Pollution easy?
What India can learn from other countries to beat air pollution
Pollution easy NEW DELHI: As severe air pollution in North India has become an annual affair, the country could breathe easy by emulating policy essay on environmental pollution interventions and technology employed by nations which have effectively dealt with the problem of critical air quality.Faced with the hazard of deteriorating air composition, many countries like China have over the years adapted to technology and strategies to counter the crisis, including energy infrastructure optimisation, coal-fired pollution control, and emission controls.
An interesting step in that direction is a vertical forest being planted in Nanjing, eastern China, designed to absorb 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and produce about 60 kg of oxygen per day.
Another intervention in the form of an experimental over-100-metres-high ‘smog tower' in northern China has brought noticeable improvement in air quality, according to researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who monitored the project.
Bhavik Bakshi, Professor at The Ohio State University in the US, pointed out several interventions by other countries to mitigate pollution which India can experiment with.
“These include regulations that limit the amount of pollution that point sources such as industries can emit, and requirement of technology in non-point sources like catalytic converters in cars,” Bakshi told PTI in an email.
Point sources are single-source pollutants, suchas factories and refineries, while non-point sources are harder to identify and address such as construction sites, and forest lands.
“In addition, pollution trading schemes have also been implemented where polluters need to buy permits to pollute. If they clean up their process, they can have extra permits that can be sold to entities who wish to pollute,” he said.
China was home to some of the world's most polluted cities, but many states in the Communist country have taken control of the situation over the years.
“Beijing has achieved impressive air quality improvements in a short amount of time,” Techen Tsering, Director of the Asia Pacific Regional Office, UN Environment, said in June.
“It is a good example of how a large city in a developing country can balance environmental protection and economic growth,” Tsering said in a statement.
In 1998, air pollution in Beijing was dominated by coal-combustion and motor vehicles.
Over the next 15 years Beijing implemented a series of measures focused on energy infrastructure optimisation, coal-fired pollution control, and emission controls.
By 2013, levels of air pollutants fell and some pollutants, like carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxides met the national standard, according to a UN Environment Programme report.
“Understanding Beijing's air pollution story is crucial for any nation, district or municipality that wishes to follow a similar path,” said Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director of UN Environment, in a statement.
“China is certainly an interesting example. They have a unique ability to shut down industries, as they did before the Beijing Olympics," Bakshi said.
While China's successful efforts to combat air pollution are a result of sustained and long-term efforts, many other cities around the world have experimented effectively with short-term measures to battle air pollution.
Paris, for example, bans cars in many historic central districts on weekends and similar to Delhi imposes odd-even bans on vehicles, makes public transport free during polluting events and encourages car-bike-sharing programmes.
Petrol and diesel-fuelled cars and motorcycles will be banned from the city of Amsterdam from 2030.
Copenhagen prioritises bikes over cars and now has more cycles than people. The Danish capital plans to become carbon neutral by 2025.
According to UN Environment, Jambi City in Indonesia has approved an emissions mitigation plan that includes reducing and capturing methane from waste, and local regulations that ban waste burning and promote planting trees.
Zurich has capped the number of parking spaces in the city, only allows a certain number of cars to ply at any point of time, and is building more car-free areas and tram lines.
Outdoor air pollution is among the most significant environmental threats to human health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), bad air contributed to 3.7 million premature deaths each year.
Urbanisation, transportation, industrialisation, power-generation, and agricultural activities are the key drivers of air pollution through the release of toxic emissions.
Bakshi says there is no doubt that technology can help reduce pollution in India.
“It can be most effective for point sources of pollution such as power plants and industry. It can also be used to control emissions from some non-point sources such as automobiles,” Bakshi told PTI.
However, a lot of pollution seems to come from non-point sources such as burning of stubble in farms and burning of solid waste.
“Controlling pollution from such sources will require regulation, or a change in culture that looks down upon such activities and discourages the perpetrators,” he said.
For India, Bakshi believes, policies requiring use of technologies for controlling pollution from point sources can work.
“Emissions trading schemes could also work, but they would require excellent government coordination and strict enforcement of regulations,” he said, adding that eventually, it is a matter a political will and public pressure.
“The solution will be found only if these two things are present,” he emphasised.
Gur naal pollution hata: Here’s how to cook with jaggery for a healthy lifestyle
With the deteriorating quality of air, especially in the Capital, everyone is looking for ways to protect themselves from the hazardous effects of air pollution. One of the natural ways, as validated by many health experts, is jaggery (gur or gud).Jaggery is a concentrated product of cane juice or palm, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in colour.
Many experts say that palm jaggery is healthier than cane jaggery because of it contains ascorbic acid and certain vitamins among other micro and macro nutrients, unlike cane jaggery.
A rich source of glucose, i.e, instant energy, consuming jaggery is good also because it is rich in iron, which, after its consumption, increases the levels of haemoglobin in the body. So, we asked chefs to share some out-of-the-box yet easy to make dishes, where the main ingredient is jaggery.
Nutritional value of Gud per 100 gm
*Jaggery Cheesecake
Ingredients
350 gm plain digestive biscuits, 120 gm ghee or unsalted butter, melted and cooled, 600 gm cream cheese, 350 gm jaggery, 1 cup (250g) sour cream, 200ml thickened cream, 4 eggs (lightly beaten), 1/3 cup (50g) cornflour, 2 tsp lemon juice, 50 gm blueberry compote
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a round 20cm springform cake pan and line the base and side with baking paper.
