Blog of India » Environment and health

India Being Coerced To Soft-Pedal On Dow Chemicals Compensation

Meena Rani K — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:40:00 +0000

The United States administration is attempting devious tactics to convince India that its demand for Rs 1,500 crore compensation for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy victims from Dow Chemicals will stand in the way of US-India trade and investment relationship. This gains importance as US President Obama is due to visit India in November.

Times Now, in an exclusive on Wednesday has reported that US Deputy NSA Michael Froman wrote to Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia in an email that the ‘noise’ created by India’s compensation demand could have a ‘chilling effect’ on bilateral relationship. This email reply was in response to Mr. Ahluwalia’s request for US help in garnering more World Bank loans. India is fast approaching the single borrower limit, beyond which it is difficult to land funds.

Mr. Froman’s email reply dated July 30 reads as follows: “We are aware of this issue and we will look into it. While I’ve got you, we are hearing a lot of noise about the Dow Chemicals issue. I trust that you are monitoring it carefully. I am not familiar with all the details, but I think we want to avoid developments which put a chilling effect on our investment relationship.”

The Group of Ministers on Bhopal tragedy is also insisting that Dow Chemicals must be made to pay for cleaning up the site of Union Carbide gas plant in Bhopal.

Dow Chemicals, which took over Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) in 2001, is claiming that it has no liability in the issue, as the tragedy took place prior to its acquisition. The company also asserts that the Indian arm of UCC was already disposed off, when they took over the US-based parent company.

In reply to the Opposition’s allegation that Indian government is allowing the US to arm-twist it, government sources said that the exchange of emails is proof that the US is trying pressure tactics, while the government has not yielded to it.

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India’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions up, Per Capita Emission Still Low

Meena Rani K — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:51:17 +0000

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission inventory done after a long gap of 13 years is finally out. While the country’s emissions stood at 1.23bn tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent during the last inventory in 1994, it jumped up by 41% to 1.73bn tones of carbon dioxide in 2007. However, India retains one of the lowest per capita emission figures – 1.5 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent. When compared to per capita emission figures of developed countries, this is too low.

India’s GHG emission remains less than one-fourth of that of the US. With India’s huge population – almost 17% of the world population lives in India – the emission figure is condonable.

The increased GHG emission is attributed to the fast-paced industrialization in the country. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman, Planning Commission, who released the inventory report with Jairam Ramesh, minister of environment, pointed out that Indian economy’s emission intensity continues to decline.

Mr. Ramesh told media persons, “Interestingly, the emissions of the US and China were almost four times that of India in 2007. It is also noteworthy that the emissions intensity of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by more than 30 percent during the period 1994-2007.”

“India has the most updated emission inventory and we are not obliged by anyone to do so but the initiative was taken for domestic usage. We should now benchmark our emissions for 2007 with best practices in the world,” he added.

The energy sector continues to be the biggest contributor of GHG emission in the country, accounting for 58% of emissions. This is followed by industries at 22% and agriculture at 17%.

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India’s Carbon Emission Strategy to Hinge on Energy Security

Meena Rani K — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 05:27:26 +0000

With coal reserves fast depleting and energy needs mounting with commendable performance of economy, India is seeking alternative renewable energy sources to meet the projected economic growth rate.

Kirit Parikh, who heads the governmental panel entrusted with the task of developing India’s low-carbon strategy, in an interview to Reuters cautioned that if the economy continues its casual approach to climate change, ‘the reality is even in business-as-usual we have to change from what we are today’.

Mr. Parikh added, “These are your imperatives in any way from your energy security point of view because we are very short of oil, very short of gas. We need to find in the next 20, at the most 30 years, an alternative to coal-based power plants. That will be required in a business-as-usual scenario.”

India stands fourth in the list of world’s largest carbon emitters. Pressure had been mounting on India to cut down its pollution to rein in the changing climate worldwide. Though per-capita emission is low for India, the increasing dispensable income of Indian middle-class is raising the demand for more cars and other luxury amenities.

Though India is promoting solar energy as the future energy source, coal still remains the mainstay of the economy. The country is home to about 10% of world’s coal reserves, but most of this is of inferior quality, which results in high levels of environment pollution.

