📰 Invest in vaccine literacy, say experts
It is key to building public trust, they say
•With a COVID-19 vaccine seemingly just round the corner in India, vaccine literacy, and not publicity blitz about the emergence of one or more vaccines, is essential to building public trust, say health experts.
•This should be supplemented with aggressive testing and tracing strategies to keep a check on the infection numbers and test the efficacy of vaccines.
•“Vaccine literacy is an important aspect in vaccine roll-out which often does not get the attention it deserves. Before a new vaccine is introduced it is absolutely essential to build the confidence of people which is only possible by openness and transparency in sharing critical data,” J.V.R. Prasada Rao, former Health Secretary, told The Hindu .
•He added that it is essential to engage civil society organisations in a dialogue, sharing the data with them and asking them to disseminate information to the people at large.
More sustainable
•Explaining that this could be a slower process, Mr. Rao said: “But this will be more sustainable than a publicity blitz about emergence of one or more vaccines.”
•Seconding this, N.K. Ganguly, former Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research, said this could be done in three ways — by maintaining absolute transparency in trial data results and adverse events, rigorous surveillance through smart testing and tracing strategies as they form the bedrock for a vaccination campaign and finally by ensuring that the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) and the regulator should be composed of independent persons with significant technical experience and they should have no relation with the vaccine company or anyone who can influence.
ICMR study analysed samples from 6 sites in Mumbai before and after outbreak
•The detection of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewage samples has raised the possibility of using environmental water surveillance to monitor virus activity in infected areas, researchers have said.
•Similar environmental surveillance for the polio virus has played a critical role in the eradication of wild polio virus globally.
•In their paper titled “SARS-CoV-2 detection in sewage samples: Standardization of method & preliminary observations”, published recently in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, researchers claim to have undertaken the study to standardise the methodology for detection of SARS-CoV-2 from sewage and explore the feasibility of establishing supplementary surveillance for COVID-19.
•Researchers have now suggested that SARS-CoV-2 detection in waste waters could be used to understand the epidemiology of COVID-19.
•“Decreasing concentration or absence of virus at previously SARS-CoV-2-positive sewage sampling sites may indicate successful implementation of COVID-19 control strategies and it may provide evidence of the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2-infected populations and confirmation of COVID-19-free zones,” the study noted.
Intestinal infection
•The study was conducted by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, (Mumbai Unit) and Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, ICMR, Delhi, and said though COVID spreads mainly via the droplets of respiratory secretions, it was also detected in stool samples of patients, indicating active infection of the gastrointestinal tract.
•For the study, sewage samples were collected from six sites in Mumbai using the grab sample method and processed using polyethylene glycol (PEG)-dextran phase separation method for virus concentration. Real-time RT-PCR assay was used to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.
•“A total of 20 sewage samples collected from six different wards in Mumbai city, before the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections and during May 11-22, 2020, were processed using the phase separation method. The WHO two-phase PEG-dextran method was modified during standardization. SARS-CoV-2 was found to concentrate in the middle phase only. All samples collected before March 16, 2020 were SARS-CoV-2 negative. Viral RNA was detected in sewage samples collected during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in all the six wards,” the study said.
•The study concluded that PEG-dextran phase separation method was effectively used to concentrate SARS-CoV-2 from domestic waste waters to detection levels. It would be feasible to initiate sewage surveillance for the virus to generate data about the viral transmission in various epidemiologic settings.
📰 Slowdown in loans sanctioned to struggling businesses, MSMEs
The ECLGS scheme is a key stimulus for firms battered by lockdown restrictions due to COVID-19
•There has been some slowdown in loans sanctioned to struggling businesses and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) over the months of October and November under the ₹3 lakh crore emergency credit guarantee scheme announced by the government in May this year.
•In its first three months of operations, the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) Fund had led to sanction of soft term loans of ₹1.86 lakh crore, of which ₹1.32 lakh crore had been disbursed to ₹27.09 lakh borrowers by September 29.
•Between September 29 and December 4, loans sanctioned under the scheme rose by just ₹19,094 crore to a little over ₹2.05 lakh crore. These sanctions pertain to 80.93 lakh accounts.
