Data Loading...
COVID-19 - HOSTAGE Flipbook PDF
Zoonotic diseases are rapidly evolving and widening their realm of spread
114 Views
53 Downloads
FLIP PDF 19.02MB
DownToEarth 16-31 MAY, 2020
CLICK NOW
FORTNIGHTLY ON POLITICS OFFORTNIGHTLY DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
COVID-19
HOSTAGE Zoonotic diseases are rapidly evolving and widening their realm of spread
+
Vizag gas leak: the result of ignoring safety protocols P153
Female health workers: invisible, underpaid and stigmatised P583
`60.00
SCHOOL OF WATER AND WASTE
AAETI
ONLINE TRAINING ON
‘BASICS OF DECENTRALIZED WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND LOCAL REUSE’ Course Dates: 01 June – 26 June, 2020 Total Study Hours: 24 hours Commitment: 6 hours a week Language: English Decentralised wastewater treatment is based on the important principle – devolving level of the application so that wastewater can be treated at affordable costs, cutting the cost of pumping long distances and promoting local reuse of
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: · T o understand the existing problems in wastewater management.
·U nderstanding the definition, concept and approach of
decentralized wastewater treatment vis a vis centralized wastewater treatment and its intervention in urban areas.
treated wastewater. The course builds awareness about issues and potential of decentralized wastewater treatment including successfully implemented case studies of local reuse of treated wastewater.
· Acquaintance to web based portal MOUNT – case studies showing different technologies and cost effectiveness.
· Understanding about the enabling frameworks and
regulations applicable to decentralized wastewater treatment including reuse.
TARGET AUDIENCE: ·W orking professionals and decision makers from
· P ractitioners from consultancies, community-based
· PMU assisting Govt. in mainstreaming water-
· Independent researchers and academician working in water
· Urban Planners, Architects, Engineers and Consultants
· R epresentatives of Resident Welfare Association
organizations, social-welfare organizations, nongovernment organizations
government and non-government institutions wastewater measures
and sanitation sector
Registration link is https://www.cseindia.org/online-training-on-dwwt-10050
COURSE FEE
`3500/-
Indian participants
US$ 100
International Participant
Training Coordinator:
Academic Director:
Dr. Mahreen Matto Programme Manager Water Programme +91-11-40616000 (Ext: 257), mobile: +91 98680 18045 Email: [email protected]
Dr. Suresh Kumar Rohilla Senior Director, CSE Academic Director, School of Water & Waste, AAETI Email: [email protected]
Top 3 participants will be invited to AAETI, Nimli to attend the knowledge conclave “SFD Week” in October 2020.
Free 1 year Down to Earth subscription after course completion
SUNITA NARAIN
\ EDIT
Migrants: Future of work and production
E
VENTS ARE moving so fast in our world. It was just two weeks ago that I wrote how the economic collapse because of COVID-19 had made the invisible, visible. I wrote about the images of migrant labourers that haunt us, who made their way from villages to cities for jobs and are now walking back home because of job loss —often dying and collapsing with hunger. Since then, the migrant crisis has made its way into our homes; into our living rooms; and, into our consciousness like never before. We have seen them; we have felt their pain; and, we have wept when we heard how tired migrants sleeping on train tracks were crushed to death by an incoming train. More and more of such cases have come to light—we are all traumatised. I know. But it is also important to note that their pain has not gone unnoticed – government has started trains to bring migrants back home; it has done this knowing there is danger that the contagion might spread to villages. But it knows that there is also anguish to go home. It had to respond. I can say that as yet, all these efforts, including the move to provide free food to the returning people, is still too little—much more needs to be done to take them home with dignity and to provide them with wherewithal to survive in the coming months. However, what we need to discuss now, is not just the returning migrants, but what this will mean for the future of work and the future of production—not just in India, but across the world. So, what happens to work now—workers have returned home; they may come back as things improve or they may not. Already in Indian cities, we are getting news about how essential municipal services are affected without this workforce. We are getting news about the panic of builders—industry is finding that even when lockdowns are lifted, production needs workers. So, the value of their work—the worker who was until now dispensable and cheap—is being felt. These workers were kept in the worst conditions; sleeping and eating in hovels—inside the ‘sweat’ factory that the world has come to know. There is no government housing or transport or any other such facility for industrial areas—factories are supposed to produce and workers are supposed to find whatever means they can to survive. The opportunity We know that people live cheek-to-jowl with industry – this makes them vulnerable to toxic is to re-build the gas leakages or pollution. But have we ever stopped to ask why these informal, illegal local economy habitations are built – because there is no housing provided. But labour needs jobs; and to re-think industry