Yet again, North India shrouded in heavy smog
Delhi and parts of north India are once again enveloped in heavy toxic smog, thanks to crop burning in Punjab. Taking note of the crisis, the National Green Tribunal has rapped the state governments concerned and has instructed them to take a slew of measures like banning construction activities in the national capital to deal with the issue. While people suffer from the environmental emergency, the states continue to blame each other for the crisis with no concrete action plan to counter it.
COP23: Consensus reached on tackling climate actions in agriculture
The first week of the 23rd session of the Conference of Parties (COP23) in Bonn, Germany has finally seen decisions being taken on how to deal with climate actions in agriculture after failing for years to arrive at a consensus. Following this, the parties have been invited to submit adaptation assessment methods for the improvement of soil health, soil carbon and soil quality as well as considerations for the improvement of nutrient use and manure management. However, negligible progress has been observed in critical issues such as finance, adaptation and climate-induced loss and damage.
UN criticises Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
The United Nations has criticised the ambitious Swachh Bharat Abhiyan saying the campaign has failed to end the practice of manual scavenging. It has also claimed that building toilets without provisions for water supply and not adopting measures for behaviour change have exacerbated the problem. The Indian government, however, has rejected the UN's criticism by saying it was based on factually incorrect or incomplete information.
Water crisis looms large over Nagpur and Amravati division
Six out of 18 major dams in Nagpur division have water level at 30 percent or less of their capacity while in Amravati, the level has dipped below 30 percent in five out of the nine major irrigation projects. Considering the crisis, the dam water is being prioritised for drinking purposes. As per officials, however, the government is planning to launch an awareness drive on using water judiciously so that it will sustain for nearly six months before the rains arrive.
Goans do not want nationalisation project for their rivers
People all over Goa are up in arms against the nationalisation of the state's rivers and has called the move illegal, unconstitutional and antinational. Under the banner, "Our Rivers Our Rights", a petition has been filed with the Prime Minister seeking his immediate intervention to remove all six Goan rivers from the National Waterways Act, 2016. People have also urged the chief minister Manohar Parrikar not to sign the tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the proposed nationalisation of rivers.
This is a roundup of important news from November 8 - 13, 2017. Also read the policy matters this week.