As curbing carbon emissions is a sensitive political issue in the country due to the high cost involved, the panel was entrusted with the task of mapping a greener route to economic prosperity. The panel is due to submit its preliminary report next month and its final report in September.

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Environment and Health: CNG in India

The Syntax Systems — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:08:15 +0000

In 1998, the Honourable Supreme Court itself took the initiative for providing clean and breathable air to the Indian citizens. In its directive, it mandated the Delhi Government to convert all the commercial vehicles to CNG-based engines, at the same time lashing out at the Government’s inability to check pollution. In addition, first batch of 28 other polluted cities are mandated.

The benefits of a NGV (Natural Gas Vehicle) are varied. A CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) automobile effectively, reduces toxic soot pollution by 75-90% and reduces 25% of the smog-forming pollution, as compared to a diesel engine. In addition, it offers cost economy on two counts. Firstly, the rate of one kg of CNG in India is only one-third of the price of one litre of petrol. Secondly, it is more efficient fuel – the energy produced by one kg of CNG is equivalent to the energy produced by 1.4 litres of petrol or 1.2 litres of diesel.

Delhi is now known as the CNG capital of the world, with the largest fleet of CNG buses. However, the overall penetration of NGVs is only 2.3%, as India struggles with CNG availability and the lack of distribution network. For example, at least 43% of the daily CNG availability in Lucknow cannot be supplied, due to the lack of refuelling gas stations. The discovery of Natural Gas reserves in the Krishna-Godavari basin are expected to bridge these existing gaps. Similarly, with major state-owned and private players investing in the distribution lines, the situation is likely to improve.

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What Can You Do To Prevent Global Warming?

FourthDimension — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:10:31 +0000

There has been a lot of debate on Global Warming (GW) and pressure on Government to reduce carbon emission. But is it only the responsibility of the Government? What can each one do as responsible citizens of India to reduce G W? It’s within everyone‘s reach and you don’t have to be educated or working or spend money to do these things. In fact you can save money by following simple steps and in the process improve your health. Many nations have even involved children to participate in these programs to reduce GW and have taken a step further and included environment issues in their curriculum. So here goes the list:
1. Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables
2. Car pooling or walking short distances to instead of taking your car.
3. Spending more time with family and outings instead of watching TV. You make your family happy, you save electricity and you don’t put on weight by being a couch potato.
4. Use less hair dryer, air conditioning and water heaters.
5. Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. It lasts 10 times longer and you save money.
6. Buy energy efficient products.
7. Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you’re not using them.
8. Plant a Tree
9. Conserve water
10. Avoid use of firecrackers.(Little late after Diwali but there is always a next time)
11. Teach children to save electricity and water.
12. Ask children to play outdoors or involve them in other activities instead of watching TV or computer games. Helps them in all round development and helps them fight childhood obesity.
13. Do free emissions check for your vehicle and make sure your car is running efficiently.
14. Cut down on your garbage—buy fewer packaged materials to prevent further global warming.
15. Use nontoxic cleaning products
16. Run your washing machine when you only have a full load.
17. Eat less meat and more organic foods in your diet.
18. Use a low-flow showerhead, which will lessen the hot water used but not drop your water pressure in the shower.
19. Decrease your air travel.
20. Wash clothes in cold water and line-dry whenever possible
21. Bring your own reusable canvas grocery bags when grocery shopping
22. Taking the stairs might not always be possible, but if it’s only a few floors try to ignore the elevator or escalator as often as you can.
23. Re-use your water bottle
24. Go for jogging or cycling instead of using trend mill
25. Do rain water harvest
26. Don’t throw rubbish every where use waste bins
27. Switch off the car engine if you are stuck in a traffic jam
28. Inflate your vehicle’s tires to the pressure recommended by the manufacture and make sure your wheels are properly aligned. Check your tire pressure once a month.
29. Carry a water bottle from home with you instead of buying mineral water. You don’t spend money on bottled water and you reduce plastic wastes.
30. Speak to at least one person and encourage them to join you. After all little drops make an ocean. Let’s preserve the Earth for our own good and for our children.

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