Delhiites found violating the ban on plastic bags will be given a harsher punishment soon. Disappointed with the way the ban is being flouted, Delhi government is in the final stages of drafting an amendment to the notification that will make the law more stringent for defaulters and probably include a clause for compounding the offence.

BAN NOT WORKING HERE:A shopper at Lajpat Nagar's Central Market (right) and another at GK-1's M Block market

Though the court is taking action against offenders and fining them between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh, several big stores and food chains continue to distribute plastic bags. While the notification by the environment department clearly states that no plastic bags are permitted in market areas, stores like Home Saaz and Big Apple in Lajpat Nagar and Spencers, Kunchals and Lakshita in GK-I continue to use them, a random survey revealed. And they are in no way exceptions. Their standard excuse is either that the bags are `degradable' or that the ones being used are about 60 microns thick. ``Our bags are degradable. The manufacturer has printed that on the packets. Such bags are permitted in the market,'' said Anil Bhatia of Home Saaz.

A spokesperson of Spencers said: ``We cannot afford alternatives and had to reintroduce plastic bags in our outlets. They will eventually be phased out. Everyone is using them, so what's the problem.''

Big Apple is taking advantage of the rule that only bags with handles are banned and are distributing thin plastic bags without handles.

Source: Times Of India By Neha Lalchandani Big stores blind to plastic bag ban

The Cabinet also decided that only 50 per cent of the security amount would be refunded. At present, if a person plants 10 saplings in place of each tree cut, he or she would get back the entire deposit amount of Rs 1,000 under the Preserva- tion of Trees Act, 1994.

But now, an individual who deposits Rs 28,000 for cutting one tree would get back only Rs 14,000 even after 10 saplings are planted as compensation.

"Our government has been successful in increasing the green cover from 26 square kilometres (sq km) to 300 sq km," Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, "and this decision will go a long way in making Delhi the greenest city (in the country)."

According to a senior Delhi government official, the penalty deposit amount has been increased since the authorities found it difficult to ensure plantation after cutting a tree. "The meagre amount of penalty, together with inadequacy of monitoring mechanism, made it difficult to ensure compensatory plantation," the official said.

Source: The Indian Express Rs 1k to Rs 28k: To keep city's green, govt hikes deposit for cutting tree

Whether it is a casual tourist or somebody living in Delhi for years, whether it is a celebrity or a head of state, the city's greenery strikes nearly everyone.

For all such people in love with its lakhs of trees, plants and flowers, the New Delhi Municipal Council ( NDMC) plans to " package" the city's greenery so that they get a better view.

On your daily morning walks, you have often stopped on the sidewalks of Lutyens's Delhi to admire the canopy of flowers covering the trees that line the streets.

From the car window, you have admired the train of trees in the heart of Delhi that chases your eyes as if it will never end.

Wish there was a roadside bench on which you could sit and soak in the view.

mausam.sharma@mailtoday.in

Source: Mail Today By Mausam Sharma Enjoy green Delhi from special pavilions

The state expert appraisal committee, which gives environmental clearances to new projects, has asked all proposed hospitals in the Capital to be built in less polluted areas.

Proposals for two hospitals one by the Delhi government in Burari, and a private hospital in Dwarka's Sector-8 have been stalled for now, conditional to furnishing air quality data of the area they are to be constructed in.

The committee's move is seen as one of the first towards ensuring good environmental conditions for patients.

The Burari hospital is planned as a 200-bed hospital at a cost of Rs 147 crore. The other project, Medwin Hospital, is worth Rs 200 crore. Both project proponents have been asked to provide air quality data of two months to check ambient pollution levels.

A new notification issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests last November sets stricter air quality standards for the country. It also lays emphasis on monitoring and mitigation of a pollutant: Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM). According to the new standards, RSPM cannot exceed 60 mg per metre cube in 24 hours in residential or `sensitive' areas hospitals lie in `sensitive' areas and are supposed to have low levels of air and noise pollution.

RSPM is a dangerous pollutant that gets ingested within the respiratory system and is known to trigger asthma and bronchial diseases.

Source: The Indian Express By Neha Sinha `New hospitals in less polluted areas'

To keep New Delhi green and healthy, a new ambulance for trees will be launched on Friday.

The Rs 13.5 lakh ambulance -- a green truck with warning lights and siren -will provide immediate help to the city's trees, which make Delhi one of the world's greenest capitals.

To be launched by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), it will be India's first tree ambulance. New Delhi, though just three per cent of Delhi's total area, is its greenest.
While the rest of the city has 5.73 per cent green cover, 46 per cent of New Delhi is green with at least 95,000 trees.

According to NDMC officials, the city is losing 150-200 trees every year for the last five years, mainly during storms and due to drying up.

"The ambulance comes with tree washers, sprayers, pruners, manure reserves and chainsaws, and a team of six persons trained for a month at the Forest Institute of India, Dehradun," said an official.

Residents of NDMC areas can help keep their localities green by calling the ambulance at 41501354 or emailingdirector.horticulture@nd mcmail.gov.in.