•Disbursals during this period increased by ₹26,380 crore with over 13.4 lakh more borrowers benefiting, taking the total amount paid out under the scheme to nearly ₹1.59 lakh crore. The total borrowers receiving funds under the scheme now stand at 40.49 lakh.
Key element
•The ECLGS scheme is a key element of the government’s stimulus and support measures for firms battered by the lockdown restrictions put in place in March to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides additional working capital finance for 20% of a borrower’s outstanding credit as on February 29, 2020. The financing is in the form of a term loan at a concessional rate of interest.
•In November, the government had announced the expansion of the scheme to cover even larger firms operating in healthcare and the 26 most-stressed sectors identified by the K.V. Kamath Committee appointed by the central bank. Firms with outstanding loans of ₹50 crore to ₹500 crore from sectors such as construction, real estate, textiles, power, cement, hotels and tourism, are eligible for support.
Aid to NBFCs
•Similarly, the ₹45,000-crore Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme 2.0 to enable non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), housing finance companies and micro-finance institutions to undertake fresh lending to MSMEs and individuals has recorded a tepid offtake between September 25 and December 4.
•Banks had approved purchase of loan portfolios of such entities worth ₹25,505 crore and purchased portfolios worth ₹16,401 crore by September 25. Transactions being negotiated or awaiting approval at the time were around ₹3,171 crore at the time.
•As on December 4, the portfolios approved for purchase stood at ₹27,794 crore, rising by just ₹2,289 crore. The portfolios at the negotiation/approval stage had also declined to ₹1,400 crore.
•The latest numbers, shared with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a review meeting on the progress of the various elements of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package on December 11 didn’t include the extent of approved portfolios purchased since the Minister’s last review meeting on the issue held on October 1.
•The government has now extended the time line for banks to purchase bonds or commercial papers under the scheme till December 31.
📰 Dangerous impasse
Peace on the border is important for all aspects of India’s relations with China
•Winter has set in Ladakh, and the chill in India’s relations with China remains after more than a month since the last round of talks between Corps Commanders to take forward disengagement on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). There is no road map yet to a return to the status quo prior to May’s transgressions by China, which, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar acknowledged last week, have brought ties to the “most difficult phase” in the last 30 to 40 years. Mr. Jaishankar, speaking to a think-tank, said the relationship had been “profoundly disturbed” this summer, and China had “literally brought tens of thousands of soldiers in full military preparation mode right to the LAC in Ladakh”. The Minister’s forthrightness has stood as a sharp contrast to the persistent denials from the government this summer about the seriousness of the border situation, which it was forced to confront publicly after the tragic loss of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley in June. His remarks drew a strong response from China, which yet again blamed India for the crisis, saying “the responsibility totally lies with the Indian side” and that it had strictly abided by border agreements, a claim that does not square with the unprecedented mobilisation of Chinese troops to various points across the LAC since early May. The Ministry of External Affairs then responded, asking China to “match its words with actions”.
•The sharp exchange last week underlined the perilous state of relations and the long road ahead towards restoring normalcy, which, India has made clear, is predicated on peace on the border. In an interview to this newspaper on December 2, the External Affairs Minister cautioned that full disengagement may not be an immediate prospect, drawing a parallel to the Sumdorong Chu crisis of 1986 that took nine years to resolve. The slow-moving talks on the LAC — both sides are yet to schedule the next round following the eighth meeting between Corps Commanders on November 6 — raise questions about China’s willingness to both restore fully the status quo and abide by past agreements, which India must insist upon. The government, for its part, should be far more forthcoming than it has been so far on the situation on the LAC. Peace on the border is what every other aspect of the relationship with China has rested on over the past three decades, from trade to growing links in new fields such as investment and education. Transparency, without which the public will not be fully aware about the border situation and the state of the broader relationship with China, should take precedence over optics and political expediency.
📰 A sector that needs to be nursed back to health
Nursing education in India suffers poor quality of training, inequitable distribution, and non-standardised practices
•The year 2020 has been designated as “International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife”. Nurses and midwives will be central to achieving universal health coverage in India. India’s nursing workforce is about two-thirds of its health workforce. Its ratio of 1.7 nurses per 1,000 population is 43% less than the World Health Organisation norm; it needs 2.4 million nurses to meet the norm. In addition to the low number of nurses, the sector is dogged by structural challenges that lead to poor quality of training, inequitable distribution, and non-standardised practices. Here are the challenges and the potential solutions to them.
