Electronic waste rules: In letter, but without spirit
Ever wondered what happens to your old mobile phones, computers, television sets and refrigerators the moment you discard them? They are most likely to land in an unauthorised scrap yard waiting to be recycled in a hazardous and unscientific manner — causing great damage to the environment. The rapid growth of the information technology sector in India has only contributed to this problem of accumulating e-waste or electronic waste.
The government finally woke up to this growing problem a couple of years ago when studies by its information technology department estimated the e-waste burden on the country to touch 800,000 metric tonnes by December. It responded by framing the e-waste (management and handling) rules – 2011 which came into effect this month. While the rules seem impressive on paper, environmental groups have expressed concerns about its ability to bring about change due to the sheer oversight of the ground situation.
To begin with, the rules put India along with a select club of nations like the United States and many in Europe to have legislation to regulate and manage electronic waste. Not just that, the rules also propose several ambitious measures to regulate waste.
For instance, according to government data, close to 95 percent of all the electronic waste is currently recycled by the unauthorised sector — scrap dealers. They usually resort to recycling methods that cause great damage to environment and human health, according to various studies conducted by environmental agencies including the Central Pollution Control Board. Printed circuit boards and electronic parts are usually immersed in chemical solutions or burnt to extract small amounts of metals.
The newly framed rules aim to change this situation by entrusting the responsibility of collection and safe disposal of waste with the manufacturers of electronic goods. It mandates manufacturers to collect electronic scrap directly from consumers and route them to authorised recycling centres across the country. The rules also try to address other issues such as restricting the usage of hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, PCB, PVR and BFR in electronics.
But all these promising measures in the paper seem far from changing the ground scenario. Here is why.
The environment ministry proposed the electronic waste rules about a year ago, providing companies and other groups affected by the rules enough time to put systems in place for effective compliance before they come into effect this month.
Report indicates India’s shores danger zone for turtles
A recent study by an environmental group, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, has identified the 11 most threatened sea turtle populations from around the world. And five of these so-called danger zones for sea turtles are in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The Olive Ridley and Hawksbill turtles, which nest on Indian shores, are an endangered species and there was a drive by environmentalists against the poaching and killing of these sea reptiles. The study also reveals that the turtles face other dangers.
“The most significant threats across all of the threatened populations are fisheries bycatch, the accidental catch of sea turtles by fishermen targeting other species and direct harvest of turtles or their eggs for food or turtle shell material for commercial use,” the report said.
This report may need to be taken seriously by India’s environmental bodies. While some high visibility animal projects like those for tigers in India have gained some success, the same cannot be said of any drive to preserve or sustain marine life on India’s coastlines. Poaching and killing of protected wildlife is known to be rampant on India’s shores. And perhaps environmental officials can’t do much along with the Coast Guard, given there may be bigger threats like smuggling and militant infiltration through the sea.
But something needs to be done and fast. In spite of repeated warnings by wildlife activists, reports like these expose India’s position and lack of seriousness in tackling marine pollution, unchecked fishing and poaching, and protection of marine life.
Will necessity help coal trump environment concerns?
Coal accounts for 60 percent of India’s energy use, runs most power stations and factories and enabled state-run company Coal India to have a blockbuster IPO last year raising a record $3.5 billion.
But despite having the world’s fourth largest coal reserves, India remains a major importer and the coal industry is pointing fingers at the environment ministry for part of the failure to properly develop coal fields.
“The main reason for slow progress (in developing coal fields) is the time taken for getting clearance (from the environment ministry),” Coal Secretary Alok Perti said during a coal conference on Tuesday.
Prior to 2009, getting forest clearance took 3-5 years instead of the stipulated 240 days, Perti said, highlighting the conflict between environment concerns and the need to build industrial capacity to power Asia’s third-largest economy.
The environment ministry shot to the spotlight under the stewardship of Jairam Ramesh, who set new standards in compliance and halted more than 60 big ticket projects and held up more than 450 of them.
Apart from stricter enforcement of existing environment laws, he brought in new ones like the so-called ‘go, no-go’ policy under which a mining application could be rejected without being considered because of the forest density of the area.
But with Ramesh moving to another portfolio and demand for coal and other minerals increasing, the trade-off between growth and environment looks to be moving in favour of the industry.
from Photographers Blog:
Barefoot in a recycled school
The environment hasn't been spared in India's headlong rush towards development and consumerism. With it came mounds of garbage, piles of waste that had nowhere to go, industrial pollutants that were fed straight back into the rivers and lakes that supply drinking water to millions. Walking around the streets of any town in India, you don't get the feeling that care for the environment is on the top of anyone's list of priorities.
