POLLUTION : Prevention is better than postmortem. what were the govt.s doing all these years

Delhi Pollution Levels Soar, Centre Summons 5 Northern States

Press Trust Of India

New Delhi: After a nearly 21-fold increase in pollution levels here on Diwali, the Centre summoned governments of Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh over enforcing ban on stubble burning.

The decision comes on a day the Central Pollution Control Board released its report on air quality of Delhi. As per the report, PM 2.5 levels on the day of Diwali (October 30) across each of the 11 pollution monitoring centres were anywhere between a staggering 4 times to 21 times of what they were the week before (October 24). For example, as compared to the previous week, Pitampura recorded 20.63 times higher PM 2.5 levels, while Parivesh Bhavan Centre in East Delhi recorded 11.4 times higher PM 2.5 levels.

The permissible limit for PM 2.5 is 60 micrograms per cubic metre. Pitampura in North Delhi recorded the maximum at 1,238 micrograms per cubic metre on Diwali.

At Janakpuri, PM 2.5 levels were 8.7 times higher and at ITO, PM 2.5 levels were 7.6 times higher.

Similarly, on the day of Diwali PM 10 levels were 1.5-4 times higher as compared to the previous week. For example, PM 10 levels at ITO on Diwali were 4.3 times higher than what they were a week ago.

On this Diwali, as compared to last year, PM 2.5 levels were 2-4.5 times higher and PM 10 levels were 1.5-3 times higher.

The Environment Ministry has attributed the spike in pollution levels to four main factors. "It has been observed that open burning of solid waste in and around Delhi, vehicular emissions in Delhi, dust by the roadside and around construction sites in Delhi and stubble burning of crop residue in neighbouring states of Delhi are major contributors to pollution in Delhi," according to a release by the Ministry.

Accordingly, five states -- Punjab, Harayna, Delhi, UP, Rajasthan -- have been summoned in order to ensure effectiveenforcement of the ban on stubble burning. "The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has summoned the concerned secretaries on 4th November to review the situation and to further deliberate on the strategy to minimise occurrences of open burning in agriculture fields," according to the press statement.

It has also been decided that CPCB will direct local bodies in and around Delhi to check open burning of solid waste and strictly enforce rules related to prevention of gaseous emission from construction activities.

CPCB will also instruct public road owning agencies in Delhi to ensure that roadsides are watered periodically suspension of dust.

Delhi Police, too, will be required to streamline movement of traffic at busy intersections so that pollution due to vehicular emissions is minimised.

the spirit of farmers of an UP village

UP Farmers Build Village Dam Themselves after Waiting for Government Action for 25 Years

 Aditi Patwardhan

 

 October 21, 2016

 

 News, Quick Bytes

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After waiting for 25 years for the government to build a dam in their village, a group of farmers in UP have finally taken the matter into their own hands and have started building the dam themselves. In Baheri district, the dam that had been built in the British era is in badly damaged condition.  Farmers from over 25 villages in the area have been facing several problems related to irrigation since 1990. However, since there has been no response from the government even after several pleas, the villagers, tired of waiting, have decided to make things happen for themselves.

According to a report in Times of India, the farmers have collected a sum of Rs 70,000 and are constructing a kutcha dam with mud and sand bags, which will be 98 feet long and 20 feet wide when completed.

When contacted by Times of India, the Chief Development Officer (CDO) of the region, S S Awasthi, said, “From the British period to 1990, the district administration used to construct a kutcha dam here every rabi season. This dam would get damaged every year during the monsoon and was remade just before winter. However, the dam construction was stopped after 1990 due to increased input cost. We had sent a proposal to the state government in 2014 for constructing a pucca dam here, but it is still pending.”

“The quality of crops deteriorated as we failed to provide adequate water. We made several requests to the administration and politicians but there was no response,” said Rampal Singh, a farmer from Tehra village.

Things changed when Jaideep Singh Barar, a former MLA and chief of Kisan Kalyan Samiti, persuaded the villagers to construct the dam on their own. The villagers contributed in every way they could.

“When we had met officials earlier, they had told us that we would not be able to make a dam here on our own. But we proved them wrong. After Tehra village, which is nearly 60 km from Bareilly, we will now construct a dam at Khamariya village,” said Barar.

Another farmer, Sukhbir Singh from Naogava village, said, “The dam will now benefit farmers of many villages. Though we have constructed the dam, we want the administration to ensure its safety.”

The CDO said that the district administration will again take up the matter; however, the farmers say they have little reason to expect immediate action.

Mr Jitender I.P.S at the launch of #dustfreehyderabad campaign

good news for Hyderabadis on the water supply front

Water Board to store water in Osmansagar and Himayatsagar to be supplied during summer

With regular inflows into the four main city reservoirs owing to a good spell of rain, Hyderabadis can hope for comfortable drinking water supply for the next two summers.

Against the total level of 1,790 feet and a capacity of 3.9 tmc ft in Osmansagar, the water level touched 1,781.3 feet and 2.2 tmc ft. Himayatsagar received 0.781 tmc ft inflows till Saturday against its capacity of 2.9 tmc ft.

The revival of the two reservoirs has been a good news for Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board, which has been looking forward to resuming drinking water supply from these reservoirs through gravity. However, with Singur and Manjira almost full too, the Water Board has opted to store water in Osmansagar and Himayatsagar for some more time as there are adequate sources from Godavari and Krishna drinking water supply schemes.

“We are still not drawing water to the full installed capacity from the Godavari and Krishna water schemes. So, we want to store the water in the twin reservoirs for some more time and use during summer,” sources said.

The Singur reservoir has inflows of 29.4 tmc ft as against its total capacity of 29.9 tmc ft, while Manjira has 1.4 tmc ft as against the total capacity of 1.5 tmc ft. The Water board has also stepped up awareness campaign on conserving water so that the city would not feel the pinch even during the summer.

#dustfreehyderabad campaign 2

Today we have  conducted #dustfreehyderabad campaign 2 in association with Walkers Association Sundaraiah Park. GHMC jonal commissioner Mr. Dr. Gaurav Uppal IAS, and corporator Mr.V. Srinivas Reddy were guests to this program. Thanks to all and Special thanks to AURORA COLLEGE STUDENTS.