Uneven regulation
•Nursing education in India has a wide array of certificate, diploma, and degree programmes for clinical and non-clinical nursing roles. The Indian Nursing Council regulates nursing education through prescription, inspection, examination, and certification. However, the induction requirements vary widely and so does the functioning of regulatory bodies in the States. In addition, 91% of the nursing education institutions are private and weakly regulated. The quality of training of nurses is diminished by the uneven and weak regulation.
•The current nursing education is outdated and fails to cater to the practice needs. The education, including re-training, is not linked to the roles and their career progression in the nursing practice. There are insufficient postgraduate courses to develop skills in specialties, and address critical faculty shortages both in terms of quality and quantity. These factors have led to gaps in skills and competencies, with no clear career trajectory for nurses.
•Multiple entry points to the nursing courses and lack of integration of the diploma and degree courses diminish the quality of training. A common entrance exam, a national licence exit exam for entry into practice, and periodic renewal of licence linked with continuing nursing education would significantly streamline and strengthen nursing education. Transparent accreditation, benchmarking, and ranking of nursing institutions too would improve the quality.
•Though the number of nursing education institutions has been increasing steadily, there are vast inequities in their distribution. Around 62% of them are situated in southern India.
•Further, despite the growth, there is little demand for postgraduate courses. Recognising the need for specialty courses in clinical nursing 12 post graduate diploma courses were rolled out. These courses never did well due to lack of admissions, because the higher education qualification is not recognised by the recruiters. Further, the faculty positions vacant in nursing college and schools are around 86% and 80%, respectively.
Gaps in education, services
•Most nurses working in the public and private health sector are diploma holders. There is a lack of job differentiation between diploma, graduate, and postgraduate nurses regarding their pay, parity, and promotion. Consequently, higher qualifications of postgraduate nurses are underutilised, leading to low demand for postgraduate courses. Further, those with advanced degrees seek employment in education institutions or migrate abroad where their qualifications are recognised. This has led to an acute dearth of qualified nurses in the country. Compounding the problem, small private institutions with less than 50 beds recruit candidates without formal nursing education. They are offered courses of three to six months for non-clinical ancillary nursing roles and are paid very little.
•The nursing practice remains largely unregulated in the country. The Indian Nursing Act primarily revolves around nursing education and does not provide any policy guidance about the roles and responsibilities of nurses in various cadres. Nurses in India have no guidelines on the scope of their practice and have no prescribed standards of care. This may endanger patient safety. It is a major reason for the low legitimacy of the nursing practice and the profession. Additionally, the mismatch of the role description and remuneration that befits the role sets the stage for the exploitation of nurses.
•The Consumer Protection Act which protects the rights and safety of patients as consumers, holds only the doctor and the hospital liable for medico-legal issues; nurses are out of the purview of the Act. This is contrary to the practices in developed countries where nurses are legally liable for errors in their work.
•Basic institutional reforms will be required to address the three issues. First, the governance of nursing education and practice must be clarified and made current. The Indian Nursing Council Act of 1947 must be amended to explicitly state clear norms for service and patient care, fix the nurse to patient ratio, staffing norms and salaries. The jurisdictions of the Indian Nursing Council and the State nursing councils must be explained and coordinated so that they are synergistic.
•The exodus of qualified nurses must be contained. Incentives to pursue advanced degrees to match their qualification, clear career paths, opportunity for leadership roles, and improvements in the status of nursing as a profession will be key steps to do so. A live registry of nurses, positions, and opportunities should be a top priority to tackle the demand-supply gap in this sector.
•Public-private partnership between private nursing schools/colleges and public health facilities is another strategy to enhance nursing education. The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog has recently formulated a framework for public-private partnership in medical education that could be referred to develop a model agreement for nursing education. The Government has also announced supporting such projects through a Viability Gap Funding mechanism.