So it was with a little skepticism that I read about a school which claimed to be completely environmentally friendly. I made a plan to travel to Pune, about 190km (118 miles) from Mumbai, to take a look at the Aman Setu school, which means "bridge to peace". They claimed fantastic things - the buildings were environmentally friendly made entirely out of recycled and natural bits and pieces - they had their own vegetable garden for children - kids were allowed to run around barefoot.
What I found really was surprising. The "school" consisted of just a handful of buildings. Madhavi Kapur, who came up with the idea for the school, told me how they'd made the buildings - they'd taken old cement bags, commonly left over at many construction sites after buildings are made in India, and compacted them together with mud to make the rooms. One of the buildings was cone-shaped, others rectangular. Roofs were made out of old advertisement claddings. Ventilation was provided through disused plastic pipes. Instead of using toxic paints and whitewashes, they used a mixture of cow dung, mud and water. I was told it's been traditionally used in India for centuries because strangely enough, a mixture of cow dung and water insect proofs buildings. Who would have thought?!? It smelled reasonably pleasant too, you wouldn't think you were standing somewhere were the floors and walls were plastered in cow dung.
There were rough windows cut into the walls. No lights or fans, just natural light streaming into the rooms, the sound of wind rustling the trees outside. The children seemed to love it. Why wouldn't they? The classrooms were rustic but nice. If they got bored of studying maths or whatever, they could just leave the class, run around in the grass for a while, feed fish in the local pond, or do whatever they want and then come back in. A teacher told us they wanted the kids "to be one with the surroundings" to give them a sense of responsibility, and also to release energy - when they do come back to studying multiplication tables, they're docile.
They'd thought of everything - they bought an old municipal transport bus and stripped it down to make it kid safe. They installed a blackboard and it doubles as a classroom and a play space, where the boys can go and dangle from the handlebars on the roof.
The children get to run around barefoot on the grass anytime they want, play in a garden on recycled car tires, hang out by a pond - all with no teachers screaming at anyone. Surprisingly, the children are attentive and obedient in class, and for all of the running around, it's got to be the quietest school yard I've been in. There's no bells to announce classes, just the teacher saying "we're done for now".
Nice pix Vivek! Always liked happy stories as opposed to disaster ones! Keep up the good work!
from Tales from the Trail:
Green energy aspirations for Obama’s India visit
When Barack Obama heads for India next month, he'll be carrying a heavy policy agenda -- questions over the handling of nuclear material, the outsourcing of U.S. jobs and India's status as a growing economic power, along with regional relations with Pakistan and Afghanistan. But Rajendra Pachauri, the Nobel Peace laureate who heads the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, hopes the U.S. president has time to focus on clean energy too.
Even as Pachauri and the U.N. panel evolve -- and as Pachauri himself weathers pressure from some quarters to resign -- he urged Obama to work on U.S.-India projects that he said would enhance global energy security.
Given India's red-hot economic growth rate -- 8 or 9 percent a year, Pachauri told reporters during a telephone briefing -- he said it makes sense for the United States to work with India to head off an expected soaring demand for fossil fuels.
Over the next two decades, Pachauri said, "If we continue on a business-as-usual path, India will be importing something like 750 million tons (that's about 5.25 million barrels) of oil a year ... and possibly over 1,000 million tons of coal. So I think India has to make some very radical shifts and bring about a movement towards cleaner energy technology."
While the two countries have launched a few initial programs in this area, Pachauri acknowledged that "nothing of great substance has been achieved so far." Obama's passage to India could change that, he said on the call, which was set up by the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council.
Areas ripe for cooperation include collaborative research and development in new areas of energy technology, as well as "a much more liberal approach" to investments in clean energy technology, Pachauri said.
Low interest financing for Indian clean energy projects, including large-scale solar projects in the Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, would also be welcome, he said.
Environmentalists cheer news of scrapping of power project
Environmentalists are hailing news that India’s ministry of environment and forests has scrapped a proposed power plant by Larsen & Toubro in eastern India close to a nesting ground for endangered Olive Ridley turtles.
But Greenpeace is quick to point out that there are ports proposed near all of Orissa’s mass nesting areas, and that these should be denied permission, as well.
It is a tough fight, one that is pitting environmentalists, tribals and villagers against large companies and government agencies keen on tapping resources and building infrastructure to keep pace with India’s robust growth.
The fate of dozens of mining projects, power plants, ports, even highways and special economic zones will be determined by India’s ministry of environment and forests, with reports every day of protests that have sometimes turned violent.