needs labour. But now labour has gone; some say they will never return. production built Work needs to be reimagined. In areas where people will return, this is the great on discounting opportunity to renew rural economies and make them resilient. But this is not going to labour and be easy. Just consider how, in the 1970s, when Maharashtra had the great famine environment looming and it feared massive unrest in its cities because of rural exodus, one man, V S Page, a Gandhian, had come up with the scheme to keep people employed at their place of residence. This was the start of the Employment Guarantee Scheme (egs), which morphed into the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (mnrega) many years later. But what we forget as this programme took the avatar of government rules is that it was a contract—between the rural and urban. Professionals in cities paid a tax, which went into the scheme meant to provide employment at home for villages. It was a win-win for both. What we also forget is the opportunity that this work provides to rebuild nature’s capital—through real and tangible assets of water, forests, grazing lands, horticulture and investment in livelihoods. This is not to say that these words are not there in the government document. All this is said, but there is little understanding of the intent or the opportunity. It is a tired scheme, meant to provide work during distress. We need new direction and leadership. We must stop seeing this as a scheme for breaking stones in the scorching sun. We must see this as the scheme for providing livelihoods for renewal—do all we can to build the rural economy, driven as it is through value addition in agriculture, dairy and forestry. It needs a new blueprint; a new compact between the rural and the urban. But this then brings me to the question of production—India and all other countries of the world are desperate to re-start factories and re-build economies. The fact is that the global economy is built on cheap labour and by discounting environment protection—there is a cost to providing homes for workers; providing adequate living conditions and wages that would give people well-being. There is a cost to ensure that water and air and waste are not dumped, but treated and then disposed of. The rich did not want to pay this cost; they wanted cheap goods for consumption. That’s why production moved to our world. So, what happens now? I will discuss this in my third @sunitanar connected thread of this dialogue next fortnight. D T E 3
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
Down To Earth C OV E R S TO RY
Founded in 1992 to arm you with knowledge critical to shaping a better world
FOUNDER EDITOR Anil Agarwal EDITOR Sunita Narain MANAGING EDITOR
Richard Mahapatra ASSOCIATE EDITORS Vibha Varshney, S S Jeevan, Snigdha Das, Sonalika Sinha, Arnab Pratim Dutta (Multimedia) CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ajit Bajaj GRAPHIC EDITOR Sorit Gupto REPORTING TEAM Kundan Pandey, Ishan Kukreti,
Akshit Sangomla, Meenakshisushma, Banjot Kaur, Shagun Kapil
ASSISTANT EDITORS Aditya Misra, Rajit Sengupta WEB EDITORS Joyjeet Das, Rajat Ghai, Anshika Ravi,
Anuj Pant
DESIGN TEAM Chaitanya Chandan, Sanjit Kumar, Shri Krishan,Vijayendra Pratap Singh, Ritika Bohra PHOTOGRAPHER Vikas Choudhary PHOTO LIBRARY Anil Kumar PRODUCTION Rakesh Shrivastava, Gundhar Das TECH SUPPORT Rajendra Rawat, Jaidev Sharma MULTIMEDIA Srikant Chaudhary, Sunny Gautam,Adithyan P C INFORMATION AND RESEARCH SUPPORT
Kiran Pandey, Susan Chacko,Madhumita Paul, Sheeja Nair, Lalit Maurya, Dayanidhi Mishra CONSULTING EDITOR Anumita Roychowdhury Vol 29, No 1; Total No of Pages: 64 Editorial, subscriptions and advertisements: Society for Environmental Communications, 41,Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 062, Phone: 91-11- 40616000, 29955124, 29956110, 29956394, 29956399 Fax: 91-11-29955879. Email: [email protected] 2020 Society for Environmental Communications.All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited. Printed and published by Richard Mahapatra on behalf of Society for Environmental Communications. Printed at International Print-o-Pac Limited, B-204, 205, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi-110020, India, and published at 41,Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 062.
32
Zoonotic viruses are reinventing their strategies to find new hosts, creating fresh reservoirs to expand their realm of spread. Scientists are belatedly waking up to this never-ending nightmare
13
Digest
23
Draft electricity bill
15
Vizag gas leak
50
Patently Absurd
20
Lockdown impact
62
Civil Lines
To subscribe, sms 'dte Subscribe' to 56070 or visit www.downtoearth.org.in/subscribe FOR ADVERTISEMENTS Jyoti Ghosh
[email protected] FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS
K C R Raja, [email protected]
States dilute labour laws meant to protect labourers, and this will hurt the economy
The imperative to be extra cautious while starting production after lockdown
Yamuna river is cleaner, but the Ganga continues to remain polluted
The Union government pushes to shift power from the states to the private sector
A global initiative to provide access to COVID-19 therapies to all
Migrants are the new untouchables—both socially and physically
Cover design: Ajit Bajaj Illustration: Ritika Bohra
Down To Earth does not endorse the content of advertisements printed in the magazine. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only.
