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Subject: Environment

  • Risk of Early Locusts Attacks: A new concern

    Locusts normally arrive during July-October but have already been spotted in Rajasthan. At a time India is battling COVID, they present a new worry with their potential for exponential growth and crop destruction.

    Along with being a disaster issue, Locust attack is also a challenge for India’s food security. Discuss what socio – economic and technological ways can be adopted to tackle this menance.

    What exactly are Locusts?

    • The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) is a short-horned grasshopper that is innocuous while it is in a “solitary phase” and moving about independently.
    • These winged insects differ from normal hoppers and become dangerous only when their populations build up rapidly and the close physical contact in crowded conditions triggers behavioural changes.
    • They, then, enter the “gregarious phase”, by grouping into bands and forming swarms that can travel great distances (up to 150 km daily), while eating up every bit of vegetation on the way.
    • If not controlled at the right time, these insect swarms can threaten the food security of countries.

    How seriously should the first sightings be viewed?

    • The damage potential of locusts has been limited in India only because of the country hosting a single breeding season — unlike Pakistan, Iran and East Africa, where they also multiply during January-June.
    • There’s nothing much to worry right now, as the rabi crop has already been harvested and farmers are yet to commence plantings for the new Kharif season.
    • The locusts’ bands so observed are less populated. But their timing, though, is cause for concern.
    • The normal breeding season for locusts in India is July-October. But this time, they have been sighted by mid-April.
    • Last year, too, they were seen towards end-May as isolated grasshoppers.
    • The longer time to breed is more conducive for a build-up of gregarious insect swarms, as opposed to solitary, innocuous hoppers.

    Control measures in India

    • India has a Locust Control and Research scheme that is being implemented through the Locust Warning Organisation (LWO), established in 1939.
    • It was amalgamated in 1946 with the Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and Storage (PPQS) of the Ministry of Agriculture.
    • The LWO’s responsibility is monitoring and control of the locust situation in Scheduled Desert Areas mainly in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and partly in Punjab and Haryana.
    • The LWO publishes a fortnightly bulletin on the locust situation.

    What kind of damage can they cause?

    • Locusts are polyphagous, i.e. they can feed on a wide variety of crops.
    • Secondly, they have the ability to multiply rapidly. A single female desert locust lays 60-80 eggs thrice during its roughly 90-day life cycle.
    • It is estimated that a 1-square-km area can accommodate 40-80 million of these insects, making the growth of their swarms exponential quite like the Covid-19 virus.

    What is the genesis of the present locust upsurge, particularly in East Africa?

    • It lies in the Mekunu and Luban cyclonic storms of May and October 2018 that struck Oman and Yemen, respectively.
    • These turned large desert areas in remote parts of the southern Arabian Peninsula into lakes, which allowed the insects to breed undetected across multiple generations.
    • The swarms attacking crops in East Africa reached peak populations from November onwards while building up since the start of this year in southern Iran and Pakistan.
    • Widespread rains in East Africa in late March and April have enabled further breeding.
    • Prior to that, the locusts from spring breeding areas of southwest Pakistan and southern Iran would arrive in Rajasthan and Gujarat during May-June.
    • They would, then, breed with the onset of the southwest monsoon rains and continue doing so through the Kharif cropping season.

    What can and should be done?

    • If the monsoon is good, and in the absence of control operations, the magnitude of attack could be worse than in the 2019-20 rabi season.
    • The last year’s locust incursions were the first and most significant since 1993.
    • Local authorities in Rajasthan and Gujarat had to treat over 4.30 lakh hectares of infested areas with sprayers mounted on tractors and other vehicles.

    Pesticides give better control

    • The old generation organophosphate insecticides such as Malathion (96% ultra-low volume aerial application) are effective against locusts.
    • About one litre of the chemical is necessary to treat a hectare of their breeding areas, including trees where they halt for the night.
    • There is ample stock of pesticides to control any swarms in India.