Like in mineral-rich Orissa state, where hundreds of indigenous people are battling to stop London-listed miner Vedanta Resources from extracting bauxite from what they say is their sacred mountain, in an eerie echo of the blockbuster “Avatar” movie.
Vedanta says it needs the ore to feed a refinery it has already built at the foot of the hills, and which will bring greater prosperity to the impoverished area.
India has some of the strictest environmental norms, but its failing has often been lack of implementation and lack of penalty for those breaking the law.
I think it is essential to take the middle path, bearing in mind that you cannot make an omelet without breaking any eggs. There will always be somebody or group that is adversely affected but that has to be then set off against the greater good, whatever that may be.
I think that what is primarily required is the need to have more comprehensive dialogues from the very beginning and for those involved not to take an uncompromising stand. Left only to the environmentalists, we would probably have to regress to the stone age and start living in caves again. Everything else either pollutes, or has a carbon signature, or displaces people or creates some problems for some people. I think awareness is spreading, albeit slowly, and that such problems very often get politicised and then there is simply no solution in sight.
Why not make a rule, that if something essential cannot be located somewhere, then those opposing or refusing permission to operate must also have a suitable alternate site.
Why let a debate determine the fate of GM foods?
There’s nothing Indians like better than a good debate.
So when Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh announced last month that he would hold public debates to decide the commercial fate of genetically modified brinjal (eggplant), there were hopes these would provide a chance for all stakeholders to be heard.
But the debates, in seven cities including Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, were chaotic, nothing more than acrimonious shouting matches between environmental activists and scientists, who say they were not given a fair chance to voice their opinion.
One scientist said he had his hand raised for more than half an hour, but was not allowed to speak. Another said he was told he could make a presentation, but was again not allowed to. Others were not even permitted to enter the premises.
So are townhalls such as these the best way to discuss matters of serious scientific weight?
Sure, the decision affects farmers who grow brinjal and people who cook it in their homes everyday. And a decision to let them speak is a laudable one.
But perhaps a better idea would have been separate discussion forums for scientists, NGOs and the public.
Himalayan glacier meltdown: gospel truth?
Twenty-five years from now, the Himalayan glaciers would have almost disappeared. Almost.
Perhaps that foreboding has been stifled. The U.N. body which issued an alarmist warning that the Himalayan glaciers might vanish by 2035 due to climate change is re-examining its report.
Some experts say the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) led by Rajendra Pachauri based the conclusion on the findings of one report.
Controversy surrounding climate scientists and their reports is nothing new. Not too long ago, a team of hackers exposed a conspiracy by prominent American and British scientists trying to put global warming in the spotlight with the help of statistical “tricks”.
But is the latest controversy over the Himalayan glaciers just a case of foot-in-mouth or are there more skeletons hiding in the cupboard?
Media reports say mystery surrounds the financial affairs of The Energy and Resources Institute, which is headed by Pachauri, known for his “$1,000 suits”.
Does this raise questions about the merit of scientific reports?
The prediction that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035 has now been shown to be unfounded but the date may be wrong the outcome will be the same.
No takers for climate change politics in India
Climate politics is not much of a domestic issue in India even though it is perhaps more at risk from climate change than other nations.
In Australia, climate change and the politics around it even caused a political crisis recently.
Climate was mentioned in election manifestoes for the first time in India’s general elections this year.
No government or political party in the country has ever earned a mandate in the name of an environmental issue.
There are no equivalents of a ‘Green Party‘ here.
Probably the biggest environment related-movement in the country — the Narmada Bachao Andolan — chose to remain outside electoral politics.
It is interesting to note that most writers here presume that people of India is too poor to think about environmental matters in general and the climate change issue in particular. This is another trap for the urban elite intellectual to blame it on the poor for all ignorance and environmentally irresponsible behaviour. These writers seem to ignore the fact that it’s the rich and the upper class – riding A/C cars and airplanes, living in A/C homes and wallowing in a lifestyle of luxury consumption of all greenhouse gas-emitting substances. If illiteracy and poverty is the cause of environmental ignorance, then high education (by academic degrees) and wealth are likely to make the rich and the urban elite highly environmentally conscious and responsible. It does not take much research to see the reverse among the great management degree holders and the corporate magnates – who are the most environmentally illiterate and irresponsible. It’s not poverty, but luxury consumption and the race for wealth accumulation that keep people too busy to think about the environment.
Can’t believe! The rubbish piled into a heap once was a fast-selling computer shop in India.