A four-limbed creature being medically treated is routine. The NDMC now has plans to clear infections and heal wounds of some of Delhi's multilimbed -- rather, branched -residents. That's right, the area's 10,000 trees.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has decided to launch a tree ambulance as part of its mission to train horticulture staff in arboriculture.

Source: Hindustan Times Green Cover:  An Ambulance For Delhi's Trees

The rudaalis or professional mourners may begin to lament the moribund state of Yamuna, among India's most sacred and celebrated rivers, in the wake of the depressing revelations of a Central Pollution Control Board report, based on tests on the quality of water collected from five places in Delhi between January and October last year. The findings are included in material filed by the board in the Supreme Court with regard to a PIL against pollution of the river.

The most repelling disclosure is that the river is contaminated by an abnormally high level of faecal coliform, bacteria found in faeces, being much above the permissible limits for the purpose of bathing or drinking. These are disease-causing germs, and one shudders to imagine the horror of the 100,000 or more fastidious visitors to the Commonwealth Games this October when these facts come to their notice.

The 25 drains spread across the 22-km long stretch of Yamuna as it passes through Delhi are reported to discharge a massive load of treated and untreated sewage, industrial effluents and storm water into the river. Significantly, these drains, as per the CPCB's affidavit, "are meant to carry storm water and tail end discharge as a part of the river basin system". Monitoring between January and October 2009 showed that the load discharged from the drains into Yamuna varied between 174 tonnes and 330 tonnes per day. The most polluting drains were at Najafgarh, Burari, Civil Mill, Sen Nursing Home, Barapulla, Power House and Shahdara.

Source: The Pioneer By Anuradha Dutt Tragic death of a river

According to stipulated standards, water can be made potable with treatment if fecal coliform is less than 500 per 100ml and it's fit for bathing if the number is less than 5,000 per 100ml. According to CPCB's 10-month-long monitoring of the Yamuna at Nizamuddin, the lowest level of fecal coliform in the water was 4.4 lakh per 100ml, measured on May 4, 2009. That's almost 100 times above the level considered safe for bathing.

Fecal coliform are bacteria that originate in excreta. Coliform levels reached as high as 1.79 crore per 100ml on February 3. Drinking water without conventional treatment but after use of disinfectant should not have a coliform count in excess of 50 per 100ml and must have a minimum DO of 6mg per litre.

Worse, the dissolved oxygen (DO) content of Yamuna water was ``nil'' on all the testing dates, though the water at Palla on all these days had a DO level of over 4 milligrams per litre, which is the standard. Palla is where the river enters Delhi, embarking on its most polluted 22-km stretch.

Source: Times Of India By Dhananjay Mahapatra Report shows Yamuna's dirty faece

Though the state and central pollution control boards are already engaged in monitoring and reducing pollution, the NGT will accept and probe complaints from citizens against alleged polluters.

The ministry expects Parliament to clear the revised draft of the bill in the budget session slated for end February.

Like the pollution control boards, the tribunal will have the power to fine erring industries. But it will also have the authority to shut down the industry if it turns habitual offender -- a decision that can be challenged in the Supreme Court.

Source: Hindustan Times By Chetan Chauhan National Green Tribunal Soon

The department made a formal presentation before the ministry of environment and forest's national CDM authority and was assured of an approval for the project. ``It is under the process of being validated by a designated operational entity (DOE). The ministry, if it is satisfied with all aspect of the proposal, will issue a host country approval for it. Only then will the department be able to approach the UNFCCC executive board for its registration,'' said sources.

Points For Cutting Emissions
Under the Kyoto Protocol, developed nations have been set emission reduction targets which if they cannot meet, they can offset by purchasing carbon credits from developing nations. One carbon credit is the equivalent of one tonne of carbon dioxide saved by converting to clean technology or adopting green house emission reduction practices under the clean development mechanism

Source: Times Of India Greening wasteland to get city carbon credits

Revolutionising the way weather is observed and predicted, 60 automatic weather stations are slated to come up in the city before the Commonwealth Games begin next year.

The India Meteorological Department's Mega City Forecast Plan is being started as a pilot project in Delhi thereafter, it will be replicated across India.

Until last year, the Capital had three meteorological stations central station at Lodi Road, regional met station at Safdarjung Airport and the aviation met station at Palam.

But Delhi being a big city, the amount of rain and temperature at various locations always differ slightly. The new weather stations will help predict weather for each locality.

By early 2009, the Delhi University, Ayanagar, and Delhi Ridge became the first zones to set up the stations and they have already begun functioning. The stations at Pitampura and Najafgarh are to begin functioning in November (see box).

BP Yadav, the Director of IMD, said the project is being launched in Delhi to improve the assimilation of weather data. "For the Commonwealth Games, the IMD is also procuring two Doppler radars at Palam and at Lodi Road wind profilers for measuring wind speed and light detection system which will detect development of thunders," he said.

Source: The Indian Express Soon, a station to map weather in your backyard

Consumed in quantities producing the same amount of energy, wheat is eight times less damaging to the climate than rice and 52 times less than mutton, says the report, which has not been published yet.