    Click here to read about the complete genesis of Locusts and their origin:

    Locust Invasions and its mitigation

  • What is Urban Ozone?

    A Manchester (UK) based research has found that the nationwide lockdown may be leading to the generation of a dangerous pollutant, urban ozone.

    The Ozone is formed due to different factors in the Troposphere and the Stratosphere (where the ozone acts as a protective layer). Note these differences from prelims perspective.

    Urban Ozone

    • The photochemical production of ozone may become more important in urban areas during summertime in these low conditions of oxides of nitrogen.
    • As nitrogen oxides reduce, photochemical production may become more efficient and can lead to higher ozone concentrations in the summertime.
    • The higher summer temperatures increase emissions of biogenic hydrocarbon from natural sources such as trees. These biogenic hydrocarbons significantly affect urban ozone levels.
    • While ozone is important for screening harmful solar UV radiation when present higher up in the atmosphere, it can be a danger at the Earth’s surface and can react to destroy or alter many biological molecules.

    Back2Basics: Ozone Gas

    • It is a gas that occurs both in the Earth’s upper atmosphere and at ground level.
    • Ozone occurs in two layers of the atmosphere. The layer closest to the Earth’s surface is the troposphere.
    • Here, ground-level or “bad” ozone is an air pollutant that is harmful to breathe and it damages crops, trees and other vegetation. It is the main ingredient of urban smog.
    • The stratospheric or “good” ozone protects life on Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.

    Formation of Ozone

    • Ozone is produced naturally in the stratosphere when highly energetic solar radiation strikes molecules of oxygen, and cause the two oxygen atoms to split apart in a process called photolysis. If a freed atom collides with another O2, it joins up, forming ozone.
    • The majority of tropospheric ozone formation occurs when nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), react in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight, specifically the UV spectrum.

  • Mass Hatching of Olive Ridley Turtles begins

    Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles began at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery, a major nesting site of these marine turtles.

    Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles is a very celebrated news every year. Also make sure to look at the Rivers system in the region from the map above.

    Olive Ridley Turtles

    • The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
    • In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups at Rushikulya rookery near Gahirmatha in Odisha.
    • The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
    • The species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Appendix 1 in CITES, and Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

    Special feature: Mass nesting

    • They are best known for their behaviour of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed Arribadas.
    • Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.
    • They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers.
    • They hatch in 45 to 60 days, depending on the temperature of the sand and atmosphere during the incubation period.

  • Rare Black Panther spotted in Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary

    A rare Black Panther was spotted in the Netravali WLS in South Goa.

    There are many WLS and National Park in the tiny state of Goa. Unlike others, they rarely find any mention in news. Here a quick revision for you.

    Make sure to locate them on map.

    • Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary,

    • Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary,

    • Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary,

    • Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary,

    • Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary,

    • Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary,

    • Anshi National Park.

    Black Panther

    • Black Panther or Black Leopard is a color variant of spotted Indian leopards, reported from densely forested areas of south India, mostly from the state of Karnataka.
    • A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of any Panthera, particularly of the leopard (P. pardus) in Asia and Africa, and the jaguar (P. onca) in the Americas.
    • They are also known as the ghost of the forest.

    About Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary

    • Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is located in South-Eastern Goa, India.
    • It constitutes one of the vital corridors of the Western Ghats and covers an area of about 211 sq.km.
    • Netravali or Neturli is an important tributary of River Zuari, which originates in the sanctuary.
    • Forests mostly consist of moist deciduous vegetation interspersed with evergreen and semi-evergreen habitat; there are also two all-season waterfalls in the sanctuary.
    • The Gaur or Indian Bison, Malabar giant squirrel, four-horned antelope or chousingha, leopard, black sloth bear along with a host of other predators and herbivores find home in the sanctuary.

  • Vizag Gas Leak: What is Styrene Gas?