Contents 26
IMD has infrastructure, yet it does not warn farmers about weather disasters
52
Simply planting trees cannot replenish water. On the contrary, they can suck up more water and create scarcity
56
A magical herb that can boost immunity against diseases like COVID-19
58
Female health workers bear the brunt of a careless government and remain invisible
SUBSCRIBE
DownToEarth www.downtoearth.org.in
The planet doesn't have a price tag But, by subscribing to the magazine, you pay a small contribution to reiterate this
Down To Earth- India’s most credible magazine on environment and development. The magazine provides research-based knowledge and fills a critical information gap. Down To Earth covers: Climate Change | Health | Air | Food | Environment | Agriculture | Mining | Water | Natural Disasters | Urbanisation | Waste | Energy | Wildlife & Biodiversity | Economy | Science and Technology | Governance | Forests | Lifestyle ...with better insight into the issues, the same are critically analysed. To know more and subscribe, please visit the following link and click to the applicable category
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/subscription/pricing/1
Category 1 Individuals, Schools and NGOs Category 2 Colleges, Government, Private and all others
Subscribe to Down To Earth with our Annual Issues to get the best deal If you want to make payment by way of Cheque, please draw in favour of ‘Society for Environmental Communications’, fill up the form and send to Society for Environmental Communications, 41 Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi – 110062 CONTACT DETAILS: Subscriber’s Name: Mr/Ms______________________________________________ Institution:_____________________________________________________________ Off
Address:
Res_________________________________________________ State:_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Phone:
Pin Code
Off
Res___________________________________ E-mail: ____________________________________________
Cheque No.: ___________________________Dated: ____________________________ Amount: ____________________________
Write to us if you have any queries, addressed to Ramachandran at: [email protected]
DTE subscription ad.indd 10
23/03/20 6:47 PM
Engage
Start of a new era This is in reference to “Army cannot discriminate women on physiology: SC “ (1-15 March, 2020). As the apex court’s landmark judgement to maintain gender equality on command appointments in army comes as a whiff of fresh air to short service commission women officers, it also marks an end to the 14-year-old litigation for equality fought by the women officers in defence services. As women already serve in combat in more than a dozen countries, India joining the ranks of those countries is a proud moment for the nation because it is certain to give a fillip to other women combat aspirants waiting to be considered when their turn comes. The fact that more and more woman entering the male domain, including defence services, are found to be performing admirably well, proves that they are in no way inferior to men. In the midst of questions raised in certain quarters on whether women are really capable and ready to serve combat units, the army chief exuding confidence in them and preparing a road map for granting permanent commission to eligible women officers is a welcome step. It would go a long way in not only lifting their spirits but also give them confidence to meet the challenges successfully. The historic ruling is a significant step and heralds a new era for women officers in the army. K R SRINIVASAN VIA EMAIL
This is in reference to “COVID-19: One nation, one ration card turns spotlight on 2017 govt report” published online on May 1, 2020. Why does our government always require a direction from the Supreme Court to act on any issue? The National Food Security Act, 2013, calls for food to every citizen of the nation without considering his or her living place. Had access to foodgrains through the public distribution system (PDS) been thought of, the problem of labourers’ migration would not have occurred. There should be a single card for every citizen of the country, perhaps in the form of a social security card. Some countries already have such a system. This will have multiple benefits in the long run. Citizens will not have to carry the different types of cards to prove their identity. These things are now possible, after the digitisation of all the data, and must be implemented. In most cases, state governments play a negative role because they believe such services will reduce their say over their residents. CHAITANYA AGARWAL VIA EMAIL
WHO needs to focus on virology This refers to “Is COVID-19 disease X?” (1-15 April, 2020). The article states that humankind is still in the dark about the ill effects of more than 99 per cent of potential zoonotic viruses. To avoid the acrimony of claims and counterclaims by countries, it is advisable that the World Health Organization (WHO) creates a special fund for research in virology. The share of contributions can be decided by consensus. We can’t undo DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
7
BACK TO CONTENT
Ensure food for all
DTE TV
New rules for air travel after lockdown? The Airport Authority of India issued post-lockdown guidelines for 100 airports which say that airlines will
operate only to and from state capitals, some Tier-I cities and major Tier-II cities. Both the source and destination of a flight will need to be in areas free of lockdown.
Most epidemics come from animals
Though it is yet to be proven that bats gave COVID-19 to humans, it is a fact that most recent epidemics have come from animals. The extremely fatal Ebola of 2014-16 was transmitted either from bats or non-human primates; the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic of 2002-03 was caused by civet cats; and the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) came from camels. 60 cent of human disease-causing pathogens came from animals.
the loss of lives and no monetary compensation can suffice the loss of lives. Does the International Court of Justice have jurisdiction to adjudicate on such debatable issues? Such matters should be on WHO’s agenda. SHREE KRISHNA PHADNIS MUMBAI.
Pentagon saw UFOs
The US Department of Defence has released three videos of “unidentified aerial phenomena”. The first video was shot by US Navy pilots in 2004 and the second and third videos in 2015.
FOR MORE, CLICK
The article “Spending responsibly” (16-29 February 2020) was very informative. It is good that the Union government has formulated guidelines on the subject of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and a Companies (Amendment) Bill is also in the pipeline. Still the implementation of CSR, which affects the masses, is mostly left to the whims of companies and business houses. The funds accrued on account of corporate social responsibility need to be monitored and spent judiciously as per the priority of the affected populace and area. In fact, there is a need for a special cell under the commerce ministry for this purpose. Employment generation, drinking water, health and education are the sectors which should be given priority in CSR funding. Above all environmental concerns should be addressed. L R SHARMA SUNDER NAGAR
P H OTO G R A P H : R E U T E R S
Government must monitor CSR activities
Fix responsibility for fall in dolphin numbers
DATA CENTRE
Over 3.7 mln cases globally
This is in reference to “Dolphin population in Odisha’s Gahirmatha halves: Annual census” published online on February 25, 2020. Despite much good work done by the government and people in the field, it seems that leaving the management of such important areas like Gahirmatha and Chilika solely in the hands of the government has many limitations. What’s needed is, perhaps, to improve these sites and the plight of the endangered species they are home to. This is better achieved by roping in agencies, private and non-profit, and networking in a way to make authorities a lot more accountable than they presently are. Is anybody going to be answerable to the fact that the dolphin population has halved in the last couple of years or will we just have another sad story next year too?
The number of people infected with COVID-19 in the world rose to 3,727,802 in 212 countries and territories, as of May 6, 2020. A total of 258,338 have died of the disease.
BACK TO CONTENT
COVID-19 in India
The total number of COVID patients in India was 49,391 on May 6. There have been over 33,514 active cases, 14,183 cured/migrated patients and 1,694 deaths.
40% districts COVID-free
Forty per cent of India’s districts have no COVID-19 cases, as of April 22, and the government can lift the lockdown from such areas to allow economic activities. Most of these are in forested areas, Himalayan regions and the Northeast.
VINAY VIA EMAIL
Sell them online This is in reference to “COVID-19: Tribal handicraft worth R100 cr unsold” published online on April 23, 2020. And here I am in the US, looking for cotton washable shopping bags hoping I could support the makers instead of supporting Amazon. Could some of the products be sold online?
