ppm in diesel, is absolutely free of any control on its qu...

If this does not wake us up what will? The World Health Organization (WHO) has pressed the alarm exposing that children below five years are at the highest risk from filthy air and dirty water across the world. Environmental risks, including indoor and outdoor air pollution, second-hand smoke, unsafe water, lack of sanitation and inadequate hygiene, have taken lives of 1.7 million children under the age of five, globally. Polluted air kills the highest number of children (570,000)—who die from respiratory infections like pneumonia—dirty water kills another 361,000 children who die of diarrhea and 200,000 die due to malaria. More than quarter of these deaths is immediately avoidable if we do the clean up job well. Further analysis of the new data from the WHO shows that India’s scorecard is particularly dismal among the five rapidly growing BRICS countries: India, China, Brazil, Russian Federation and South Africa. In this group, India fares the worst not only in terms of number of d...

All India Radio News News Services Division of All India Radio in "Samayiki" programme brings to you a discussion on "Bharteeya Olympic Association Chunaav - Bharat Ki Olympics Mein Vaapsi."

Listen to Spotlight discussion on "Withdrawal of FDI in milti brand retail by Delhi Government". The participants are: Ashoka Dasgupta, Senior Economic Journalist, and Arjun J. Chaudhuri, Economic Analyst. http://www.newsonair.nic.in/full_news.asp?type=bulletins&id=105 #

he News Services Division of All India Radio in its " ‪#‎ Samayiki‬ " programme brings you a discussion on "Bharat-Ameriki Rajnayik sambandhon mein thanaav". Click here to listen the Programme in Hindi:- http://www.newsonair.nic.in/main-audio-new-player.asp?id=16312 In its "Spotlight/ News Analysis" programme ‪#‎ AIR‬ brings you a discussion on "Strain in Indo-US diplomatic relations". The participants are : Prof. S.D. Muni, Former Diplomat, and Simran Sodhi, Foreign Affairs Editor, The Statesman. Click here to listen the Programme in English:- http://www.newsonair.nic.in/main-audio-new-player.asp?id=16314

The News Services Division of All India Radio in its "Samayiki" programme brings you a discussion on "Adarsh housing society ghotale par report ". Click here to listen the Programme in Hindi: http://www.newsonair.nic.in/main-audio-new-player.asp?id=16233 In its "Spotlight/ News Analysis" programme ‪#‎ AIR‬ brings you a discussion on "Report on ‪#‎ Adarsh‬ Housing Society Scam".

The News Services Division of All India Radio, ‪#‎ AIR‬ in its " ‪#‎ Samayiki‬ " programme brings you a discussion on "Jaanch aur Abhiyojan mein kamiyo par Supreme Court Ki Chinta ". Click here to listen the programme in Hindi: - http://www.newsonair.com/main-audio-new-player.asp?id=16197 In its " ‪#‎ Spotlight‬ / News Analysis" programme we brings you a discussion on "Supreme Court's Concern Over Lapses in Investigation and Prosecution".

In ‪#‎ AIR‬ 's weekly programme "Charcha Ka Vishay Hai" we brings you a discussion on " Earthvyavastha mein Pravasi Bhartiyon Ka Yogdan" "अर्थव्यवस्था में प्रवासी भारतीयों का योगदान". The participants are : Manohar Puri, Member of International Cooperation Council, Jagdish Lodiya, Pravasi Bhartiya, Fizi, Indra Singh, protector, Global Organisation of People of India Origin. Shesh Narayan Singh, Political Editor, Deshbandu. Click here to listen the programme :- http://www.newsonair.com/main-audio-new-player.asp?id=16198

All India Radio News "Spotlight/ News Analysis" programme brings you a discussion on ""CAG Audit to Private Telecom Companies". This program can be heard by clicking on the following link: http://bit.ly/1dt4WRC The participants are : Sadhana Dikshit, Former Member, Telecom Commission amd Prasoon Srivastava, Special Telecom Correspondent, PTI.

News Services Division of All India Radio in its "Samayiki" programme brings the highlights of " Varsh 2013 ki pramukh Ghatnaye ". It can be heard on the following link: http://bit.ly/KjE5QD In "Spotlight/ News Analysis" programme, ‪#‎ AIR‬ brings the highlights of the discussion on" Remembering the major events of 2013.". This programme can be heard on the following link: http://bit.ly/KjEa6H The participants are : Prof Rizwan Qaiser, Jamia milia islamia and Sandeep Dikshit, The Hindu.