The government is aware of steps that it needs to take to fix this problem, but has not done what is needed to fix this public health emergency that shows the apathy
समस्या यह हमारी सेहत की है हमारी सेहत से ही जुडी है हमारे हवा -पानी की हमारे पर्यावरण की नव्ज़। हम और हमारा पर्यावरण दो चीज़ें नहीं हैं हमारे जीवन की गुणवत्ता है हमारा हवा -पानी ,अंबर और हमारी धरती। आखिर हमारा शरीर भी तो पांच तत्वों का ही समुच्चय है। पञ्च भूतों का प्रपंच ही तो है यह नश्वर काया।
समस्या यह खाली दिल्ली जैसे महानगरों की नहीं है जो इस समय एक स्वास्थ्य आपद काल का साक्षी बन रहा है जहां सांस की धौंकनी को चलाये रखना भी मुश्किल हो रहा है ,समस्या हमारे जीवनदर्शन जीवन शैली से भी जुड़ी है पर्यावरण के प्रति हमारे सौतेले व्यवहार से जुड़ी है।कानून को ठेंगा दिखाने से राजनीतिक इच्छा शक्ति के अभाव से भी जुड़ी है।
ये हमारा दुर्भाग्य ही है बेल्जियम के महाराजा और रानी साहिबा सात नवंबर को जब दिल्ली पधारे न सिर्फ दिल्ली की हवा गंधा रही थी ,धुआं और धुंध का आलम यह था मौसम की इस विशेष स्थिति में रौशनी भी कम थी दूर का भी साफ़ नहीं दिखता था दृश्यता -परास विजबलिटि भी कम थी। दिल्ली की हवा की गुणवत्ता का का मान गिरावट के शिखर ९९९ को छू रहा था। एयर क्वालिटी इंडेक्स इस रोज़ दिल्ली के कई हिस्सों में मापे जाने की क्षमता के चरम गिरावट बिंदु पर था।
पर्यावरण रोग (environmental diseases )यहां साल भर में कितनों की जान ले लेते हैं इसका कोई हिसाब किताब रखने की संभाल हमारे यहां नहीं रही है।यहां एक महानगर में लाख दो लाख मर भी गए तो क्या फर्क पड़ता है आबादी का सैलाब ज्यों का त्यों बना रहता है। मोटर और उद्योग धंधों का भी कार्य - व्यापार पूर्ववत चलता रहता है। यहां हालत यह है -
'राहतें और भी हैं वस्ल की राहत के सिवाय '
-सामाजिक ,आर्थिक और राजनीतिक समस्याओं का दायरा पहले ही बड़ा व्यापक है। किस किस को रोइये।
विदेशी राजनयिक हमारी दिल्ली में पोस्टिंग को पनिशमैंट पोस्टिंग की तरह ही देखते हैं जहां हमेशा ही आपद काल बना रहता है समस्याओं का। भारत में पोस्टिंग के एवज में उन्हें विशेष भत्ता मिलता है जैसे नौ -सेनिकों को पनडुब्बी पे काम करने के लिए विशेष जोखिम भत्ता मिलता है।
दिल और दिमाग के दौरे ही नहीं हार्ट और ब्रेन अटेक ही नहीं ,फेफड़ों की समस्या सांस की धौंकनी से जुड़े अनेक रोगों यथा क्रोनिक ऑब्स्ट्रक्टिव पल्मनरी डिज़ीज़ ,श्वसन तंत्र से जुड़े संक्रमण (respiratory infections ),श्वासनली (trachea ट्रकीआ ),ब्रांंगकस यानी फेफड़ों को सांस ले जाने वाली नलियों में से कोई एक (बहुवचन ब्रांगकाई ) तथा फेफड़ों का कैंसर इस समय दिल्ली की अति -प्रदूषित हवा और उसमें तैरते सूक्ष्म प्रदूषकों के कण इनमें से किसी भी रोग की वजह बन सकते हैं और यह आलम यहां कमोबेश बदलता नहीं है ,उसका स्वरूप भर बदलता है।
गंधाती हवा दिल्ली की-हमारी सेहत पे अपना रंग ज़रूर दिखाती है।
भारतीय प्रद्योगिकी संस्थान कानपुर के २०१५ में संपन्न एक अध्ययन के मुताबिक़ दिल्ली की हवा में तैरते कुल ठोस कणों में ३८ फीसद हिस्सेदारी सड़क से उठने वाली धूल की,२० फीसद वाहनों के इग्ज़ॉस्ट की ,१२ फीसद घरेलू ईंधन के दहन से जुड़ी रहती है , तथा १५ फीसद उद्योग धंधो की रहती है।
पूर्व में ऐसा ही एक अध्ययन कौंसिल आफ साइंटिफिक एन्ड इंडस्ट्रियल रिसर्च इंस्टीट्यूट (CSIR ) से संबद्ध नागपुर के नेशनल इन्वायरन्मेंटल इंजीनियरिंग रिसर्च इंस्टीट्यूट ने केंद्रीय प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्ड के लिए किया था दिल्ली के बारे में जिसके मुताबिक़ दिल्ली के कुल वायु प्रदूषण में ५२ फीसद हिस्सेदारी रोड डस्ट की ,२२ फीसद उद्योग धंधों से और ७ फीसद दिल्ली के वाहनों की वजह से तथा १८ फीसद जैव -ईंधन (बायो -मॉस )के दहन की वजह से थी।
कृपया इसे भी देखें :
Biomass is an industry term for getting energy by burning wood, and other organic matter. Burning biomass releases carbon emissions, but has been classed as a renewable energy source in the EU and UN legal frameworks, because plant stocks can be replaced with new growth.
