Hard hitting indeed! The great smog of India is a much needed book for our times. Siddharth Singh has brought in far more reality to the time when the youth is engrossed with love in the air, than their basic survival. Through this book Siddharth has outreached to people irrespective of their backgrounds making the language simple to common man devoid of scientific jargon. The book shall also help people & scientists working in the field of air pollution, as it shows the method to outreach the gravity of this subject to common masses.

The book starts with the basics of air quality scientific terms to scaffold the reading of any non-technical person as well. Taking us through his personal experiences of Delhi’s air & the ground reality in different areas to ensure that this is a subject of everyone’s business & the book is just not an average weekend read. The author delves in reviewing, synthesizing information and evaluating the most policy-relevant evidence, and communicates critical science judgments relevant to air pollution in India.

This book is thoroughly researched & engagingly argues with different points of views. It could be an essential reading for each one who is bothered about his own survival. The book silently brings in the frightening new reason to worry about air pollution. Though the author majorly revolves around the situation in Delhi, he brings in realistic analogies for every town of India. It also gives readers a look into the past experiences internationally. When Delhi is meteorologically trapped, then as Mumbaikars we understand how blessed we are to have the sea beside us. It gives a reason more, to protect the ocean beside us. It gives us a reason more, to be devoid of high rise towers in no development zones of CRZ for the winds to flow freely without trapping the particulate matter.

The book covers many small, big and enormous battles the varied sectors of energy, transport & agriculture have gone through in the past. The author weighs the pros & cons of every sector towards air quality aspects & gradually leads to a way forward. His suggestions at the end are definitely to ponder upon by policy makers.

Putting it plainly for anyone who dares to listen or read he says, “The general solution to the air pollution crisis is straightforward: reduce or remove the sources of pollutants using innovative policies, technologies & investments. To ensure these problems are effective, one has to first understand the political, social & economic contexts these various sources of pollution operate in. This book was an attempt in that direction.” The book is a good read to comprehend air quality impacts to which we are oblivious in our daily hustle and bustle.

~ Prachi Nimkar

Any clue where all the construction & demolition waste goes? Contractor bhai does his job across different sites in Mumbai & with the demand for housing & redevelopment in Mumbai has ample of jobs yet to be done. But is there any place left in Mumbai or suburbs to take this debris burden. Well, the existing scenario…less said the better! The challenge lies for all: builders, developers, contractors, environmentalists & citizens. Encroaching mangrove patches with debris is like inviting the tsunami catastrophes inside your homes. Till every developer, builder, contractor & citizen comprehend the fact that Mangroves are not just plants but warriors of Mumbai shoreline, protecting us from natural disasters. It’s high time we resolved this scenario on ground or else the health hazards & environmental impacts shall provide no space for citizen survival in this densely populated urban infrastructure. The resolve needs to take into account the policy framework gaps addressing the attention of every professional associated with constructing & developing this maximum city. This blog is an humble attempt to the same.

The illustration below gives an overview of the existing policy framework.

In addition to the above, we also had flutters of Supreme Court orders from September 2015 till March 2018, bringing in restraints of construction & demolition waste disposal on & off. To make implementation a reality on ground we need to work on the gaps in the existing framework. We need mandatory & standardized protocols based on the different activities involved in demolitions. For example a standardized protocol for conducting manual demolition similarly standardized / licensed / certified protocols for using mechanically powered equipments. Even highly stringent protocols need to be in place when implosions are conducted using explosives. To ensure the implementation of this & to comprehend the hazards of the same a licensed/ certified technical handholding is required onsite like a knowledge partner to the contractor & labour engrossed in job.

To develop a good practice prior to awarding the job, Govt. agencies can make the efficiency of mitigation measures taken a high priority while inviting bids. In the present scenario, bids for demolition are based only on what contractors would pay for recoverable.

Today, construction & demolition waste management plan is a procedural task in obtaining an environment clearance for any project proponent. But over the years, it has remained a subjective description template irrespective of the project type. This needs quantification of waste according to the project type. Taking an example, of demolition in SRA Scheme would have a different waste composition with more emphasis on quantity of asbestos sheets, unlike a residential redevelopment project.

The dashboard of the MCGM webpage for application to ‘debris on call’ service has the provision for quantification of debris components. Another simple provision could be made to application, with the details of the efficiency of mitigation measures taken during demolition.

In Norway, Bergsdal, Bohne had reported that demolition was the smallest from C & D activities, contributing only 8% in 1998 while construction and renovation contributed 52% and 40% respectively to waste generation. Learning’s from such developed countries can scaffold while developing our own climate responsive disposal plan.

Taking a step to mitigate health hazards due to air pollution caused in demolition activities, potential alternatives for debris transportation routes could be done aligned with traffic & air quality of the area.

Considering the environmental sensitivity area specific we could not have one policy for all method. For example addressing air regulation through fair regulation would mean to allow certain stages of C & D activities in a certain seasonal variation of Mumbai & not in the winter variation of Delhi. I have quickly sketched an illustration to depict the same.

To overcome these gaps with alternatives, scientists have estimated useful numbers that can help make decisions. Adjunct to that we could have comparative studies on ground for statistical evidence & implementation of potential alternatives.

Until then the challenge of debris in air prevails!

~Prachi Nimkar

Gender Angle to IAQ

Padma wakes up at 5:00 a.m. in Hedvi village, to feed her family with nutritious bhaakri cooked over the chulha. She packs in all tiffins right in time & leaves with the 7:00 a.m ST bus to work in Gram Panchyat schools of nearby villages. Padma is a woman modern enough to earn for her living & yet age old to savour the taste of bhaakri on chulha. While her contemporary Irawati in Bhandup, Mumbai is not far from similar mornings. Irawati too packs in all tiffins right in time to push herself into the 7:52 a.m. local train to CST. She is a bit privileged to work in an air conditioned office & cook on LPG but not enough to be protected from its emissions in a 6 x 8 feet kitchen area.

Emissions from use of kitchen fuels indoors, contributes to 12 % of still births in the country & National Family Health survey (2005 -06 ) revealed significant increases in child morbidity due to poor household air quality.

Men are prone to this harm as well, since Indoor Air pollution is a major killer in India, even more than outdoors! But there is a gender angle to this issue, as the Indian parampara (tradition) hails with women staying indoors, running the kitchen & breathing in-out of the chulha.

A TERI report (2014) finds out that over 2.4 million cases of chronic bronchitis, 0.3 million cases of tuberculosis, 5 million cases of cataract & various adverse pregnancy outcomes among Indian women, are attributed to household air pollution due to biomass used as fuel.

Also, a WHO study stated that the smoke inhaled by women from unclean fuel is equivalent to that of burning 400 cigarettes in one hour.

So while men’s stresses are fagged into smoke rings & the Government promotes subsidies for cleaner fuels to phase in till every woman of this nation, let us do our bit of having cognizance of what she breathes. “She” could be your sister, wife, mother, friend or even your barbeque chef!

Until electrical demand for cooking needs is within reach for all, a switch to natural gas & LPG is the way forward to clean up the air inside our homes.

Meanwhile, Padma retires from being a school teacher & is diagnosed with cancer. Irawati has wrapped up tiffins for her grand children and is awaiting her retirement.

As we forward Whats App messages this International Women’s Day, let’s take an insight to comprehend on why she is coughing inside & Google in more on Indoor Air Pollution.

Cheers to a Happy Women’s Day!

~ Prachi Nimkar