Haryana announced a ₹10,000-crore project funded by the World Bank to tackle air pollution, starting with the NCR districts. The project includes setting up cutting-edge labs and modernise four existing ones. The bulk of its resources will be used to directly address the issues of transportation, industry, construction and road dust, biomass burning and household pollution through sectoral interventions.
The state plans to electrify public transportation for intra-city and inter-city travel and incentivise the adoption of EVs for private use. To phase out older, more polluting vehicles, higher incentives would be offered for scrapping them in exchange for EVs. Industry will be given incentives to switch to clean fuels for boilers and use cleaner diesel generator sets through retrofitting or purchasing generators that comply with stricter emission standards.
The project also aims to combat stubble burning by promoting in-situ crop residue management practices. This involves raising awareness about the benefits of bio-decomposers to accelerate the decomposition of crop residue, reducing the need for burning.
NGT tells Amazon to pay ₹6 lakh compensation for violation of sewage treatment plant norms
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently upheld an order directing e-commerce giant Amazon to pay compensation for violating sewage treatment plant (STP) standards at its fulfillment center in Haryana’s Bilaspur, Bar and Bench reported.
The outlet added that chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr A Senthil Vel reduced the amount of compensation from about ₹13 lakh to ₹6 lakh after reconsidering the number of days of the violation.
India’s green court issues notices to CIDCO, forest dept, wetland authority over flamingo deaths
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued notices to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the state forest department and the wetland authority, seeking their responses on the deaths of around 12 flamingos near the DPS Lake in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, the Indian Express reported.
The NGT order highlighted The Indian Express report on April 28 that the death of the flamingos can be attributed to “light pollution”, which partially impairs the vision of the birds due to their fragile eyes. It states that the newly installed LED lights disorient and misguide the birds while flying, which then happen to crash with random objects and get injured.
The green court took note of the inlet blockage by the elevated roads constructed by CIDCO that resulted in water stagnation, disregarding the fact that flamingos typically inhabit areas of flowing waters. The tribunal also noted CIDCO’s intentions to use the lake area for future development and its inattention to HC’s notice to protect the natural habitat of the lake.
A source from the forest department revealed that sand particles were found in the viscera of the carcasses, indicating that the birds died of starvation, according to the post-mortem report. CIDCO has not yet issued an official response.
Meth-addict fish, aggro starlings, caffeinated minnows: Animals radically changed by drug pollution, says study
Scientists warned that modern pharmaceutical and illegal drug pollution is becoming a growing threat to wildlife globally, the Guardian reported. Brown trout is becoming “addicted” to methamphetamine and European perch is losing their fear of predators due to depression medication, the outlet wrote.
The study stated that exposure is causing unexpected changes to some animals’ behaviour and anatomy. Female starlings dosed with antidepressants such as Prozac at concentrations found in sewage waterways become less attractive to potential mates, with male birds behaving more aggressively and singing less to entice them than undosed counterparts.
The contraceptive pill has caused sex reversal in some fish populations – leading to a collapse in numbers and local extinction events as male fish reverted to female organs. Scientists have warned it could have unintended consequences for humans.
Bertram, one of the authors of the study, pointed to the notable example of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug routinely given to cattle in south Asia at the time, that caused India’s vulture population to fall by more than 97% between 1992 and 2007. The country subsequently had a surge in rabies cases from dogs that were feeding on the cattle carcasses that were no longer being eaten by the birds.
New US rules aim to crack down on toxic air pollution by steelmakers
New pollution norms set up by US’ Environmental Protection Agency will crack down on toxic air pollution from steelmakers by limiting pollutants such as mercury, benzene and lead that have long poisoned the air in neighborhoods surrounding the plants, the Guardian reported.
The rules target contaminants released by steel facilities’ coke ovens. Gas from the ovens creates an individual cancer risk in the air around steel plants of 50 in 1,000,000, which is dangerous for children and people with underlying health problems.
Advocates said the chemicals do not travel far from the plant, but they have been devastating for public health in “fenceline” low income neighborhoods around steel facilities, and represent an environmental justice issue.
Study links 135 million premature deaths from 1980 to 2020 to PM 2.5 exposure and climate variability
Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) killed 135 million people prematurely worldwide between 1980 and 2020, a new study found. The research highlighted the role of climate phenomena like El Nino-Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole and North Atlantic Oscillation in exacerbating PM 2.5 pollution levels. The Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Environment International. The scientists analysed 40 years of data to provide new insights into the complex relationship between climate and air quality by examining how specific climate patterns affect air pollution in different regions, DTE reported.
From 1980 to 2020, 33.3% premature deaths were associated with stroke, 32.7% with ischemic heart disease and the remaining deaths were due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections and lung cancer, the study found.
Asia stood out with an estimated 98.1 million premature deaths attributed to PM2.5 pollution during the study period. China and India led the pack at 49 million and 26.1 million deaths, respectively. The researchers analysed satellite data from the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration on PM2.5 levels in the Earth’s atmosphere. They also utilised data from Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in US on global deaths and occurrences of pollution-linked diseases, which include lower respiratory infections, tracheal, bronchus and lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke and ischemic heart disease.
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