Epidemiologists can map COVID-19's spread
Online databases have been collecting SARS-CoV-2 genomic nucleotide sequences since midDecember.When a patient FOR MORE, tests positive for the virus, its CLICK genome can be sequenced.
MEENAL VIA EMAIL
Down To Earth welcomes letters, responses and other contributions from readers. Write to Sunita Narain, Editor, Down To Earth, 41,Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110062 or send email to [email protected] NOTICE BOARD
SHOLAI SCHOOL Located in the campus of the Centre for Learning, Organic Agriculture and Appropriate Technology, in a beautiful sylvan valley of the Palani Hills, we are a non-conventional, 70 acre residential School registered with the University of Cambridge International Examinations (IN499). The students take IGCSE (Xth standard) and A level exams. Having a teacher : student ratio of 1:6 we are able to explore learning well beyond the confines of syllabi. Comprehension of conditioning and its limiting effect on the mind and reflecting on responsibility and sensitivity in relationships are some of the themes explored between students and teachers. Send for brochure to: Sholai School, P.O.Box 57, Kodaikanal - 624 101. Telephone-04542-230393/297/487 Email: [email protected] Website: sholaicloaat.org
Highest Organic tea garden in the World
Green, White Oolong & Speciality Teas For trade enquiries The United Nilgiri Tea Estates Co. Ltd.,
Chamraj Estate, The Nilgiris - 643 204, India. Ph: 91-423-2258737, Fax: + 91-423-2258837 e-mail: [email protected]
www.unitednilgiritea.com
Shop online at
www.chamrajtea.in
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
9
A Down To Earth ANNUAL
STATE OF INDIA'S ENVIRONMENT 2020
Price
Rs. 500/rice Inaugural p this month
India's most credible annual statement on environment and development.
Rs. 300/-
IT COVERS: Forests | Wildlife | Air pollution | Migration | Agriculture | Rivers | Energy | Water harvesting | Plastics | Nutrition | Sustainable development | Water and sanitation | Climate change
This is the 7th edition in Down To Earth magazine's highly popular annual series. Professionals, Academics, Consultants and Decision makers, as well as Students especially those preparing for competitive exams like the Civil Services, look forward to this yearly update and SOE 2020 would be another collector's edition. Please place your order online by visiting us at
www.downtoearth.org.in/books or mail your order to us along with a Cheque for the required amount, drawn in favour of `Society for Environmental Communications' and mail to: Society for Environmental Communications, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110062 TO FIND OUR BOOKS ACROSS INDIA, PLEASE VISIT
https://csestore.cse.org.in/store-locations
Write to us if you have any queries, addressed to Ramachandran at: [email protected]
Digest WHAT’S INSIDE
A Haryana farmer helps villages in India's most water-stressed region overcome the woes P12
Seven states have diluted labour laws to restart the economy post lockdown P13
A billion people will be displaced for every 1oC increase in global temperatures P14
BACK TO CONTENT
1,000 WORDS VIKAS CHOUDHARY
FOR MORE, CLICK
Suresh Biswas of West Bengal's Malda district earns a living by cleaning manholes for the Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam. Despite being at the frontline in the fight against COVID-19, sanitation worker's associations allege the government has neglected their safety and that they should be provided with personal protective equipment
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
11
Digest/IN FRONT
Rain catcher
RELATED VIDEO
BACK TO CONTENT
MY VILLAGE would remain water-stressed
even in the years when we received good rains because of high surface water runoff in the region,” says Haji Ibrahim of Haryana’s Badola village in Nuh district, which is close to the Aravalli mountain range.The story is similar in almost all the villages in the district where the rich rely on private water tankers and others walk long distances to get potable water. Given the situation, government agencies have tried several water conservation attempts in the past, but none have made much difference. “In 2000, we received bountiful rains, yet we were scrambling for water. The situation got me restless,” he says. While most families in his village blamed the administration for the situation, Ibrahim decided to take charge of the situation. He reached out to a friend in Delhi who gave him the idea of setting up a check dam at the foothills of the Aravallis to conserve runoff water. Mahant Tiwari, who works with the National Gandhi Museum, also helped Ibrahim identify a spot in Ghata Shamasabad village for the check dam. The steep slope of the Aravallis leads to excessive water runoff and a check dam is the logical way to conserve rainwater. Next he reached out to Tarun Bharat Sangh, a grassroots organisation in Rajasthan, to learn how to make a check dam. Ibrahim
This Haryana farmer solved water crisis in five villages SHAHNAWAZ ALAM
initially used personal funds to build the check dam but was soon forced to reach out to others for financial support.“People realised its benefits and readily agreed to help.While some gave financial support, others agreed to work for free,” he recalls. Four months later, Ibrahim and others built the region’s first check dam, which was 45 metres tall and half-a-kilometre wide.They spent `2 lakh in the project. Close to two decades later, the impact of the check dam can clearly be felt in the region. In Ghata Shamasabad and four neighbouring villages, water is now available just 46 metres below ground level, as per the hydrology division of Haryana Agriculture Department.The groundwater levels in the region started to drop in 1974 and reached 122 metres below ground level in 2000. The improved groundwater level means tubewells, handpumps and wells have water in them throughout the year. The scale of the achievement becomes clear when one considers that the forest department announced two check dams in the vicinity in 2006 after taking cue from Ibrahim's success.Two decades later, the check dams are still under construction. Meanwhile, Ibrahim’s initiative has improved the lives of at least 4,000 people in the five Nuh villages.