Also biomass / mass of organisms in ecosystem is the mass of living organisms within a given environment ,measured in terms of weight per unit mass .
Plant and animal waste as fuel ,plant and animal material i.e. agricultural waste products , used as a source of fuel is also biomass .
(शेष दूसरी क़िस्त में पढ़िए ... )
Delhi is in the middle of a public health emergency as air pollution levels have crossed the danger mark. What can be done to solve this recurring problem? Can solutions like odd-even or cracker ban solve it? The author takes a look at what is needed in this Business Standard Special.
Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde arrived in Delhi on Tuesday the 7th of November to what was supposed to be a grand welcome. President Kovind and Prime Minister Modi were among the dignitaries welcoming the royal guests on Raisina Hill. However, air pollution levels were so grave that it looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. In many parts of Delhi, the Air Quality Index had reached 999, which is the maximum possible it is designed to measure.
Even though air pollution kills lakhs of Indians every year, it has been relegated to a non-issue in a country with a million social, economic and political problems. Foreign missions in India have long recognised this problem – their diplomats consider Delhi a hazardous posting akin to war-torn countries. They receive monetary benefits to be posted here and often do not bring along their families.
We Indians on the other hand do not realise that the heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, respiratory infections, and trachea, bronchus and lung cancer that we suffer from and hear about are frequently triggered by air pollution. While there are several structural solutions to the crisis, our attention has focussed on public events such as odd-even traffic rules in Delhi or firecracker bans on Diwali.
It is not surprising that this band aid approach has only had a marginal impact. The source apportionment study by IIT Kanpur in 2015 revealed that 38% of Delhi’s particulate air pollution originated from road dust, 20% from vehicles, 12% from domestic sources such as cooking, and 15% from industries. An older source apportionment study by NEERI Nagpur for the Central Pollution Control Board revealed that 52% of Delhi’s air pollution is from road dust, 22% from industries, 7% from vehicles and 18% from biomass burning.
This variation is neither surprising nor important. Source apportionment studies can give varying results depending on the nature of economic activity and methodology chosen while conducting the study. What is more important is how we react to what we already know – regardless of how imperfect the information may be.
Ideally, the government should be taking a lead in safeguarding public health, but unfortunately, it has often erred on the side of caution rather than decisive action. The void has at times been filled by judicial activism, such as Delhi’s switch from diesel to CNG several years ago, or the recent firecracker ban. Further, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned diesel vehicles in the National Capital Region that are more than 10 years old, but the government is currently resisting these efforts.
The NGT also banned crop burning and imposed fines, but the enforcement leaves much to be desired, which is why smoke originating from these farmlands continues to contribute to crisis-level air pollution in the northern part of the country. After all, farmers happen to be an important political constituency, and fines or other action against them cannot be seen to be too harsh.
Short-term solutions to this crisis are not exactly unknown to the government. Insofar as agricultural residues are concerned, the solutions include a mechanism for the government to buy agricultural residues so farmers are compensated for selling it instead of burning it. Further, public investment must be made into machinery that can uproot crop residues that can be rented by farmers. They are currently too expensive for individual farmers given the small size of land holdings.
When it comes to transport and road dust, roads in Indian cities need to be covered from edge to edge so that the minimum possible road dust is kicked into the air by passing vehicles. Only implementing this will make attempts at vacuum cleaning of roads a practical maintenance solution.
Further, trucks that do not have to deliver goods to an address within Delhi should not be allowed to enter the city only to use it as thoroughfare. After all, of the transport sector pollution, 48% of it is from trucks. Petrol and diesel cars that were targeted in the odd-even policy contribute to only 3% of the transport sector air pollution.
Another concerning fact has been that the number of city buses in Delhi fell from 6,204 in 2011 to 3,951 today. Not only must the government expand its bus fleet, it must acquire electric buses and explore trolleybus corridors to prevent tailpipe emissions in the city. Only with adequate public transport will measures such as the increase in parking fee and congestion pricing be practical and implementable.
When it comes to industries, the Indian government may not have the courage to initiate sweeping reforms like China does, which includes the moving of entire industrial clusters away from cities. However, what the Indian government must do is shut down those industrial units that are flouting emission norms. In the longer run, India must also make a switch from coal fired power plants to renewables, nuclear energy and the much cleaner natural gas. The divestment from coal should be the top priority of the energy ministries.
But I repeat – these facts are not unknown to the government. The government has itself identified the causes and a few solutions. What is lacking is the histrionics that is needed to put this crisis at the top of the policy agenda.
Delhiites must, at the very least, refuse to run the annual half-marathon that is due in a few days. The head of the department of chest surgery at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi states that running a marathon in these conditions can deposit approximately two tablespoons of toxic ash in your lungs.
When Singapore had its air pollution crises in the past, it shut down schools and offices. That may be harder to imagine in a developing country like India, but the message must go out that it is an issue we care deeply about. If schools need to be shut and exams be postponed, they must. After all, studies show that half of Delhi’s school children are growing up with irreversible lung damage.
While it is true that these noises about air pollution are coming from the elite, the fact is that that they can lock themselves away in houses with air filters, while it is the poor who suffer the most. Most of the 10,000 to 30,000 people who die premature deaths annually due to air pollution in Delhi are poor.
The firecracker ban may have been desirable, but it is not nearly enough to make a dent in this public health emergency. We need an ‘all of the above’ approach, and we need it starting yesterday.
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