India is to review its air quality standards next year, addressing an environmental and public health issue of significant concern. New national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) are likely, reports indicate. Discussions are said to be considering ultra-fine particulate matter (PM0.1), smaller than fine particulate matter or PM 2.5 which denotes particular matter of 2.5 […]
Pollution
Medical waste output at 56,000 tonnes
India’s medical waste output stood at more than 56,000 tonnes between June 2020 and 2021, according to government figures. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change recently reported that the total country’s total output of biomedical waste tallied at 56,898 tonnes. Maharashtra registered the largest amount of medical waste generated, at 8,317 tonnes. […]
Did stubble burning fuel Delhi’s third wave?
New research claims that the practice of stubble burning may have been a key driver of Delhi’s third wave of COVID-19 infections. The study, published in Urban Climate, identified a tenfold increase in the national capital during the biomass burning season which sees agricultural workers in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab burn the […]
Environmental degradation contributed to COVID-19 origins, UNEP India says
The COVID-19 pandemic’s origins can be traced to degradation of environmental space, species’ loss and exploitation, according to a leading United Nations Environment Programme official for India. As investigations into the origins of COVID-19 continue, United Nations Environment Programme India Country Office Head, Atul Bagai, highlighted the interconnected balance between environmental degradation and public health, […]
Reducing levels of poverty could help ease India’s energy demands
Households with access to clean fuels, safe water, basic education and adequate food can use as little as half the energy of the national average in their country, according to a study published in Environmental Research Letters. The results of the study examining the link between energy consumption, inequalities and links to well-being in Nepal, […]
Twenty firms responsible for over half of all global single-use plastic waste
New research has revealed for the first time that just twenty companies are responsible for producing more than half of all the single-use plastic waste in the world. This marks an enormous contribution to the vast majority of the plastics pollutants in landfills, oceans, and the environment in general. The comprehensive new analysis published by […]
India’s move to continue coal energy investment disregards health of communities
![A thermal powerplant situated @ 20 kms away of raichur [own work, CC license]. Energy infrastructure example.](https://d1o5numy7xgf2v.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/800px-Raichur_Thermal_Power_Station-150x150.jpg "Energy infrastructure: Why we need to rethink it")
In a move at odds with calls from the United Nations, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the wider global audience that has its sights trained on the environmental status quo, draft electricity policy documents viewed by Reuters have shown that India is open to the possibility of further developing its fleet of coal-fired […]
India fails to outline pharmaceutical standard despite new research underlining the environmental importance
India’s Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has failed to outline norms for discharge standards for effluents from bulk drugs and pharmaceutical industries, due to a lack of ‘necessary information’. Home to one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical industries, India has long faced calls for regulation on effluents and runoff which have both an […]
Behavioural changes a key aspect of Phase-II of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission for improved sanitation
The second phase of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which is being implemented between 2020-21 and 2024-25 after approval by the Cabinet, is planned to help the country continue to address both sanitary and environmental issues. The Mission is the Narendra Modi administration’s flagship policy when it comes to sanitation and has been a cornerstone of its […]
Hospital waste handling in sights of Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has taken note of hospital waste handling in the national capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Protocols outlined by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for disposal of waste such as swabs and testing kits ought to be “scrupulously followed”, the High Court told the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led state government. This […]