/ Digest
QUERY
KUNDAN PANDEY AS INDIA prepares to lift
the lockdown, state governments are in a rush to dilute laws meant to safeguard labourers. The dilutions include exemption from labour laws for up to three years to making 12-hour shifts legal. Surprisingly, the states justify the dilutions claiming it will help the labourers in these trying times. The sentiment is also shared by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment that has assured the industry relaxations in labour laws. Madhya Pradesh on May 5 amended four Central and three state labour laws. Over the next few days, six more state
governments—Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh— followed suit. In Madhya Pradesh, establishments now have to abide by only a few provisions of the Factories Act, 1948, such as safety and payments. The factories, however, are not legally bound to implement sections that ensure labourer’s health and welfare. The state also assures that investors will get government nod in a single day, which could result in clearances without proper background checks. It has also repealed the Madhya Pradesh Industrial
Relations Act 1960 that deals with arbitration between employees and employers and extended a 1,000-day exemption from the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 to ensure that “establishments will be able to keep the labourers in service as per their convenience”. New factories also do not have to pay `80 per labourer per year to the Madhya Pradesh Labour
‘THIS IS UNDEMOCRATIC AND BAD FOR ECONOMY’ Political and social activist Aruna Roy believes suppressing labour rights will lead to dissent and disruptions after lockdown States are claiming the dilutions are being done to help labourers. Is it true? This is a conspiracy hatched by governments that are not democratic in true sense. COVID-19 has, for the first time, forced people to stay indoors and governments are misusing this.They know people cannot come on the road and protest
the decision.The dilutions are what corporates have always pushed for and they are now clearly succeeding. In a clean sweep, the government is undoing all the rights labourers have
fought and claimed over centuries. Will the move help rejuvenate the economy? I don’t think governments can lure investment just by diluting labour laws. If they are really serious about attracting investment, they have to take care of the workers. Suppressing labour rights is bad for the industry. India is a democracy and people will eventually raise their voices against the wrongs. It will be tough for policymakers to handle the situation then.
Welfare Board for the next 1,000 days. It adds that establishments employing less than 50 workers can be inspected only after the permission of the Labour Commissioner. Uttar Pradesh has exempted all industries from labour laws for the next three years. In Gujarat, inventors who can promise their project will run for over 1,200 days, will enjoy a three-year hiatus from labour laws as long as they ensure minimum wages, observe safety laws and provide compensation in case of a mishap. The state government has said the relaxation will help attract foreign investment from the US and Japan who are fed up with China. Rajasthan has not only raised the working hours from eight hours a day to 12 hours a day, but also amended the Industrial Disputes Act to increase the threshold for layoffs and retrenchment to 300 from 100. Companies also need to recognise the trade union only if 30 per cent workers are its members.
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
13
BACK TO CONTENT
RELATED STORY
States dilute labour laws to excite investors
BACK TO CONTENT
RELATED STORY
CROSS HAIRS SORIT GUPTO
FOR MORE CARTOONS, SCAN
1.2 bln people to live in extreme heat by 2070 FOR EVERY 1oC rise in global temperature, a billion people will either be displaced or forced to live in extreme heat, warns a new study that shows the world will see more changes in the next 50 years than in the past 6,000 years. This is likely to trigger mass migration in several parts of India, Latin America,Africa and Australia. Human populations have always lived in regions where the mean annual temperatures have remained around 11°C to 15°C, which is ideal for human health and food production. But climate change is fast shifting the world out of the climate niche and in the current scenario, many places
14
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
will become almost unlivable in the next 50 years. In the worst case scenario where emissions continue to rise, places that support a third of the world population will have mean annual temperatures as hot as 29 oC, which is currently found in 0.8 per cent of the Earth’s landmass, mostly concentrated in the Sahara. Even in the most optimistic outlook, 1.2 billion people will fall outside the comfortable “climate niche” in which humans have thrived for at least 6,000 years, says the report published on May 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
\ INDUSTRY
DISASTER
RELATED STORY
PROTOCOL IGNORED The Visakhapatnam gas leak highlights the need for industries to be extra cautious while starting production after the lockdown
Women outside a mortuary to receive the body of a relative who died after the gas leak at the LG Polymers plant in Visakhapatnam on May 8
T
HE TOXIC gas leak incident at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, in the early morning of May 7 was not the only industrial accident in the country that day. In the evening, two boilers exploded at nlc India Limited’s thermal power station at Neyveli, Tamil Nadu, injuring eight people.
The previous day, on May 6, another gas leak accident had taken place at a paper mill in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, after which seven workers were hospitalised. What’s common to the three accidents is that they happened while the factories were being prepped for covid-19 opening after the
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
15
P H OTO G R A P H S: R E U T E R S
RELATED VIDEO
BACK TO CONTENT
SOUNDARAM RAMANATHAN, DIGVIJAY SINGH BISHT and NIVIT KUMAR YADAV
/DISASTER
BACK TO CONTENT
INDUSTRY
lockdown. Poor operational and maintenance practices during the lockdown and shortage of skilled staff appear to be the common thread in all the incidents. In its scope and damage, the styrene gas leak at Visakhapatnam was the worst of the three. It left 11 dead while hundreds had to be hospitalised due to difficulty in breathing, headache, fatigue and fainting. On May 8, the National Green Tribunal took suo moto cognisance and ordered the owner, LG Polymers India Pvt Ltd, to deposit R50 crore with the district magistrate as an interim penalty for the damage caused to life and
habitat. As per an assessment by Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (cse), the accident can be attributed to the company’s negligence and failure to adhere to the safety protocol.