A Bill that could spell hope
•The disabling environment prevalent in the system has led to the low status of nurses in the hierarchy of health-care professionals. In fact, nursing has lost the appeal as a career option. The National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill currently under consideration (https://bit.ly/2W7ZFP9) should hopefully address some of the issues highlighted. These disruptions are more relevant than ever in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
📰 Breaking up
While not throttling innovation, regulators must keep the spirit of competition alive
•The lawsuits against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 46 U.S. States, the District of Columbia and the territory of Guam are a significant challenge to the dominant Internet empire that Mark Zuckerberg has built in such a short time. The plaintiffs, working in close coordination, sued Facebook on Wednesday for its anti-competitive conduct, which they said harms users, advertisers, competition, and innovation. The basic charge is that Facebook, in fear of competition, plays by an anti-competitive strategy playbook. It either buys potential competition or, if it cannot, cuts them off from accessing its large platform. Money is no bar in buying off potential competition, as the $19-billion purchase price of WhatsApp in 2014 shows. The lawsuits highlight Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp, which happened when Mr. Zuckerberg saw them as real threats to Facebook’s continuing success. Whatever Facebook cannot acquire faces, as a lawsuit puts it, the “wrath of Mark”. It may be years before the lawsuits are decided one way or the other. But not even the noisy fallout of the Cambridge Analytica scandal was as much of an existential threat for Facebook as this issue could turn out to be. For, while highlighting its lack of concern for privacy, a taint that Facebook has struggled to shrug off since, the Cambridge Analytica scandal did nothing to stop the social network’s roaring growth. Facebook, which last year made a revenue of over $70 billion, right now has a market capitalisation that is just a shade under $800 billion. These lawsuits could potentially endanger this business success.
•The action against Facebook, however, is not to be seen in isolation, and is linked to the growing backlash against what is called ‘Big Tech’ globally. Europe and the U.S., especially, have moved against these technology companies not just on anti-trust charges but also on cases involving violation of privacy. There seems to be a growing realisation about the disproportionate clout that these technology platforms have in the global scheme of things, which they exploit to further their domination in the industry. And that it is futile for regulators and policymakers to continue with a light-touch approach in the technology industry. In fact, calls for the break-up of technology firms have been put forward by politicians in the U.S. With its immense scale, Facebook has on more than one occasion managed to startle regulators and administrators, not to mention civil society and activists, by its grandiose plans which seemed to threaten the existing world order. The offer for a free limited version of the Internet and plans for a new digital currency are a few examples. Internet monopolies are not a feature of just the developed world. They are everywhere. And it would be useful for governments and regulators to draw the right lessons from this if they want to keep the spirit of competition alive.
📰 The roots of the agricultural crisis run deep
Declining agricultural incomes and flagging state support to agriculture are some of the key structural issues
•The standoff between farmers and the government continues even after a few rounds of discussion and more than a fortnight of protest at the Delhi border by the farmers. The latest proposal by the government indicates its willingness to amend the three agriculture-related Acts passed in September. On the contentious issues of registration of private traders, levy of taxes on trade outside the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis, the government has proposed amendments which will empower the States to frame rules on these issues. Similar assurances have been given on access to the judiciary for dispute resolution and continuation of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism. However, farmer unions have rejected the proposal and continue to demand complete withdrawal of the three Acts along with making MSP a guarantee.
Many protests, one thread
•It is likely that the issue may ultimately get resolved and an amicable solution is found to resolve the impasse. However, this will only be a temporary reprieve from the vexatious issue of declining farmer income and the nature of state support to agriculture.
•The last four years have seen a series of large protests in most of the States. While a group of farmers from Tamil Nadu camped in Delhi for over 100 days, Maharashtra was witness to the ‘Kisan Long March’ of farmers on more than one occasion. Similar protests have erupted in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh. At least five farmers were killed in police firing in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh three years ago. Clearly, farmers’ unrest is not new and has been building up for quite some time. The latest round of protests may have seen spirited protests from farmers from Punjab and Haryana but has found the support of farmers from the other States as well. While they may appear to be fragmented and localised, the issues concerning these instances of unrest have a common thread — of declining agricultural incomes, stagnant wages and withdrawal of state support to agriculture.
