Subject: Conservation & Mitigation

The globally recognised and coveted international eco-label ‘Blue Flag’ has been accorded to two new Indian beaches — Minicoy Thundi Beach and Kadmat Beach, both in Lakshadweep.

What is Blue Flag?

• The Blue Flag is an exclusive eco-label or certification that is given to coastal locations around the world as a badge of environmental honour.
• The programme is run by the Copenhagen, Denmark-headquartered Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), a non-profit organization.
• It seeks to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
• It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined.
• Certification is awarded annually. A total 5,042 beaches, marinas, and tourism boats in 48 countries have been awarded the label so far.

Criteria for certification

It has 33 stringent criteria under four major heads for the beaches, that is-

1. Environmental Education and Information
2. Bathing Water Quality
3. Environment Management and Conservation and
4. Safety and Services

Total blue beaches in India

India now has 12 blue beaches. The other 10 Indian beaches on the list, according to the FEE site, are-

1. Shivrajpur in Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district
2. Ghogla beach in Diu
3. Kasarkod (Uttara Kannada) and
4. Padubidri (Udupi) in Karnataka;
5. Kappad (Kozhikode) in Kerala
6. Eden beach in Puducherry
7. Kovalam (Chennai) in Tamil Nadu
8. Rushikonda (Visakhapatnam) in Andhra Pradesh
9. Golden beach in Puri, Odisha; and
10. Radhanagar Swarajdeep in Andaman and Nicobar

About the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)

• The FEE is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• It was founded in 1981 as the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE).
• Currently, it has 77 member countries.

Its other programmes include:

• Green Key
• Eco Schools
• Young Reporters for the Environment
• Learning about Forests
• Global Forest Fund

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Sukapaika, a small river that stopped flowing 70 years ago in Odisha’s Cuttack district is set to be rejuvenated.

Sukapaika River

• The Suka-paika (the dead) River originated from another river, the Mahanadi, near Ayatpur village.
• It flowed 27.5 km before meeting the Mahanadi again at Bankala.
• In the 1950s, the State’s water resource engineers had in their wisdom closed the Sukapaika river mouth enabling development of the Taladanda Canal System, a major canal of the State.
• This led to the river mostly drying up.
• The process was aggravated by agricultural encroachments that had sprung up on the riverbanks.

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The Commission for Air Quality Management directed New Delhi authorities to enforce stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) with immediate effect.

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)

• In 2014, when a study by the WHO found that Delhi was the most polluted city in the world, panic spread in the Centre and the state government.
• Approved by the Supreme Court in 2016, the plan was formulated after several meetings that the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) held with state government and experts.
• The result was a plan that institutionalized measures to be taken when air quality deteriorates.
• GRAP also works as an emergency measure.
• It includes strict measures such as a ban on the entry of heavy vehicles, the odd-even road rationing restrictions, and a halt of construction work – each of which is likely to be impractical at a time when the pandemic has exacted heavy economic costs and public transport has been seen as an infection risk.

How does it work?

• As such, the plan does not include action by various state governments to be taken throughout the year to tackle industrial, vehicular and combustion emissions.
• When the air quality shifts from poor to very poor, the measures listed under both sections have to be followed since the plan is incremental in nature.
• If air quality reaches the severe+ stage, GRAP talks about shutting down schools and implementing the odd-even road-space rationing scheme.

Measures taken under GRAP

1) Severe+ or Emergency

(PM 2.5 over 300 µg/cubic metre or PM10 over 500 µg/cu. m. for 48+ hours)

• Stop entry of trucks into Delhi (except essential commodities)
• Stop construction work
• Introduce odd/even scheme for private vehicles and minimise exemptions
• Task Force to decide any additional steps including shutting of schools

2) Severe

(PM 2.5 over 250 µg/cu. m. or PM10 over 430 µg/cu. m.)

• Close brick kilns, hot mix plants, stone crushers
• Maximise power generation from natural gas to reduce generation from coal
• Encourage public transport, with differential rates
• More frequent mechanized cleaning of road and sprinkling of water

3) Very Poor

(PM2.5 over 121-250 µg/cu. m. or PM10 over 351-430 µg/cu. m.)