    A gas leak has claimed at least 11 lives and affected thousands of residents in five villages in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.  The source of the leak was a styrene plant owned by South Korean electronics giant LG.

    Practice question:

    Despite a robust policy framework governing the hazardous chemicals in India, the recent gas leakage incident in Vizag highlights India’s unaddressed vulnerability to chemical disasters. Criticallly comment.

    Vizag gas lead: What is styrene?

    • It is a flammable liquid that is used in the manufacturing of polystyrene plastics, fibreglass, rubber, and latex.
    • Styrene is also found in vehicle exhaust, cigarette smoke, and in natural foods like fruits and vegetables.
    • According to The Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989, styrene is classified as a toxic and hazardous chemical.

    What happens when exposed to styrene?

    • A short-term exposure to the substance can result in respiratory problems, irritation in the eyes, irritation in the mucous membrane, and gastrointestinal issues.
    • And long-term exposure could drastically affect the central nervous system and lead to other related problems like peripheral neuropathy.
    • It is, likely, a carcinogenic substance that can react with oxygen in the air to mutate into styrene dioxide, a substance that is more lethal.
    • However, there is no sufficient evidence despite several epidemiology studies indicating there may be an association between styrene exposure and an increased risk of leukaemia and lymphoma.

    What are the symptoms?

    • Symptoms include headache, hearing loss, fatigue, weakness, difficulty in concentrating etc.
    • Animal studies have reported effects on the nervous system, liver, kidney, and eye and nasal irritation from inhalation exposure to styrene.

    How bad is the situation in Visakhapatnam?

    • It is yet unclear whether the deaths are due to direct exposure to styrene gas or one of its byproducts.
    • However, hundreds of people including many children were admitted to hospitals.
    • The cases are high as the gas leak was only detected at 3 am in the morning, meaning several crucial hours have been lost till safety precautions were taken.
    • More fatally, the gas was leaked while people were fast asleep.

    What caused the leak?

    • Styrene monomer was used at the manufacturing plant to produce expandable plastics.
    • The storage requirement of styrene monomer strictly mentions that it has to be below 17 degrees Celsius.
    • There was a temporary and partial shutdown of the plant because of the nationwide lockdown.
    • The leak occurred as a result of styrene gas not being kept at the appropriate temperature.
    • This caused a pressure build-up in the storage chamber that contained styrene and caused the valve to break, resulting in the gas leakage.

    Is it under control?

    • The leak has been plugged and NDRF teams moved into the five affected villages and have started opening the houses to find out if anyone was stranded inside.
    • The Covid-19 preparedness helped a lot as dozens of ambulances with oxygen cylinders and ventilators were readily available.
    • The spread of the gas depends on wind speeds. So far it is estimated that areas within a five-kilometre radius have been affected.

    What are the guidelines on the storage of hazardous chemicals in plants?

    After the Bhopal disaster, much legislation was enacted starting from the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991. They are-

    Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 Omnibus act, which gives sweeping powers to Central government to take all measures to protect the environment
    Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 Set discharge and product standards – source standards for restricting pollution; product standards for manufactured goods and ambient air and water standards – for regulating quality of life and environmental protection
    Hazardous Waste (Management Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 1989 Industry required to identify major accident hazards, take preventive measures and submit a report to the designated authorities
    Manufacture, Storage And Import Of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 Importer must furnish complete product safety information to the competent authority and must transport imported chemicals in accordance with the amended rules.
    Chemical Accidents (Emergency, Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules, 1996 Centre is required to constitute a central crisis group for management of chemical accidents; set up quick response mechanism termed as the crisis alert system. Each state is required to set up a crisis group and report on its work.
    Factories Amendment Act, 1987 Provision to regulate siting of hazardous units; safety of workers and nearby residents and mandates for on-site emergency plans and disaster control measures
    Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 Imposes a no-fault liability on the owner of hazardous substance and requires the owner to compensate victims of accident irrespective of any neglect or default. For this, the owner is required to take out an insurance policy covering potential liability from any accident.