THE ACCIDENT The plant uses styrene monomer (C8H8) to produce expandable plastics. Styrene monomer must be stored at temperatures strictly below 17oC. There was a temporary partial shutdown of the plant owing to the covid-19 pandemic, excluding maintenance activities, which were being carried out in the plant as per a predetermined schedule. Since
WHAT IS STYRENE AND HOW TOXIC IS IT STYRENE IS an organic compound used in the manufacture of polymers/ plastic/resins. It is manufactured in petrochemical refineries and is a likely carcinogen. It can not only enter the body through respiration, but also through the skin and eyes. According to India’s Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989, styrene is classified as a “hazardous and toxic chemical”. Short-term exposure to styrene in humans can result in irritation in the mucous membrane and eye, and gastrointestinal problems. Long-term exposure can impact the central nervous system, leading to headaches, fatigue, weakness, depression, dysfunction, hearing loss and peripheral neuropathy. If the concentration of styrene goes beyond 800 ppm, then the person exposed to it can sink into a coma. Experts say that immediately after the leak, the levels could have crossed 1,000 ppm in nearby areas, which is why people started fainting. The duration of the exposure and its relative concentration will determine toxicity—we currently know that roughly 3 tonnes of the gas leaked from its storage tank and the feeding line. We now need to determine exposure. “Styrene can stay in the air for weeks. It is highly reactive, it can combine with oxygen to form styrene dioxide which is more lethal. The presence of other pollutants can also affect the reactivity. Operating one reactor in full load suddenly, can also lead to such disasters,” says Thava Palanisami, a senior research scientist with the University of Newcastle, Australia. The most important immediate treatment is to give oxygen to the affected people. The people in the zone also need to be evacuated as long-term exposure can be detrimental to their health. Also, as styrene reacts to form styrene dioxide, the air could remain contaminated for some time. However, the winds blowing from the sea could also help to disperse the gas.
16
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
styrene was not being stored at the appropriate temperature, there was a pressure build up in the storage chamber which caused the valve to break, says an official with the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (appcb), requesting anonymity. The result was leakage of 3 tonnes of the toxic gas (see ‘What is styrene and how toxic it is’). Even a day after the leak, the levels of styrene in the air in the area were 500 times higher than the prescribed limit. Media reports said they were more than 2,500 parts per billion (ppb), while World Health Organization norms require them to be under 5 ppb. The Visakhapatnam facility is spread over 240 hectares (ha), including the nearby residential areas. There is also a revenue village nearby, which resulted in a higher rate of exposure.
CIRCUMVENTING RULES Industries that process petrochemical-based products, such as styrene, require two levels of clearances—an Environmental Clearance (EC) from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (moefcc) and a Consent to Operate (cto) from the State Pollution Control Board (spcb), which needs to be renewed every five years. cto documents give production limits on products that can be manufactured, limits on treated effluents and ambient air surrounding the factory compound. LG Polymers India has not adhered to rules at both these levels. As the company has been operating since the 1960s, much before the legislation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 2006, it was not required to obtain EC unless it
1 8
GUJARAT
8
CONTAMINANTS
Phenols, cyanide, lead, 15 chromium, arsenic, 537 cadmium, mercry, zinc, aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic carbons
CONTAMINANTS
3
HARYANA CONTAMINANTS
14 Chromium, mercury, volatile organic carbons 2 9
RAJASTHAN
1
CONTAMINANTS
5
Chromium, inorganic 107 salts, organics
4
DELHI CONTAMINANTS
22 Cadmium, lead, chromium, 18 copper, nickel, zinc, nitrate, arsenic
Heavy metals, 29 chromium
India has 128 contaminated hazardous sites and another 196 “probable” contaminated sites. It has over 1,400 hazardous chemical units CONTAMINATED SITES are created when industrial hazardous wastes are disposed by occupiers in unscientific manner or in violation of the rules prescribed. They may include production areas, landfills, dumps, waste storage sites, treatment sites, mine tailings sites, spill sites, chemical waste handler and storage sites located in various land uses
UTTARAKHAND
19 UTTAR PRADESH CONTAMINANTS
22 Chromium, lead, 537 fluoride, pesticides 2 JHARKHAND CONTAMINANTS
12 Asbestos, lead
HIMACHAL PRADESH CONTAMINANTS
27 WEST
Chromium
8
6
PUNJAB
3
Chromium, zinc, inorganic acids, lead, heavy metals, pesticide residue, phenol
BENGAL CONTAMINANTS
Nitrate, phenol, lead chromium, aromatic hydrocarbons
CONTAMINANTS
MADHYA PRADESH 6 CONTAMINANTS
Zinc, arsenic, lead, sulphate, 15 chlorides, aluminium, iron 71
MAHARASHTRA 2 CONTAMINANTS
Cyanide, lead, zinc, sulphate, 3 chromium, cadmium, 347 volatile fatty acids
GOA 1 Chromium, copper, cobalt, 1 cadmium, arsenic, zinc 16 CONTAMINANTS
Chromium, heavy metals, 20 cadmium, lead, mercury, arsenic, beryllium CONTAMINANTS
3
Chromium
CONTAMINANTS
2
CHHATTISGARH
3
Lead, arsenic, mercury,
CONTAMINANTS
19 polychlorinated
biphenyls, cynaide
1 2
ANDHRA PRADESH
23 ODISHA 9
CONTAMINANTS
132 Lead, zinc and other
hearvy metals
KERALA 6
Lead, endosulfan, dicofol, 7 ammonium sulphate, thorium 38 oxalate, rare-earth fluoride, chloride, thiozoles, sulphamides and antioxidants
