In Delhi city, there is a location Ghazipur, widely known and condemned for a huge garbage mountain i.e. a landfill site.
On Monday, June 12, the mound caught fire and the firefighters struggled for over eight hours to douse it and control its spread.
Even after this, fumes encircled the whole area on Tuesday, June 13 and poor denizens grumbled about severe irritation in their eyes and had trouble breathing too.
Unfortunately for them, as they live around the giant garbage heap, they have adapted to the situation.
Environment news updates in India to make you think about climate issues.
Going by the records maintained by the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi), even in the year 2022, there were 5 incidents of major fires near the mound.
As an aftermath, toxic fumes remain which secrete Carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases) and gases that cause widespread pollution such as hydrogen sulphide, dioxins and furans.
Environment news updates in India, harsh and unfiltered as the climate has become.
Alok, the inhabitant of the area says that the magnitude of the fire made people of the area aware of it, else minor fires don’t invite such attention, haste and water-sprinkling measure.
“These smaller fires lead to smoke entering our homes. But last night, the cloud of the smoke was so thick that fumes reached Khoda (across the border of neighbouring state UP) and in Rajbir Colony, even closing our doors and windows has not helped”.
In Delhi, winter brings smog and plunges air quality, but for those living at the Ghazipur landfill, it is the summer season that makes them suffer.
This is mainly because methane gas makes its way out in the air, from the organic matter and during the high temperatures, combustion takes place and turns into major fires causing respiratory issues, breathing problems and chest infections too.
Environment news updates in India to make you sensible to your surroundings.
Sakir admires biomining because of which landfill spread has shrunk over the last 2 years.
“The khatta (landfill) is the biggest problem in the area. Once it is removed in the next couple of years, the property rates will shoot up.”
Inderpal dwells in Rajbir Colony and laments that many people of the area have now become used to such widespread environmental and health menace but still, spills hope.
“A large chunk of the landfill has been removed, so we are still hopeful that solution will be found in coming years.”
Dharmendra Kumar mans an electric auto repair shop and resides in the area, complaining, “Our children suffer from cough and respiratory problems during the summer… During some extreme episodes last year, the cloud of smoke was so thick that even cars located across the streets were not clearly visible. I am mostly worried about my mother’s asthma.”
China Water Management Efforts Inspire Many:
Mighty China stares at the challenges through the prism of innovation and unrolls new infra projects to take water piped to the remote areas where droughts are feared.
But then, the experts opine that river diversion may turn out to be an expensive deal.
Just a fortnight ago, officials discussed plans to cement a central “water network” comprising new canals, reservoirs and storage facilities which will cultivate irrigation and would undermine the perils of floods and droughts.
Environment news updates in India to think about human existence.
Mr Li Guoying is the minister of Water Resources who claimed that the plan is designed to “unblock the major arteries” of the river framework by 2035 and this would enable the State to ensure equal water supply.
Other than the huge costs involved this initiative would disrupt the environment too and the regions lying in the south are considered more vulnerable to such supply (disruptions) and additional infra would be needed.
Environment news updates in India to nudge your conscience.
Mr Mark Wang a geography scholar who analyses the impact fallout of such infra, reveals,” What they have been doing so far is using engineering solutions to try to physically supply water and fix their water problem,”
He added, “If China can reduce water use and increase efficiency, it doesn’t need mega-diversion projects.”
China’s Ministry of Water Resources blocked every info flowing to the newsmen. Environment news updates in India to make you realize that climate faces crisis.
Drought Isn’t Going To Be Harsh: Useful Environment news updates in India are right here.
During the high-temperature months, most of the portions of the Yangtze basin will see mild drought as per the observation of weather experts but then, they also foresee tough times for Central and Southwestern China.
In the Southwest, they have already pulled odd measures and the water agency operational in Sichuan province Liangshan County appeals to people not to take baths more than four times a month.
In China, their per capita water resources are recorded as lower than the average elsewhere in the world and they heavily bank upon their infra spread across provinces which supplies water from the south towards the dry north.
The premier engineering solution is their ultimate bet. A slew of other measures are in the pipeline to wither away such woes.
Less water consumption is advised and wastewater recycling plants are installed.
Save these, China has also doubled down on many dozen diversion projects, informs Mr Wang.
EU To Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions By 95% By 2040:
An advisory board is set up and Brussels mingles the scholar minds to prepare a draft of goals to check their continent’s contribution to climate change.
In this scheme, they issue an advisory to the EU to revisit its commitment to greenhouse gas emissions by 95% if they really mean business.
The European Commission prepares the emission-reducing ambition which would be a guiding force aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Ottmar Edenhofer who heads an illustrious board of 15 science scholars, views,” The pathways and other analysis indicate numerous potential benefits to climate action – better air quality, better health outcomes, [becoming] less dependent on imported fossil fuels, less water stress,”
Now, in order to make strong and emphatic recommendations which would toe the line of goals as are identified under the Paris Agreement which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5C as this is the mark whereby climate impact would be bearable.
Now to touch the 2040 goal, they have to weigh in on multiple factors such as ramping up renewable energy, a leap to electrify polluting industrial units and looking towards options in place of fossil fuel, such as hydrogen.
As for coal, which sees a thick and wide use in the power sector, it will sink by 2030.
Environment news updates in India that are unfiltered and untie challenging times ahead.
To purge the atmosphere of CO2 we should play our bet on technologies and on other natural ways, such as tree plantation but then the advisors stress reducing emissions outright.
The EU is widely admired for outlining the most ambitious policies for climate change and for its vow (in the form of a raft of laws) to make its 2030 target achievable as per which emissions will be brought down by 55%.
EU Should Shoulder More Responsibility:
Dear reader, this is what other scholars across the universities and research boards argue. We should never forget how some big EU member nations took a leap in industrialization (such as Britain and France) and made rapid progress on the back of heavy industrialization and polluted the environment so much that global citizens bear the brunt now.
Such sacrifices and efforts are not sufficient to meet climate goals on a global horizon.
Environment news updates in India to prompt you to act urgently as climate urgency is there.
To resolve such a deep divide, EU nations should step forward to help other countries in staying afloat by cutting their emissions while their efforts should also be relentless to cut emissions.
Well, dear reader, let’s see how things unfold in the coming days and we shall keep you in the loop.
