Green court forms panel to release air pollution control norms around hospitals with in the next 3 months

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), India’s green court, formed a five-member panel to create a standard operating procedure (SoP) for environmental management inside and around all government district hospitals and hospitals larger than such district hospitals, including medical colleges, by October 2023. 

The NGT directed the health ministry to post the SoP on its website within next three months (by October) covering all sources of pollution in and around all government district hospitals and hospital bigger than district hospitals in the  “interest of protection of right of patients, staff and other visitors to clean environment.”

The NGT also ordered that ambient air quality in and around Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Science campus be monitored, as and when it exceeds the laid down parameters within 500 metres of the boundaries of AIIMS. The court said regulatory measures be taken in the light of Graded Response Action Plan-1 (GRAP) by July 31. 

Shift all buses entering NCR to cleaner fuels by Nov 1: CAQM to Haryana, UP and Rajasthan

All buses originating from NCR districts and entering Delhi will either be electric, BS-VI diesel or run on CNG by November 1, 2023, according to the latest order from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. 

The CAQM also urged states in the NCR to plan and make sure all buses originating from or terminating in the area are running only on CNG or are electric by June 30, 2026. Another target is for a “substantial number” of buses originating from or terminating in the NCR to be electric vehicles by June 30, 2028, reported The Indian Express. 

High air pollution amid high temperatures may double risk of heart attack deaths: Report

The combination of extreme heat and air pollution may double the risk of death by heart attack, noted a report published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation. The researchers analysed 202,678 heart attack deaths from 2015-2020 that occurred in China’s Jiangsu province. Researchers compared the impact of extreme temperatures with and without high levels of fine particulate pollution. Days with particulate levels above 37.5 micrograms per cubic metre were considered high pollution. Scientists found that “The deaths were among older adults with an average age of 77.6 years; 52% were older than age 80; and 52 per cent were male. 

Nagaland: Kohima, Dimapur fail to meet CPCB air quality standards 

The Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB) data revealed that Kohima and Dimapur, the two major towns of Nagaland, failed to meet the air quality standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) mainly because of vehicular pollution. The CPCB report was based on the data submitted by the NPCB. 

To improve air quality, Dimapur launched the Improvised Traffic Control System (ITCS) under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). Hukato Chishi, Secretary, NPCB and the state nodal officer of the national clean air programme (NCAP), said Dimapur’s air quality has deteriorated while Kohima’s has been improving in the past three years since the launch of NCAP. He said the NPCB has seven respirable dust samplers in Dimapur, while in Kohima, there are three to analyse air samples. The NPCB sends the air sample reports to the CPCB, he added.

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