The study by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) examines the carbon footprint of 24 food items used in Indian homes such as chapati, rice, vegetables and milk derivatives such as paneer. "Rice has a higher global warming potential as it is grown in anaerobic soil, leading to higher methane emission. Wheat and vegetables are grown in aerobic soil condition, where methane emission is almost nil," said H. Pathak of IARI.

Methane is many times more harmful than carbon dioxide.

So, did environment minister Jairam Ramesh know something the rest of us didn't when he said vegetarians contribute less to global warming than nonvegetarians? Not entirely.

The study found that shahi paneer, a milk derivative, is more damaging than chicken and only marginally less than mutton.

It takes 900 litres of water to produce one kg of wheat but 15,000 litres for the same quantity of mutton, the study said.
Also, animals consume crop product -- cattle feed. Hence, 10-12 kg of crops go into producing 1 kg of mutton.

"Many of these areas have reached their limits and the situation in not under control as of now," Ramesh said on Thursday after releasing the findings of a survey on pollution levels in industrial clusters.

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"I am of the view that fresh industries should be put on hold and there should be a moratorium on expansion till pollution-control actions are put in place," he said.

The survey, conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) and the Central and state pollution control boards, found 75 of 88 industrial clusters to be extremely polluted.

According to the study, titled Comprehensive Environmental Assessment of Industrial Clusters, 10 industrial clusters scored at least 80 out of 100 in a pollution index (alarmingly polluted); 33 scored between 70 and 80 (critically polluted); and another 32 scored between 60 and 70 (seriously polluted).

"The high levels of pollution and its relation with public health is a serious concern", Ramesh said.

Source: Live Mint HEAVY POLLUTION - Environment Minister Wants Halt On Industrial Clusters' Expansion

The slow moving traffic points include Nehru Place, NH-8 (Delhi-Gurgaon border), Peeragarhi and Ashram Chowk flyover. Only two points -- Mall Road on Ring Road in north Delhi and Vasant Vihar, again on Ring Road, in South-West Delhi -- fall under the category `Fast Moving Heavy Traffic'. All the slow moving traffic points, without exception, have been affected by slow progress of the flyover projects.

The delay in the execution of the projects are also proving to be environmentally hazardous as its leading to traffic pile-up. The emission of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane (CH4) gases was found high on eight out of the 13 points. Incidentally, all these polluting points are close to flyovers. The reason for high levels of pollution is very high volume of traffic and its slow movement because of the incomplete flyover projects.

Soon after Sheila Dikshit Government came to power, it planned building over 70 flyovers across the city. Of these, 41 flyovers have been commissioned and opened to
traffic so far. However, the point to be noted is that most of the flyovers which have been opened are not fully completed. For example, the ITO-Chungi project across the Yamuna on Vikas Marg is leading to traffic jams as its several clover leaves are still to be opened.

Source: The Pioneer Delayed flyovers cause carbon buildup

It had been earlier decided that banks along Delhi's foul-smelling drains, which are essentially sewer channels, will be lined up with flowering bougainvillea vines. The plan was sent was reconsideration after the Flood and Irrigation department told Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta that such plants have large thorns and are difficult to prune and maintain.

Now, based on an idea mooted by the Delhi Technical University, the Delhi government is considering bio-fuel yielding jatropha and karanjha plants for the 1,500 km land. The target: to create a viable source of bio-fuel as well as earn carbon credits through the plantation.

Bio-fuel is mooted as a non-polluting alternative to diesel and there are several green projects earning carbon credits revolving around bio-fuel use.

"The Flood and Irrigation department told us that bougainvillea plantations are too thorny for maintenance. They feel large thorns make the plant too difficult to prune. So this plantation plan has been dropped at the moment," Mehta said.

Source: The Indian Express Bougainvillea idea goes down the drain, Delhi govt plans bio-fuel plants on banks of sewer channels

Fused bulbs, discarded computers, compact discs (CDs), floppy drives, keyboards, etc, will be collected from the civic body's headquarters -- the New Delhi City Centre (NDCC) on Jai Singh Marg -- and will be handed over to a private firm for recycling.

The civic body has floated tenders for this project.

"Our offices generate a lot of e-waste such as discarded computers, mouse, keyboards, etc.
Usually, such waste keeps lying around and takes up a lot of space. Some of it is also sold to scrap dealers. We have floated tenders inviting private companies to come forward to process such waste," said a senior NDMC official.

There are six companies that have permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, India, to recycle electronic waste.

"We are hoping to get a response from the companies in the next 10 days after which the project will begin from the NDMC office," the official said.

The NDMC plans to extend this project to residential areas under its jurisdiction.

"We plan to purchase vans that will make rounds of colonies on a designated day and will collect e-waste from households.
The e-waste will be weighed and contributors will be paid accordingly," added the official.

Source: Hindustan Times Civic Body To Start Auctioning e-Waste,NDMC Floats Tenders; To Collect Waste From Houses