     

  • [pib] Seasonal rapid advancement of Surging Glaciers in Karakoram Range

    Indian researchers have found a seasonal advancement in 220 surge-type glaciers in the Karakoram Range of Ladakh.

    Points to note:

    1) Open you map and revise the glaciers of Himalayan region.

    2) Glacial landforms as Geographic phenomenon.

    What are Glacial Surges?

    Click here to see the animated view

    • Glacial surges are short-lived events where a glacier can advance substantially, moving at velocities up to 100 times faster than normal.
    • Until recently, most glaciologists believed that a glacier’s physical characteristics, such as its thickness and shape, and the properties of the terrain it sits on determining whether it can surge.
    • Now, it is proved to believe an external factor also plays a major role: water from precipitation and melting.
    • Pooling on the surface, it can infiltrate the glacier through crevasses and reach its base, warming, lubricating, and, ultimately, releasing the ice.

    Why surging in the Karakoram is a concern?

    • The behaviour of these glaciers, which represent 40% of the total glaciated area of the Karakoram, goes against the normal trend.
    • Surging of glaciers is potentially catastrophic as it can lead to the destruction of villages, roads and bridges.
    • It can also advance across a river valley and form the ice-dammed lake.
    • These lakes can form catastrophic outburst floods.
    • Therefore, monitoring of glacier surges, ice-dammed lake formation, and drainage is of paramount importance.

    Which are these glaciers?

    • The scientists focused on the Shispare and Muchuhar glaciers, former tributaries of the once larger Hasanabad Glacier situated in Hunza Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan.

    Significance of the study

    • The Surge-type glaciers oscillate between brief (months to years) rapid flow and lengthy (tens to hundreds of years) slow flow or stagnation, which are called the ‘active’ (or ‘surge’) and ‘quiescent’ phases, respectively.
    • This unsteady glacier flow makes it difficult to accurately assess individual glacier mass balances using in-situ observations.
    • The study will help to understand the diversity of glacial behaviour and help make accurate assessments of individual glacier mass balances for disaster planning and management.

  • ‘Lost at Home’ Report by UNICEF

    More than five million people were internally displaced in India due to natural disasters, conflict and violence in 2019, constituting the highest number of new internal displacements in the world.

    Try to answer:

    ‘Environmental migrant’ is an issue that globally countries should start taking seriously. Discuss the statement with respect to India which already ranks high in climate vulnerability.

    The ‘Lost at Home’ Report

    • The report is published by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
    • It says that almost 33 million new displacements were recorded in 2019 — around 25 million were due to natural disasters and 8.5 million as a consequence of conflict and violence.
    • Of these, there were 12 million new displacements involving children, including around 3.8 million of them caused by conflict and violence, and 8.2 million due to disasters linked mostly to weather-related events.
    • The report said that natural disasters resulted in more new displacements than conflict and violence.
    • Almost 10 million new displacements in 2019 were recorded in East Asia and the Pacific (39 %) — and almost the same number in South Asia (9.5 million).
    • The report looks at the risks internally displaced children face —child labour, child marriage, trafficking among them — and the actions urgently needed to protect them.

    Displacement in India

    • India, the Philippines, Bangladesh and China all suffered from natural disasters leading to displacement in the millions, which accounted for 69% of global disaster-induced displacements.
    • These were overwhelmingly caused by extreme conditions created by dangerous storms and floods.
    • In India, the total number of new internal displacements in 2019 stood at 5,037,000 – including 5,018,000 due to natural disasters and 19,000 because of conflict and violence.

    Global Scenario

    • India is followed by the Philippines, Bangladesh and China.
    • The Philippines accounted for 4.27 million new internal displacements due to natural disasters, conflict and violence, Bangladesh 4.08 million and China 4.03 million.
    • The largest number of internally displaced children due to conflict is found in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and sub-Saharan Africa.
    • Internally displaced persons are concentrated in two regions — the Middle East and North Africa and West and Central Africa.
    • The MENA region recorded over 12 million IDPs as a result of conflict and violence at the end of 2019. Almost all of them lived in just three countries — Syria, Yemen, and Iraq — and around 5 million were children.

