Reports

Since the Green Revolution, which kicked off in the 1960s as a response to India’s low agricultural productivity and need to import food, the nation has relied on Urea to provide the nitrogen necessary for higher crop yields and food security.  But this reliance has come at a cost to the economy and the environment.

Urea use has a significant role in three major environmental challenges: nitrogen pollution, ozone layer depletion and climate change.

The report evaluates the status of regulations on SUPs and their implementation across the 36 states and UTs of India between 2016 to 2019 to understand gaps and challenges in their design and implementation. It is important to note that these analyses were conducted, well before the current SUP ban was announced. Thus, while some of the lessons in the report may be used to design any future plastic legislation, it is not a commentary on the SUP ban of 1 July 2022.

The report presents the status of data and research, and the capacities of research institutions on marine plastic litter in India. The literature review was carried out to assess the availability of data on marine litter in four different fates, as recognised under the SDG Target 14.1: on beaches or shorelines (beach litter), floating on the water or in the water column, on the seafloor/seabed, and ingested by biota (e.g., sea birds). Research institutions were surveyed and studied to understand their geographical presence, focus research areas and engagement, and their capacity to conduct research on marine litter.

This policy brief on reducing marine plastic pollution from land-based sources, focuses on the current state of knowledge and institutional capacity on marine plastic litter and the strategies to reduce marine litter by developing a comprehensive approach to reduce the demand and usage of SUPs. This is the first step to develop an integrated approach to reduce marine plastic litter.

The report is the first to map India’s Air Quality Management (AQM) sector and the various direct and indirect jobs within it. It recommends a capacity building road map for the next five years to meet the goals of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

Within project Aviral – Reducing Plastic Waste in the Ganga, plastic waste entering the cities environments is reduced by strengthening an integrative and improved plastic waste management system in the two Ganga cities Haridwar and Rishikesh. The efforts also contribute to achieving the objectives of the flagship programs of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (Namami Gange) and the Clean India Mission (Swachh Bharat Mission). In order to sustainably enhance existing capacities, improve selected elements of the plastic waste value chain, promote innovations and implement awareness activities.

Within project Aviral – Reducing Plastic Waste in the Ganga, plastic waste entering the cities environments is reduced by strengthening an integrative and improved plastic waste management system in the two Ganga cities Haridwar and Rishikesh. The efforts also contribute to achieving the objectives of the flagship programs of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (Namami Gange) and the Clean India Mission (Swachh Bharat Mission). In order to sustainably enhance existing capacities, improve selected elements of the plastic waste value chain, promote innovations and implement awareness activities.

This was an effort to develop an action plan to resolve all the outstanding issues related to the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. We got all the stakeholders together and developed this action plan. This action plan was also submitted to the Supreme Court, but it is yet to be implemented.

A Down To Earth cover story on how Bhopal and its residents are still suffering from the Union Carbide accident even after 30 years.

A laboratory study that established the presence of toxic chemicals in the groundwater and soil in and around the UCIL factory.

A first of its kind study in India that established the presence of mercury in the human body and the environment due to emissions fromn the coal power plants in Singrauli, Uttar Pradesh.

This study highlighted the presence of toxic Phthalates in toys being imported from China.

This laboratory study highlighted the presence of Lead in household paints in India. The study convinced few manufacturers to phase-out Lead from their products.

India’s first body burden study that established high levels of pesticides in the blood of farmers from the cotton belt of Punjab. This study catalyzed action against pesticides in Punjab.