#NEERI, #airpollution, #IITBombay, #Ganga

The city-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (neeri) along withIIT-Bombay(Powai) will be conducting a year-long study on airpollutionof 10 major cities of Maharashtra with the aim of developing mitigation measures.

The study is being funded and facilitated by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and will be conducted in Nagpur, Amravati, Aurangabad, Chandrapur, Pune, Mumbai, Nashik, Thane, Kolhapur and Solapur.

Speaking to media on Tuesday, new NeeridirectorRakesh Kumar, who took charge on Monday, said Neeri and IIT-Powai have already started working on the project and would be submitting preliminary findings in six months. The two agencies would simultaneously be preparing the emissions inventory (agents that are causing pollution), monitoring the pollution and suggesting solutions for curbing pollution at the source sector-wise like industry, vehicles, garbage and biomass burning etc.

Kumar also said Neeri would make a conscious effort of coming out its comfort zone of just researching. It would try to involve a partner in most of its projects so that technologies emerging out of each project got commercialized and not just be a passive technology developer. “From now on, Neeri would try to market its technologies proactively,” he said.

AboutGangarejuvenation plan, Kumar said for the first time a single agency was monitoring the entire stretch of the river from Gomukh to Gangasagar. This would generate robust data that could be utilized to suggest sustainable corrective measures to clean the river and maintain it. “The past plans didn’t give enough importance to the expanding population as well as technology limitations. STPs were set up. But in major polluting states they couldn’t be run without round the clock electricity. Hence this time, Neeri would be incorporating these factors while preparing mitigation technologies. Also like any other massive project implementation, this too had its limitations of logistics and management,” he said. The hotspots of pollution still remain the stretches of Ganga near Allahabad, Varanasi, Kanpur, Patna etc

Kumar also suggested Neeri would concentrate on less energy intensive technologies like solar based or gravity based treatment plants. To curb vehicular pollution, Neeri would be suggesting the use of certain specific plants at major traffic junctions on road dividers as these can absorb pollutants. On the odd-even formula being implemented in Delhi, Kumar said that it was just one of the 10 major solutions for minimizing vehicular pollution. It wouldn’t work in cities like Mumbai.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Neeri-IIT-B-to-study-pollution-in-10-Mah-cities/articleshow/52424484.cms

The first layer of atmosphere that extends up to 16 km from surface of the Earth, is polluted by CO.

It is not just the air around us that is polluted with Carbon Monoxide (CO), but even the upper layers of the Troposphere, the first layer of atmosphere that extends up to 16 km from surface of the Earth, is polluted by CO.
A study conducted by five researchers from Physical Research Laboratory, Ahm-edabad, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhi-nagar and Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany found high levels of CO as far as 10km from the surface of the earth in the Troposphere in five Indian cities Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Dibrugarh, Trivandrum and Hyderabad.

The researchers collected values of CO at 200 Hectopacals (hPa), which is around 10 km from the surface and at 900hPa, around 800 meters from the earth’s surface over a period of 14 years, from 2001-2014 across four seasons winter, spring, monsoon and autumn. The maximum value of CO, at 200hPa, was found to be highest, at 118 parts per billion volume (ppbv), over Ahmedabad followed by 115ppbv in Hyderabad during the monsoon season.At 900hPa, the maximum CO content in the Troposphere was recorded over Hyderabad at a whopping 228ppbv during winter, higher than New Delhi where it was recorded at 188ppbv.

The normal value for CO in Troposphere is considered to be around 50ppbv. Mr Naveen Chandra, of PRL Ahmedabad, who was part of the study said, “As Carbon Monoxide due to vehicular pollution and other sources is released, it travels upwards. In monsoon as there is a lot of wind, CO particles reach heights of 10 km as quickly as in two hours. That is why in monsoon CO values are the highest in upper layers of the Troposphere. In winter, it is opposite as there is not much wind and the CO particles are closer to the Earth’s surface, at 900hPa than at 200hPa.”

He further added, “While vehicular pollution is a major source of Carbon Monoxide, a major reason behind CO in troposphere is burning of biomass in African and Southeast Asian countries which releases huge quantities of Carbon Monoxide which is carried by the winds till India. That is the reason that CO levels over New Delhi is lower in some cases than Hyderabad or Dibrugarh in Assam, because the wind pattern is such that it flows over South India and other regions more than the northern parts in the country.”

The data for CO by researchers was taken from Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) of NASA, USA. MOPITT website states, “Carbon monoxide plays a major role in atmospheric chemistry, and it affects the ability of the atmosphere to cleanse itself of many other polluting gases. In combination with other pollutants and sunshine, it also takes part in the formation of lower-atmospheric (bad) ozone and urban smog.”

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/250516/carbon-monoxide-levels-above-city-shocking-study.html

#biodiversity, #environment, #ecosystem, #deforestation

While asked to an environmentalist about the most challenging fact of the day, the answer may be the degradation of forests and another may answer the loss of biodiversity. For me, both are equally important, whereas we can create forest but no biodiversity. We can increase a good quality forests for a healthy environment, but biodiversity once extinct is gone forever.

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#industrialpollution, #airpollution, #environment

More than 2,000 environmental approvals have been granted in the past two years, environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday. Faster approval of environmental clearances was another major achievement, he said. All this would unlock an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore and create a million jobs, he added.

Strict compliance with environmental laws, use of technology for reducing air pollution, and capacity building of municipal bodies would be among the top focus areas for the environment ministry for the next three years, he said.

Javadekar listed the increase in forest cover, better monitoring of industrial pollution, and the global climate conference in Paris as major achievements of his ministry in the past two years.

While the current forest cover is about 21 per cent, the minister said the target is 33 per cent, which will be possible only by increasing the tree cover outside the forest area. With regard to industrial pollution, the ministry had issued directions to 150 grossly polluting industries.

The minister said the government had managed to reduce industrial pollution in river Ganga by 35 per cent through strict implementation of norms for critically polluting industries near the river. “There are 764 industries which were polluting the Ganga. Spent wash and black liquor, both major pollutants, have been banned. But, unfortunately 85 per cent of sewage in India does not get treated,” he said.

On air pollution in Delhi, the minister said periodic meetings had been held with five neighboring states to implement short-term and long-term plans.

Javadekar supported the introduction of genetically modified crops, saying the government’s job was to increase crop production and this could be achieved through science and technology.

“Our country’s productivity is 50 per cent of the world’s average in all crops and our job is to increase production. So, science and technology have to be promoted to achieve that. We will not stop the progress of science. So, we approved 18 proposals for free trials in the past two years, with considerations for safety,” he said.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/2-000-environmental-approvals-in-2-yrs-govt-116052400021_1.html