• Stop use of diesel generator sets
• Enhance parking fee by 3-4 times
• Increase bus and Metro services
• Apartment owners to discourage burning fires in winter by providing electric heaters during winter
• Advisories to people with respiratory and cardiac conditions to restrict outdoor movement

4) Moderate to poor

(PM2.5 over 61-120 µg/cu. m. or PM10 over 101-350 µg/cu. m.)

• Heavy fines for garbage burning
• Close/enforce pollution control regulations in brick kilns and industries
• Mechanized sweeping on roads with heavy traffic and water sprinkling
• Strictly enforce a ban on firecrackers

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Many states have outlawed firecrackers and mandated the production, sale, and usage of only green firecrackers in light of Diwali’s impending arrival and the air pollution crisis.

What are green crackers?

• Green Crackers are fireworks that are healthy to the environment and can lessen the air pollution that conventional firecrackers produce.
• The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) created these.
• These green crackers, designed by the National Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), a CSIR lab, contain flower pots, pencils, fireworks, maroons, bombs, and chakkar.

How are they made?

• Green crackers, also known as eco-friendly crackers, are made from alternative raw materials to have a smaller negative impact on the environment and to pose fewer health hazards.
• It has been stated that green crackers are environmentally friendly because they don’t contain aluminum, barium, potassium nitrate, or carbon.

Are they totally pollution free?

• Green crackers are 30% less polluting than regular ones.
• Green crackers have less or no barium, and that the chemical barium nitrate is what causes the smoke and emissions.
• In addition to lowering air pollution, green crackers are said to have a lower sound level than the ordinary crackers—between 110 and 125 decibels as opposed to roughly 160 decibels for conventional crackers.
• Despite all of their benefits, these environmentally friendly firecrackers are more expensive than standard ones.

Types of green crackers

(1) SWAS – Safe Water Releaser

• They will discharge water vapour into the atmosphere, which will dampen the discharged dust.
• It won’t contain sulphur or potassium nitrate.
• There will be a release of a diluent for gaseous emissions.
• There will be a 30% reduction in the amount of particle dust emitted.

(2) STAR – Safe Thermite Cracker

• Does not contain sulphur and potassium nitrate
• Discharge of less particulate matter
• Lowered noise level

(3) SAFAL – Safe Minimal Aluminum

• Does not contain sulphur and potassium nitrate
• Discharge of less particulate matter
• Lowered noise level as compared to traditional ones

Judicial observation over fire-crackers

• It is made clear that there is no total ban on the use of firecrackers.
• Only those firecrackers are banned (joined, chemical) which are found to be injurious to health and affect the health of the citizens particularly the senior citizens and the children.

What are the traders’ concerns?

• Traders have expressed concerns about the crackers’ shelf life due to the new green cracker composition.
• Manufacturers also need to overcome the rigorous certification process run by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).

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There has been a 69 per cent decline in the wildlife populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish, across the globe in the last 50 years, according to the latest Living Planet Report by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

What is Living Planet Report?

• The Living Planet Report is published every 2 years by the World Wide Fund for Nature since 1998.
• It is based on the Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculations.
• The report is the world’s leading, science-based analysis, on the health of our planet and the impact of human activity.

Issues raised by various versions of the report

• The 2018 report found a “decline of 60% in population sizes” of vertebrate species overall from 1970 to 2014.
• The tropics of South and Central America had an 89% loss compared to 1970.
• The 2018 report calls for new goals post-2020 alongside those of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The 2020 report says systemic changes are necessary to stop the destruction of global wildlife populations, including a complete overhaul of food production and consumption industries.
• The 2022 report found that vertebrate wildlife populations have declined by an average of almost 70% since 1970, and attributes the loss primarily to agriculture and fishing.

What is the Living Planet Index (LPI)?

• The Living Planet Index (LPI) is a measure of the state of the world’s biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species from terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats.
• The LPI was adopted by the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) as an indicator of progress towards its 2011-2020 targets.
• It can play an important role in monitoring progress towards the post-2020 goals and targets negotiated at COP15 this December.

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