    What makes the situation worse?

    • The COVID-19 pandemic is only making a critical situation worse.
    • Camps or informal settlements are often overcrowded and lack adequate hygiene and health services.
    • Physical distancing is often not possible, creating conditions that are highly conducive to the spread of the disease, the report said.

  • [pib] Study of flowering plant endemism of Northern Western Ghats

    Scientists at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune have come up with plant data of the Northern Western Ghats which indicates that plateaus, in addition to the forests, should be prioritized for the conservation of the Northern Western Ghats.

    Last year one  species from our newscard : Species in news: Hump-backed Mahseer made it into the CSP 2019.  The ‘Abutilon ranadei’ flower in the newscard creates such a vibe yet again.

    A stand-alone species being mentioned in the news for the first time often find their way into the prelims. Make a special note here.

    Why conserve Plateaus?

    • The Western Ghats of India is one of the global biodiversity hotspots owing to the endemism that is sheltered by a chain of mountains.
    • The northern part of this along with the Konkan region is considerably different from its southern and central counterparts on account of lesser precipitation and extended dry season.
    • It is the plateaus and the cliffs that harbour most of the endemic species.

    What did the study find?

    • The study found that the Northern Western Ghats has 181 local endemic plant species, including four monospecific genera.
    • They have found that a majority of the endemic species are therophytes, which complete their life cycle in a short period during monsoon.
    • A notable geographical feature of the Northern Western Ghats is the presence of plateaus and cliffs that display maximum endemic species, unlike forests.
    • It is the region of rapid diversification of specific herbaceous endemic genera like Ceropegia, Glyphochloa, Dipcadi, and Eriocaulon.

    One such specie is-

    Abutilon ranadei

    • Abutilon ranadei is a shrub, measuring 2.5-3.5 m high and bears star-shaped hairs.
    • It is a Critically Endangered endemic species from the northern Western Ghats.

    Bonus:

    Consider the following pairs:

    Wildlife Naturally found in
    1. Blue-finned Mahseer Cauvery River
    2. Irrawaddy Dolphin Chambal River
    3. Rusty-spotted Cat Eastern Ghats

    Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    b) 2 and 3 only

    c) 1 and 3 only

    d) 1, 2 and 3

  • The evergreen debate of Food versus Fuel

    The article discusses the recent decision of the government to make alcohol from rice. The move was bound to trigger the debate over food security of the country with a population ravaged by hunger and poverty. While the 2009 biofuel policy had stressed the use of non-food resources, the 2018 updated policy allowed using excess grains. We all want to make a shift towards a green economy but is this the right time? Let’s find out.

    What decisions did the government take?

    • The National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) chaired by the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas decided to use “surplus” rice available with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for conversion to ethanol.
    • The objective is to make alcohol-based hand-sanitisers and for the blending of ethanol with petrol. 
    • This decision is not only audacious but also an affront to the millions of people who are deeply affected by food insecurity.

    The food question

    • In 2009, the National Policy on Biofuels stressed on the use of non-food resources to avoid a possible conflict between food and fuel.

    • Take the US’s example: In 2018-19, an astounding 37.6 per cent of the corn produced in the US is used for making ethanol.

    • In addition to cereals, oilseed crops like rapeseed, soybean and sunflower were used for biofuel production.
    • Rise in food prices: Such diversion of food crops to produce biofuel was considered one of the reasons for the rise in food prices globally.

    What should be India’s strategy in this debate?

    • There is rampant poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in India.
    • India’s position in the Global Hunger Index has slipped nine places, ranking 102 among the 117 countries in 2019.
    • The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) 2015-16, found that 38.4 per cent of children under five years are “stunted” (height for age) and 21 per cent are “wasted” (low weight for height).
    • In fact, over a period of 10 years, wasting has increased from 19.8 per cent in NFHS-3 to 21 per cent in NFHS-4.