•The immediate trigger for the current protests is the enactment of the three Acts, on agricultural marketing, contract farming and stocking of agricultural produce, which deregulates the existing Acts on these. The farmers see them as an attempt to dilute the nature of these safeguards provided to them — by providing unfair advantage to the private sector, read corporate sector, vis-à-vis APMC mandis.
•The current crisis is entirely a creation of the government at a time when the country was struggling with novel coronavirus-caused lockdowns, supply disruptions, job losses and falling incomes in an economy which was already slowing down even before the pandemic. While the reforms embedded in the three Acts are unlikely to help resolve the structural issues facing Indian agriculture, even their withdrawal is unlikely to change the ground reality which has existed even before the Acts were passed. It is precisely because of this that withdrawal of the three Acts by the government will only offer a temporary truce. Such a step is unlikely to contain farmers’ anger and unrest which is likely to increase with a slowing economy and falling demand for agricultural commodities.
Changing face of agriculture
•The real issue is the lack of remunerative prices for a majority of agricultural commodities, a sharp increase in price variability in recent years, and an unpredictable and arbitrary government policy regime, none of which is likely to change in the near future. It is these which have led to a recurrence of distress in the agricultural sector with regular farmers’ protests which have only grown in frequency in recent years.
•Part of the problem is the changing nature of agriculture which has seen increased dependence on markets, increasing mechanisation along with increasing monetisation of the agrarian economy. The increased dependence on markets has contributed to increasing variability in output prices. With limited intervention by the government in protecting farmers’ income and stabilising prices through MSP-led procurement operations, the variability has increased in frequency as well as the spread of it. Other than rice and wheat — and to some sporadic instances, of pulses — most crops suffer from inadequate intervention from MSP operations.
•However, even these procurement operations are unable to stabilise prices with falling demand and a slowing economy. A perfect example of this is wheat which has seen a steady decline in year-on-year inflation based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) since July and is negative for the last three months of August, September and October despite record procurement by the government. Not only has the procurement operation failed to arrest the decline in prices, the uneven nature of procurement has meant that in many States of eastern India, wheat is sold at 20-40% lower prices compared to MSP.
•It is the same in the case of paddy where most States have seen market prices significantly lower than the MSP. The situation is far more worrying for crops such as maize which sold at 40-60% lower than the MSP in most States. Unfortunately, none of this is new. In the last five years, three years have witnessed negative inflation for cereals. While the withdrawal of the Acts is unlikely to ensure price stability, even the demand of making MSP a guarantee for private trade is meaningless if the government is unable to ensure procurement for a majority of the 23 crops for which it announces MSP. Even for crops such as wheat and paddy for which there is procurement, the regional concentration makes it irrelevant for most of the eastern and southern States.
Factors behind vulnerability
•While output prices continue to show high variation with frequent spells of low prices, increasing mechanisation and monetisation have led to an increase in cash requirement. Most of these are met by non-institutional sources including middlemen which has contributed to the rising cost of cultivation and increase in loan defaults. The demand for loan waivers is unlikely to subside with rising cost of inputs. Some of these trends have accentuated after 2010-11 when the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) for fertilizers regime led to an increase in fertilizer prices. But the withdrawal of diesel subsidy and rise in electricity prices also contributed to making agriculture unviable. With agricultural investment declining in the first four years of this government, the result was rising input costs and falling output prices. Not to mention, the shocks such as demonetisation and the lockdown imposed after the pandemic broke out which only increased the uncertainty and vulnerability in the agricultural sector both on input and output prices.
Policy overhaul needed
•Even if the current impasse due to the farmers’ agitation gets resolved, there is no certainty that the structural factors which have contributed to the farmers’ unrest will get resolved. The existing policy framework with excessive focus on inflation management and obsession with fiscal deficit will likely lead to lower support from the government either in price stabilisation or reduction in cost of cultivation through fiscal spending. The agricultural sector needs comprehensive policy overhaul to recognise the new challenges of agriculture which is diversifying and getting integrated with the non-agricultural sector. This not only entails a better understanding of the structural issues but also innovative thinking to protect farmers’ livelihood from the uncertainty of these changes. Above all, it requires fiscal support and institutional structures to support the agricultural sector and protect it. In the absence of these, any rhetoric of doubling farmers’ income is only wishful thinking.
