Following his participation in G20 Summit in Italy, PM Modi has now arrived in Glasgow to kickstart the UK leg of his European jaunt and community leaders and Indologists embedded in Scotland were thrilled on meeting him Monday morning. As I write the article, Mr. Modi gets on with the opening ceremony of the World Leaders’ Summit (WLS) at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), slated to be held at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) in Glasgow, where preparations are ripe for his address at the summit plenary session.
Further ahead, he is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with Boris Johnson soon after today’s opening ceremony, where cultural performances would steal the show with a speech by the UK Prime Minister. Johnson has already accentuated that the summit is the “world’s moment of truth” and has prompted world leaders to fully capitalize it.
Ahead of the conference, he says, “The question everyone is asking is whether we seize this moment or let it slip away.” Among the major constituents of his talks with Modi, the highlights are UK-India climate partnership, a re-visit to the 2030 Roadmap for stronger UK-India Strategic Partnership signed by the two leaders during a virtual summit in May this year.
Kejriwal Surprises Everyone With Green App:
Meanwhile at home, seeking public support in the common fight against pollution, Delhi CM Kejriwal unveiled an app, named “Green Delhi” last week, by which general public is supposed to get involved to ensure a remedial action in time.
The app is meant for people to notify, register pollution sources and any breach of norms, they see as they crisscross the city.
Addressing the occasion, Mr. Kejriwal vehement, “ The people of Delhi are suffering due to rising pollution levels. In the last five years, pollution has reduced by 25% due to several measures taken by the Delhi government and the people. Today, we are launching the ‘Green Delhi’ App. Our aim is to enable every citizen to participate in our ‘Yuddh, Pradushan Ke Viruddh’ campaign. No movement can happen until people take part in the movement”.
People can identify the local issues causing pollution such as garbage burning, pollutions caused by industrial activities, dust emanating from industrial sites and can take photos, videos and audio and upload those. Now, as a potent follow-up on such complaints, regular monitoring will take place at the Green War Room.
The app can be downloaded from Play Store and when complaints would be uploaded, it would be alert the concerned departments that would have to initiate remedial steps within the time frame specified for the purpose.
If people still feel dissatisfaction, complaints can be reopened for another round of action and on resolving the issue, departments would have to emphasize their action with the help of photo-based evidence. Since its launch, Mr. Gopal Rai, Environment Minister, said that 228 complaints had been filed to the app since its launch and a meeting would take place involving nodal officers and coordinators from every department to harp upon the action.
Warriors For Environment As Green Marshals:
Mr. Rai went on to declare, “For the monitoring of the complaints, we are deploying 70 Green Marshals. For instance, if a complaint is being registered repeatedly despite being resolved, the green marshals will visit the location to inspect the situation for any false reporting.”
Mr. Kejriwal requested the people, “Please make us aware of any difficulties that you may face in the app initially, and we will work towards resolving them. Our aim is to involve every agency and department, be it DDA, MCD, Delhi government, to strengthen our ‘Yuddh, Pradushan Ke Viruddh’,”
He ensured about 21 key departments such as DDA, DJB, Delhi Police, Delhi Government department and civic bodies are linked with the app while a nodal officer and a senior officer looks after such complaints in such departments.
Mr. Rai declared, “Around 12 coordinators have been assigned to the green war room who will check every complaint and overlook the resolution of all the complaints as per the timeline, especially a specified timeline of 48 hours. If the complaints are not resolved within 48 hours, they will coordinate with the senior officials of the departments and work to resolve the complaints.”
Due To Climate Disasters, India Suffered Hugely To The Tune Of $87 Billion, Report Reports:
This was on October 26, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued a report that reflected startling facts about the impacts that global warming causes now. Now, due to natural disasters such as cyclones, floods and droughts, India is said to have lost $87 billion last year. Our loss stands next to China’s which has floated $238 billion in such disasters last year. While Japan drained $85 billion. However, most of the damage is attributed to droughts, as per weather organization.
In the year just flown by, the mean temperature stood at 1.39 degrees Celsius above the average one that prevailed between 1981 through 2010 and the aspect is bold enough to spark concerns in times when the mega climate summit is underway in Glasgow.
Making the situation worse, numerous locations witnessed extreme heat and Verkhoyansk in Russia stands prominent here, which is a part of the Arctic region and the needle rose to 38 degrees Celsius just like any radiant summer in deserts. The report also indicates oddly active monsoons marked by cyclones, floods and landslides and was damaging to life and property.
For instance, in May 2020, cyclone Amphan hit the region of Sundarbans which is the largest mangrove forest that took Bangladesh in its stride. Such is claimed to be the strongest of storms ever struck our planet which unsettled around 2.4 million Indians and an equal number of Bangladeshis as per the report.
Across the Pacific and the Arctic, the Indian Ocean also gets to simmer resulting in the temperature of sea surface rising by three times than the recorded average across Asia and the WMO report targets the Arabian sea in its exclusivity.
UN weather chief Petteri Taalas issued a statement, “Weather and climate hazards, especially floods, storms and droughts, had significant impacts in many countries of the region, affecting agriculture and food security, contributing to increased displacement and vulnerability of migrants, refugees and displaced people, worsening health risks and exacerbating environmental issues and losses of natural ecosystems”.
Meanwhile in India, a think-thank names Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) slides into the limelight presenting the Climate Vulnerability Index that sends alarm bells in states of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar as such are more likely to face the heart in form of floods, cyclones and droughts in India. Primarily, CEEW finding puts 27 states and Uts in India in the list of those most unsafe to such harsh climate events and weaker sections would face more trouble including economic disruptions.
As per Abinash Mohanty, chief compiler of the index report, “The frequency and intensity of extreme climate events in India have increased by almost 200% since 2005. With loss and damage rising exponentially due to climate crisis, India must demand climate finance for adaptation-based climate actions at the Glasgow Summit”.
Gopal Rai Seeks No To Crackers Pledge From Delhiites:
Meanwhile, the Delhi government harps upon launching a campaign to dissuade people from burning crackers this Diwali, environment minister Gopal Rai reveals, amid grim situation due to pandemic. The minister calls for “green firecrackers” which can be made, sold and celebrated with this Diwali referencing a Supreme Court order issued in 2018.
The minister’s arguments simply augment the issue of smoke, arising out of firecrackers and stubble burning that makes our air more “hazardous”. He claims, “The government will launch an anti-cracker campaign from November 3. Under it, 11 special squads of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and city police will inspect firecracker manufacturing units to ensure that there is no old stock left.”
In fact, I appeal to the people of Delhi to launch a ‘no-crackers’ campaign. They should try and avoid burning firecrackers completely considering the seriousness of the situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic,”
Well readers, please celebrate carefully and responsibly. Heartiest Diwali Greetings in Advance…