    The dictums of 2018 Policy

    • The 2018 National Policy on Biofuels had a target of 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol and 5 per cent blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030.
    • This was to be achieved by increasing production using second-generation bio-refineries and developing new feedstock for biofuels.
    • It allowed the production of ethanol from damaged food grains like wheat and broken rice, which are unfit for human consumption.
    • The new policy allowed the use of excess food grain for ethanol in a bounty crop year, if endorsed by the Union Ministry of Agriculture.

    Possible dangers

    • The quantity of rice from which ethanol will be produced has not been announced, nor do we know the price at which such rice will be sold by the FCI.
    • About 85 per cent of rice is Kharif crop, heavily dependent on monsoon.
    • Despite the prediction of a normal monsoon, What happens if the monsoon predictions go wrong? Will we be able to import grain?
    • Less damaged grains: Despite the commonly held belief of a lakh of tonnes of rotting grains, the FCI’s storage practices are actually quite good.
    • Damaged grains as a percentage of total quantity issued by the FCI has been just about 0.01 per cent to 0.04 per cent in the last five years.
    • Hardly any ethanol can be made from such a small amount of damaged grains.
    • Making ethanol from sound quality grains deprives food to humans as well as livestock.
    • At the time when uncertainties are looming large, it is imperative that food security and food price stability be given the highest priority.

    Way forward

    • Ethanol can be produced from other ingredients such as B and C heavy molasses, sugar, sugar syrup, and sugarcane juice.
    • Ethanol has also been blessed with a low GST and enjoys relaxed conditions for inter-state movement if used for blending with petrol.
    • Since the economy faces a bleak prospect due to the impact of COVID-19, the government should first use the food grains to meet the requirement of about 10 to 20 crore people without ration cards.

    The UPSC could ask a question on the following lines “Diverting food grains for making fuels has always been a contentious issue from the food security angle. At the same time reducing India’s dependence on import for fuels is as much a serious concern. The National Policy on Biofuels-2018 sought to strike the balance between the two. Critically analyse the various provisions of National Policy on Biofuels-2018 which were different from 2009 policy.”

    Conclusion

    The government must ensure the food safety of the country first and if it still has surplus rice, it must facilitate export to friendly countries which are suffering an adverse impact of COVID-19 on their economies.

    Back2Basics: Generations of biofuels

    • There are three types of biofuels: 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels.
    • They are characterized by their sources of biomass, their limitations as a renewable source of energy, and their technological progress.
    • The main drawback of 1st generation biofuels is that they come from biomass that is also a food source.
    • This presents a problem when there is not enough food to feed everyone.
    • 2nd generation biofuels come from non-food biomass, but still compete with food production for land use.
    • Finally, 3rd generation biofuels present the best possibility for alternative fuel because they don’t compete with food.
    • However, there are still some challenges in making them economically feasible.

    Important Provision of ‘National Policy on Biofuels, 2018

    • The government aims at increasing the utilization of biofuels in the energy and transportation sectors of the country by promoting the production of biofuels from domestic feedstock in the coming decade through this policy.
    • Larger goals such as the adoption of green fuels, national energy security, fighting climate change, generating employment, etc. would be facilitated through this policy. Along with that, technological advancements in the field of biofuels will also be encouraged.
    • MNRE has set an indicative target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel to be achieved by 2030.
    • The percentage of the same currently stands at around 2% for petrol and less than 0.1% for diesel.

  • Environmental regulations: go or no go?

    As the world struggles to restart the economic activities amid the pandemic, various strategies are being advised to salvage the damaged economies. One amongst them is to cut down on the environmental standards to spur the economic activities. This article explains why India should not be short-sighted to lower the environmental standards.