📰 Hazardous ideas for the Himalayas
By planning hydropower projects, India and China are placing the region at great risk
•In an article published on the website of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, China announced that it is planning to build a major hydropower project as a part of its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), on the Yarlung Zangbo River, in Mêdog County in Tibet. The hydropower generation station is expected to provide 300 billion kWh of electricity annually. The Chinese authorities say the project will help the country realise its goal of reaching a carbon emission peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.
•As speculation about this news began floating around in Mêdog County, not far from Arunachal Pradesh, Indian counterparts were quick to reiterate their plans to dam the Himalayas on this side of the border. India is reportedly considering a 10-GW hydropower project in an eastern State.
Misadventures
•In this mad rush of one-upmanship, both countries ignore how unviable such ‘super’ dams projects are, given that they are being planned in an area that is geologically unstable. It is high time that India and China sat together to deliberate on the consequences of such misadventures in an area where massive earthquakes are bound to take place.
•Over the past 20 years, both China and India have been competing with each other to build hydroelectric dams in this ecologically fragile and seismically vulnerable area. There are two hydropower projects in the works in Arunachal Pradesh on the tributaries of the Brahmaputra: the 600 MW Kameng project on the Bichom and Tenga Rivers and the 2,000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydroelectricity Project. On the other side of the border, China has already completed 11 out of 55 projects that are planned for the Tibetan region. In executing these hydroelectric projects at a maddening pace, the two countries overestimate their economic potential and grossly underestimate the earthquake vulnerability of the region.
•Consider this: High seismic zones coincide with areas of high population concentration in the Himalayan region where landslides and glacial lake outburst floods are common. About 15% of the great earthquakes of the 20th century (with a magnitude of more than 8) occurred in the Himalayan region. The northeast Himalayan bend has experienced several large earthquakes of magnitude 7 and above in the last 100 years, more than the share from other parts of the Himalayas.
•The 1950 earthquake just south of the McMahon Line was of 8.6 magnitude. It was the largest continental event ever recorded, and devastated Tibet and Assam. The earthquake killed thousands, and caused extensive landslides, widespread land level changes and gaping fissures. It resulted in water and mud oozing in the Himalayan ranges and the upper Assam valley. This dammed the rivers. Later the dams were breached generating flash floods in the downstream sides, seriously silting the drainage systems. The earthquake was felt over an extensive area comprising parts of India, Tibet, erstwhile East Pakistan and Myanmar. This event gives us grim pointers of what we can expect in the north-eastern bend of the Himalayas if a similar event was to take place in the background of the fast-developing hydro projects.
•To take a more recent example, the 2015 Gorkha earthquake of magnitude 7.8 in central Nepal resulted in huge losses in the hydropower sector. Nepal lost about 20% of its hydropower capacity consequent to the earthquake. About 30 projects with a capacity of 270 MW, mostly located along the steep river valleys, were damaged. The cost of physical damage is calculated to be about $200 million. The study published in a 2018 paper in Geophysical Research Letters, by Wolfgang Schwanghart and others, for example, is quite revelatory on the earthquake-borne damage sustained by hydropower projects in Nepal. The main mechanisms that contributed to the vulnerability of hydropower projects were found to be landslides, which depend on the intensity of seismic ground shaking and slope gradients.
•Heavy siltation from giant landslides expected in the project sites and headwater region from future earthquakes will severely reduce the water-holding capacity and life expectancy of such dams. Even without earthquakes, the steep slopes made of soft rocks are bound to slide due to deforestation and road-building. These activities will get intensified as part of the dam-building initiatives. Desilting of dams is not an economically viable proposition and is technologically challenging. From these perspectives, the northeast Himalayan bend with its deep gorges is the most unsuitable locale within the Himalayas for giant dams. Also, we do not know how reservoirs with their water load would alter the existing stresses and strains on the earth’s crust in the long term, impacting the frequency of earthquakes and their mechanisms.
