NGT directs CPCB to prepare noise pollution maps within three months

The green panel said the absence of implementation of noise pollution norms affects the health of citizens, especially infants and senior citizens.

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to prepare a noise pollution map and remedial action plan to solve the issue across the country.

The green panel said the absence of implementation of noise pollution norms affects health of citizens, especially infants and senior citizens.

(Business Standard)

It also affects sleep, comfort, studies and other legitimate activities, it said.

A bench headed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the CPCB to prepare the map, identify noise pollution hotspots and categorise cities with specified hotspots and propose a remedial action plan within three months

Noting that the CPCB has established a noise monitoring mechanism, which is functioning on a continuous basis, in seven cities, the NGT asked the board to consider setting up of such mechanisms in all cities where noise pollution is beyond permissible limits.

"The state pollution control boards may undertake noise level monitoring in conjunction with police and take remedial action.

"The police departments of all the states and Union territories may obtain the noise monitoring devices within a period of three months and specification of such devices may be finalised in consultation with the respective state pollution control boards," the green panel said.

The NGT said police may also train their staff regarding the use of such devices and develop a robust protocol for taking appropriate action against the defaulters.

"The CPCB may explore the possibility, in consultation with leading manufacturers of public address systems and other manufacturers of such instruments, to manufacture such equipments wherein the noise meters with data loggers are fitted therein so that as and when the prescribed parameters are violated, the same gets recorded and retrieved by the regulators for fixing the responsibility on the violators," it said.

Chief secretaries can finalise action plans in this regard within three months and submit the same to the CPCB, the NGT said.

The CPCB may also lay down the scale of compensation to be recovered, including conditions on which equipment seized is to be released within one month, it said.

SC refuses to impose complete ban on firecrackers, but sets some conditions

The court order on firecrackers is not limited just to Diwali; it has fixed a duration for bursting of crackers on other events and festivals as well.

Refusing to impose a blanket ban on the sale and use of firecrackers, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said only green firecrackers, which are less polluting, will be allowed to be sold in the country.

The Court, however, banned the sale of firecrackers on e-commerce websites.

The court order is not limited only to Diwali; durations have been fixed for bursting of crackers on all events and festivals. On Diwali, crackers are allowed between 8 pm and 10 pm. On Chirstmas eve and New Year, it will be allowed only between 11.45 pm and 12.45 am.

The Bench of Justice A K Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan had, after hearing the petitioners, firecrackers manufacturers, the Centre and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on August 28, reserved its order on the plea for a countrywide ban on firecrackers to curb the deteriorating air pollution.

The Bench had earlier said that there was a need to strike a balance between the right to health and the right to carry on a trade or profession.

The firecracker manufacturers had told the court that crackers were not the sole cause of rising pollution during Diwali. It was one of the contributing factors and that an entire industry could not be shut down on this count.

One of the pleas filed by a child, Arjun Gopal, represented by lawyer Gopal Shankarnarayan, had sought a ban on the possession of firecrackers in the National Capital Region as that was contributing to an already alarming level of air pollution in the area.

In 2017, the apex court had prohibited the sale of firecrackers in NCR-Delhi during Diwali.

Business Standard

As dust storms brew, India breathes toxic air throughout the year

In 2018 alone, there have been 50 severe storms across 16 Indian states that have led to more than 500 deaths, compared to 22 storms between 2003 and 2017.

Deadly dust storms sweeping over the densely-populated north Indian plains are part of a "new normal" of disruptive weather events worsening the country’s already-lethal air pollution and causing disruption in the $2.3-trillion economy.

In recent months, dust clouds and storms have killed hundreds of people, destroyed thousands of homes and farmers’ crops and led to flight cancellations. The government in New Delhi, a city of more than 20 million people, ordered a halt to construction activities as the airborne sand significantly worsened north India’s air quality, far outside the winter months that usually herald the region’s descent into a months-long toxic haze.

"It’s definitely a new normal -- the frequency and intensity of these storms is unprecedented," said Sunita Narain, director general of New Delhi’s Centre for Science and Environment, who added that recent weather is related to desertification, deforestation and an over-extraction of groundwater.

In India, extreme weather events can quickly lead to dozens of deaths and cause economic hardship, with the World Bank estimating that environmental degradation costs India roughly $80 billion each year. At the same time, soaring levels of tiny, deadly particulate matter have prompted concern about a brewing public health emergency in the politically-gridlocked capital, where doctors warn of rising lung cancer and heart disease cases.

Economic Threat
In 2018 alone, there have been 50 severe storms across 16 Indian states that have led to more than 500 deaths, compared to 22 storms between 2003 and 2017, and only nine between 1980 and 2003, the CSE said. Nearly 5,000 houses collapsed, while livestock were killed and crops were ruined across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and others, according to a report by the CSE.

Flights were cancelled across north India on airlines including Air India, Indigo and Spice Jet, said Kapil Sabharwal, a spokesman for New Delhi’s airport.

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