Place biscuits in a food processor and whiz to crumbs. Add ghee and whiz to combine. Press into the base of prepared pan and chill until needed.
Place cream cheese and 250 gm jaggery in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Beat in sour cream and cream. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in cornflour and lemon juice, and pour over base. Wrap the outside of the pan in 3 layers of foil and place in a large roasting pan. Add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the cake.
Reduce oven to 150°C and bake cake for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until just set with a gentle wobble in the centre. Turn off oven and cool for one hour in the oven. Remove from oven, cool to room temperature, then chill for 3 hours or until cold. Remove from pan and place on a serving plate.
When ready to serve, melt remaining 100 gm jaggery in a small saucepan over medium heat with 2 tbs water, stirring to dissolve the jaggery. Cool completely, then pour over the cake, garnish with blueberry compote and fresh mint leaves.
* Gud Wali Atta Sevaiyan
Ingredients
200 gm of whole wheat sevaiyan (small), 1½ cups of jaggery, 1.5 litres water, 125 gm ghee, 5-6 sliced almonds, 5-6 sliced pistachios, ½ tsp nutmeg powder, a large pinch of saffron, and 1 tsp ground cardamom
Method
Add all the ghee to the vermicelli and cook on medium heat until the vermicelli starts to get golden brown.
Add the jaggery to water and allow it to melt while boiling the water.
Carefully pour the hot jaggery water to the cooked vermicelli. The vermicelli will start to bubble and cook so be careful that you don’t get splattered. Add the ground nutmeg, cardamom and saffron to the mixture.
Keep stirring until the mixture becomes fairly solid and doesn’t stick to the saucepan.
Garnish with almonds, pistachios.
Recipe by Chef Harangad Singh
* Gud ice cream and gud crème brulee
Ingredients
200 gm jaggery, 20 ml condensed milk, a bit of cinnamon powder, 6 egg yolks, 100 ml heavy cream, 30 gm castor sugar and a few drops of vanilla Essen
Method
For gur ice-cream
Make a syrup of jaggery by dissolving 150 gm jaggery with water and cooking it. Once it assumes a syrupy consistency, add condensed milk and cinnamon powder. Blend well and freeze.
For crème brulee
Mix egg yolks with remaining jaggery, sugar and cream.
Add vanilla essence and fill the mixture in a lined container, and steam it in a steamer.
Torch the crème brulee with some bit of jaggery powder on top and top it with ice cream and serve.
Recipe by Chef Nishant Chaubey
* Palm jaggery whole wheat cake
Ingredients
200 gm palm jaggery, 120 ml water, 120 gm wheat flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp baking soda, pinch of salt, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, a pinch of nutmeg powder, 2 eggs and ¼ cup oil/melted butter
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking pan with parchment paper, grease with oil and set aside.
Take palm jaggery in a sauce pan, add water and heat till jaggery melts. Set aside to cool.
Take wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and whisk well.
Take eggs, oil, melted palm jaggery and mix well.
Add this to the wet ingredients and mix well.
Spoon this into the pan and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove it and cool for 10 minutes.
Slice and serve.
Delhi air pollution: AQI improves from 'Severe' to "Very Poor"; strong winds abate smog
Delhi air pollution: Delhiites breathed easy on Sunday as the air quality in the national capital improved after five successive days of being in 'Severe' category. The air quality index (AQI) stood at the 'very poor' category during the early hours of Sunday.The overall AQI in Delhi on Sunday morning was registered at 365 as against 505 on Saturday, as per the government's air quality information service SAFAR.
The national capital has been reeling from 'Severe' category air quality for the past five days forcing the Kejriwal government to shut all schools in Delhi and its adjoining areas.
Also Read:Delhi air pollution: AQI stays in 'Severe' category for 5th day in a row; final decision on odd-even on Monday
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe.
The air quality near Lodhi Road was registered at 254 (PM10) in the early hours of Sunday, falling under the 'Poor' category. Chandni Chowk, which is one of the busiest areas in Delhi recorded an AQI of 299 (PM10). However, the air quality near Indira Gandhi International Airport stood at 315 which comes under the 'Very Poor' category. The AQI near Mathura Road was also under the 'Very Poor' classification.
Meanwhile, the air quality also improved in Delhi's adjoining areas. The AQI in Ghaziabad stood at 365. The suburb is considered as the most polluted city in India. Noida too recorded an AQI of 299.
Also Read:Delhi air pollution: No relief from thick smog as AQI hovers around 500-mark on the last day of odd-even rule
Odd-Even Extension:
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal received a lot of flak over not extending the odd-even road rationing rule in the national capital. He recently said will take a final decision on the extension of the anti-pollution measure on November 18 (Monday).
"As per weather forecast, air quality in Delhi will improve in the next 2-3 days. If the air quality doesn't improve, we will make a decision on extending odd-even vehicle scheme on November 18," CM Kejriwal said at a press conference on Friday.
Also Read:Delhi pollution: National capital struggles for fresh air as AQI touches 'severe' level again
"We do not want people to undergo unnecessary inconvenience," he added.
Friday was the last and final day of the 12-day odd-even car rationing scheme. Odd-even road rationing rule came into effect on November 4.
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