Under threat
•The Himalayan range is a transnational mountain chain and is the chief driver of the Asian climate. It is a source for numerous Asian river systems and glaciers which are now under the threat of degradation and retreat due to global warming; these river systems provide water for billions of people. This legacy of humanity has now become highly contentious with territorial disputes between two nuclear powers — India and China. The ongoing low-level military confrontations between these two countries have led to demands for further infrastructural development on both sides, including all-weather roads, much to the peril of regional biodiversity and the livelihoods of the indigenous population.
•In a recent article in Nature, Maharaj K. Pandit, a Himalayan ecologist, says in recent years, the Himalayas have seen the highest rate of deforestation and land use changes. He suggests that the upper Himalayas should be converted into a nature reserve by an international agreement. He also says the possibility of a Himalayan River Commission involving all the headwater and downstream countries needs to be explored.
•Rather than engaging in unsustainable dam-building activities, India and China, the major players in the region, would be well advised to disengage from military adventurism and seek ways of transforming this ‘roof of the world’ into a natural reserve for the sake of humanity. Carbon neutrality should not be at the expense of the environment.
📰 Innovations for cleaner air
Monitoring air pollution alone isn’t enough; India needs context-specific solutions to tackle the problem
•Over the past decade, India has made significant progress in monitoring air pollution. There are more than 250 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations and more than 800 ambient air quality monitoring stations operating across the country. It is owing to these that we are able to understand the magnitude of the challenge of air pollution. There has been a tremendous effort in improving awareness of citizens through campaigns around air pollution and its adverse impact on health and environment. However, while these efforts need to amplify, it is equally important to have systemic changes at the policy and strategy levels.
Welcoming policy interventions
•Public policy is already responding positively. The budget allocation for air pollution increased substantially in 2020-21 from what it was in 2018-19 to ensure cleaner air in cities having populations above one million. The establishment of the Commission for Air Quality Management with penal provisions against polluters in the NCR and adjoining areas is a welcome move. India has jumped from BSIV to BSVI vehicles. There is an increased focus on e-mobility. Through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, there has been an effort to reduce indoor air pollution in rural areas by increasing LPG coverage. While these measures will have a major impact in the long term, India needs innovations to deliver on the promise of cleaner air in the immediate future.
•There are many institutions involved in developing solutions. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s PUSA Bio Decomposer, which turns crop residue into manure in 15-20 days, could become a cost-effective alternative to tackle stubble burning. UNDP is also promoting startup-led innovations such as a filter-less retrofit device for cutting particulate matter at source in industries and vehicles, and a nature-based solution to amplify air purification through breathing roots technology for improving indoor air quality.
•Air pollution in India has numerous sources that are spread across vast geographies, which is a challenge for environmental regulators with limited capacity and manpower. In such conditions, it is imperative to leverage advance digital technologies, such as geospatial technology and AI, to upgrade our capacities to identify, monitor, regulate and mitigate air pollution hotspots. For instance, the GeoAI platform for brick kilns, developed by UNDP in partnership with the University of Nottingham, is supporting environment regulators to identify non-complaint brick kilns from space. The platform has already mapped over 37,000 brick manufacturing units across the Indo-Gangetic plains. Given the complexity and magnitude of air pollution, India needs context-specific innovations not only in the technological but also in the economic, social, legal, educational, political and institutional domains. It is important for it to develop a single window online platform for showcasing innovations with the potential to mitigate the challenges of air pollution.
What more should be done?
•The need of the hour is provide an enabling ecosystem for innovations to address context-specific air pollution challenges. There needs to be significant government support for enterprises to come up with scalable pollution abatement technologies. Resources need to be allocated to support testing, certifying and scaling of innovative solutions and also to extend support for intellectual property rights protection.
•It is equally important to mobilise private sector participation. Businesses and enterprises need to innovate their operations and functioning, building in emission and pollution controls and reducing institutional carbon footprint to the lowest possible levels. The private sector has strong potential to develop commercially viable products to combat air pollution and boost the innovation ecosystem. Also, if one quantifies the impact of interventions that reduce air pollution with healthcare cost, disability-adjusted life years, or economic cost, it could lead to diversification of funding sources for that intervention.