    What is this fuss about environment and lockdown?

    • The lockdown exit strategies are focused on saving livelihoods.

    • But the lockdown is causing fiscal pressures on governments which further motivates it to lower the environmental standards, suspend environmental monitoring requirements and reduce environmental enforcement. (Well to save some bucks.)

    • And also in the belief that this is necessary to secure economic growth.

    • But it would be a mistake to assume that there is a trade-off between saving livelihoods and protecting the environment.

    • The crisis of COVID-19 has highlighted that improving the quality of air in our country is not a matter of choice but an emergency.

    How countries around the world are reacting?

    • The US announced a significant reduction in fuel efficiency standards for new cars.

    • This move could result in increased gasoline consumption by 80 billion tonnes, pumping increased carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

    • The US Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it will not be enforcing compliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations of environmental protection, for an indefinite period.

    • 13 European ministers have been outspoken about resisting the temptations of short-term solutions in response to the present crisis- need to maintain and strengthen EU’s effective regulatory tools to stick to its 2030 climate goals.

    5 Arguments that Indian authorities that look into viz a viz environmental standards

    1. Pollution increases risk to COVID-19

    • People living in areas with higher levels of air pollution face increased risk of premature death from COVID-19.

    • New Delhi was the world’s most polluted capital city for the second straight year in 2019.

    • And India was also home to 21 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities, Swiss-based group IQ AirVisual said in a recent study.

    • The State of Global Air 2019 Report finds air pollution responsible for over 1.2 million deaths in China and India each, based on 2017 data.

    2. The poor are the most affected by air pollution

    • There is enormous inequality in the impact of the COVID-19 fallout.

    • Those who suffer the most from air pollution are the millions who live and toil in the open, who cannot afford air-purifiers or other mitigating measures, as also the elderly and children.

    3. Risk of future pandemics

    • There is good evidence that three-quarters of the emerging infectious diseases migrate from wild or domesticated animals into humans.

    • This includes Ebola, SARS, MERS and now COVID-19.

    • Deforestation, industrial agriculture, illegal wildlife trade, climate change and other types of environmental degradation increase the risk of future pandemics.

    4. Public support for environment protection

    • From Delhi to Sao Paulo, Bangkok to Bogota, the dramatic improvement in the quality of air and water in the most polluted cities around the world has been transmitted by social media.

    • This may well result in a groundswell of public support for measures to protect the environment.

    5. The environment will get the value it deserves

    • The corona pandemic will jolt the markets into giving a clean, healthy and sustainable environment the economic value it deserves.

    • There’s a possibility that the gulf between what markets value, and what people value, will close.

    Environment conservation as a silver lining in this Pandemic

    • We have never treated air pollution as a national emergency, failing to coordinate between the Centre and state governments.

    • The COVID pandemic has been declared a national disaster in India, under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005.

    • This legislation mandates the disaster authorities coordinate among themselves and take measures for the prevention and mitigation of the pandemic.

    • Preventing and mitigating the risks of COVID-19, therefore, means the mandate for the disaster authorities is also to tackle air and other forms of pollution head-on.

    Questions based on disasters have been a recurring theme in the UPSC. In 2014, a question was asked with respect to drought, the same could be asked about air pollution. In 2017 again a question based on role of NDMA and tsunami was aksed. In 2018, a question based on Sendai Framework was asked.

     

    Conclusion

    The NDMA is a platform which should be used to combat air pollution as an emergency, similar coordination will be required at an international level to continue to work towards reduced emissions under the Paris Agreement. It is a great pity that it takes a pandemic to bring the realisation that economic growth versus clean air is a false dichotomy.

    Back2Basics: NDMA

    • On 23 December 2005, the Government of India enacted the Disaster Management Act, which envisaged the creation of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
    • It is headed by the Prime Minister, and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by respective Chief Ministers.
    • It aims to spearhead and implement a holistic and integrated approach to Disaster Management in India.