ASSAM
28
CONTAMINANTS
KARNATAKA 5
1
6
TAMIL NADU
8
Sulphate, manganese, chlorine, mercury, chromium, petroleum hydrocarbons
CONTAMINANTS
CONTAMINANTS
Fluoride, phosphate,
31 chloride, chromium,
vanadium, cyanide, mercury
2
TELANGANA
7
Arsenic, chromium, cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, oil/fuel hydrocarbons
CONTAMINANTS
Confirmed contaminated hazardous sites Probable contaminated hazardous sites Hazardous chemical units Note: Jammu and Kashmir has 11 hazardous chemical units, Puducherry and Nagaland have 3 each, Meghalaya and Tripura have 2 each.The list of contaminants is not exhaustive; Source: Central Pollution Control Board and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
BACK TO CONTENT
DISASTERS IN THE PIPELINE
/DISASTER
INDUSTRY
BACK TO CONTENT
Residents speak with a local politician outside the LG Polymers plant following the gas leak in Visakhapatnam
expanded its production, changed raw material or modernised its units. However, the company has been increasing production and changing raw materials since 2004 and has not obtained EC. In 2004, the expandable polystyrene capacity of the plant was 45 tpd which increased to 65 tpd in 2009, 71.5 tpd in 2012 and 100 tpd in 2014, as per appcb data. Similarly, its polystyrene production capacity increased from 235 tpd in 2014 to 315 tpd in 2017. In 2017, appcb warned the company about the need for an EC, saying it would otherwise not grant cto. After this, the company filed a petition with moefcc seeking an EC. It also gave a proposal to appcb saying it is importing plastic granules to prepare extended plastic, which may not require an EC. It succeeded in obtaining consent from appcb, brushing impact assessments studies. In 2018, it withdrew its petition for EC from moefcc saying there were typo errors. “By failing to seek EC, the plant has violated the norm to inform the competent authorities over two things: one, changing the product mix and related impacts, and, two, expansion and importing. Expansion means more storage, importing means risk associated with transportation, handling in port related to loading and unloading and the same in factory premises. It is an absolutely new dimension,” says D D Basu, advisor, cse. “In fact, fresh application is required. Renewal cto is not the only issue. Since the company has changed product mix and production process, the risks 18
associated with accidental release are more dominant,” he adds. It is pertinent to note that appcb has been granting cto to the company, despite the latter mentioning that it is changing its raw material and expanding capacity of final products without any EC. In 2018, the company also submitted a R168 crore-proposal to moefcc to expand its production capacity by 250 tonnes per day (tpd)—from the current 415 tpd — but withdrew it later. LG Polymers India has flouted general cto requirements as well. One condition stipulated in cto is maintaining a suitable system of leak detection and provisions to immediately repair any instances. Under Point 11 of the general conditions of cto, the industry is required to maintain Volatile Organic Compound (voc) analysers with recording facility and maintain records, while Point 19 mandates installation of a system
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
of leak detection and repair of pump. LG Polymers did not adhere to both these rules. The voc detection system at the plant was defunct, says an appcb official, and there is no monitoring mechanism to specifically detect styrene. Even the container that was being used to store styrene gas was old and not properly maintained, the official says.
STORAGE AND HANDLING After the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984, India enacted a plethora of laws to prevent such accidents and to issue clear guidelines on storage of hazardous chemicals in plants. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, is the omnibus Act that gives sweeping powers to the Central government to take all measures to protect the environment. There are clear rules on hazardous chemical storage under the Act. These include Hazardous Waste (Management
and Handling) Rules, 1989; Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989; and, Chemical Accidents (Emergency, Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules, 1996. That such an accident could happen despite these laws shows negligence on the part of all parties. The unit in question is also an iso-certified facility, which means it has a protocol for everything. What seems to be the case is that the management, in its haste to restart the plant, ignored the protocol pertaining to maintenance of the plant before resuming operations.
NGT’S ACTION In its order, ngt has issued notices to appcb, district magistrate of Visakhapatnam, Central Pollution Control Board (cpcb), moefcc and LG Polymers India Pvt Limited for their response on the accident. The court has also appointed a
five-member committee comprising B Seshasayana Reddy, former judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court; V Ramachandra Murthy, former vice chancellor of Andhra University; Pulipati King, head of chemical engineering department at Andhra University; member secretary of cpcb, and, director of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology. The committee has to report its initial findings on what went wrong,
THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL HAS FORMED A FIVE MEMBER COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE WHAT WENT WRONG, THE EXTENT OF DAMAGE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES TAKEN. THE COMMITTEE HAS TO FILE ITS REPORT IN 10 DAYS
extent of damage and remedial measures initiated within 10 days.
LESSONS FOR OTHERS It remains to be seen whether ngt’s order on the Visakhapatnam gas leak will set a precedent to discourage industrial disasters. But the order should not have been silent on the two other accidents. The order is also unclear on whether the district magistrate can use the R50 crore to initiate relief measures. Though the cognisance of the Visakhapatanam accident is a welcome move, the court could have widened its scope and directed the government to ask industries to ensure safety while resuming operations. In case the lockdown continues, these safety precautions must not be forgotten. The accidents have shown that as the lockdown ends and industries start resuming activities, there is a need to be extra cautious. D T E @down2earthindia
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
19
BACK TO CONTENT
People sleep on a pavement after being evacuated from their homes following the gas leak at the LG Polymers plant
/POLLUTION
BACK TO CONTENT
RELATED STORY
WATER
UNCLEAR VERDICT
Lockdown has little impact on the Ganga, but cleans up Yamuna SUSHMITA SENGUPTA
W
HILE SOCIAL media from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh to platforms are flooded with Howrah in West Bengal. The agenvideos that suggest the cy also studied samples from 18 lockdown has drastically cleaned sites along the tributaries (9) and up the Ganga, the truth is that not drains (9) of the Ganga. The tribumuch has changed. This becomes taries showed a trend similar to clear in the recently released report that of the main stem of the river, by the Central Pollution Control while the wastewater quality in the Board (cpcb) that analyses the wa- drains remained unchanged during ter quality in the Ganga before the lockdown. (March 15-21) and during the lockThe findings might be disheartdown (March 22-April 15). In con- ening, but are on the expected lines. trast, the water quality in the The 97 towns near the Ganga genYamuna improved substantially erate around 3,500 million litres of during the lockdown, though the wastewater per day (mld) and just river remained polluted. The report on the Ganga, which only shows overUNTREATED WATER FROM all trends and does not DOMESTIC HOUSEHOLDS share the actual data, found that the biological CONTINUED TO CHOKE THE oxygen demand (bod) and GANGA DURING THE chemical oxygen demand CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN (cod) levels of the river remained almost unchanged throughout the study period, indi- 9 per cent of it (300 mld) is induscating that wastewater flow did not trial effluent. The bigger challenge drop during the lockdown (see ‘Lit- is that the combined wastewater tle to show’ on p21). There has been treatment capacity of these towns is marginal increase in dissolved oxy- just 1,100 mld, which means 2,400 gen (DO) and decrease in nitrates mld of untreated sewerage is “due to the absence of industrial pumped into the Ganga every day. The report, which has published wastewater discharge, agricultural runoff and increased freshwater week-by-week analysis, shows that flow,” says the report. cpcb analysed DO levels in the Ganga decreased water quality data from 18 real- in the first week of the lockdown time monitoring stations starting (March 22-28) due to heavy rains 20
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
that led to suspended solids and turbidity in the river. Of the 15 sites where DO levels were recorded throughout the study period, four sites in West Bengal saw a significant positive variation in the remaining three weeks of the lockdown, when compared to the pre-lockdown period. In the 11 sites in Uttar Pradesh, non-significant positive variations were found in the last three weeks. Ujjwawl Mukherjee, former senior scientist with the pollution control board, says the high levels of DO in West Bengal only indicate eutrophication in the water and should not be confused as cleaner water. “cpcb has to check DO levels for 24 hours to get the real picture,” he adds. West Bengal cpcb scientists did not comment on this claim. The overall bod levels of samples collected from 17 sites remained high during the lockdown, especially in West Bengal—Behrampore, Behrampore downstream and Sirampur. Barring Deoriaghat site in Kanpur, where bod levels peaked to 15 milligrams per litre (mg/l) in the third week of the lockdown, sites in Uttar Pradesh recorded little bod variation before and during the lockdown. “bod value ranged between 1.13 mg/l and
30
While dissolved oxygen levels improve marginally, biological and chemical oxygen demands remain unchanged during lockdown
20
20
10
10
0
0
30
Anupshahar
20
30
Kanpur upstream
20
Kanpur
Fatehpur
30 10
10
0
0
30
20
30
Behrampore
Behrampore downstream
20
10
Bijnor
30
BACK TO CONTENT BACK TO CONTENT
LITTLE TO SHOW
10
0
0
20 10 40
0 30
Kanpur ghat
Kannauj 30
30
20
20
20
Biological oxygen demand 10 Safe limit*: 3 mg/l or less
10
10
0
0
Numbers in mg/I Dissolved oxygen Safe limit*: 5 mg/l or more
Chemical oxygen demand Safe limit*: 10 mg/l or less Pre-lockdown (March 15-21)
0
Lockdown week 1 (March 22-28)
Lockdown week 2 (March 29- April 4)
Ghazipur
Lockdown week 3 (April 5-11)
Lockdown week 4 (April 12-15)
*Standards for outdoor bathing Source: Report on impact of lockdown on water quality of river Ganga by Central Pollution Control Board, April 2020
5.56 mg/l during the lockdown period, more or less similar to prelockdown range of 1.37 mg/l to 5.58 mg/l,” says the report. Also, the sites did not record significant reduction in cod levels during the lockdown. While some of the stations in the upper stretches of the river recorded marginal decrease through the four weeks, several sites downstream had
higher cod levels than before the lockdown. Ammoniacal Nitrogen levels also remained high in 11 of the 15 sites, which shows “increased discharge of untreated and partially treated sewage into the river,” admits the report. The nitrate levels came down (varying from 2 to 66 per cent) in most sites due to the shutting down of industrial and agricultural activities.
“The closing of industrial units improved the DO levels and closing of the ghats reduced the organic load. As a result, a marked difference can be seen in the colour of the river in Varanasi,” says Malika Singh, regional officer, Uttar Pradesh state pollution control board at Varanasi. He adds that the two monitoring sites in the city had cleaner water this April over the last year.
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
21
/POLLUTION
WATER
BACK TO CONTENT
Both upstream and downstream Varanasi sites recorded 2.2 mg/l increase in DO levels in the past one year. A senior scientist at cpcb also claims that the shutting down of hotels and restaurants has reduced wastewater flow by 10-15 per cent during the lockdown. The report, however, does not reflect such a marked reduction.
CLEAR WATERS The impact of the lockdown is more palpable in the 22-km stretch of the Yamuna that flows through Delhi (see ‘Visible change’). A closer look, however, suggests that unseasonal rains in the city played a bigger role in improving the water quality than the lockdown. This is understandable because industrial effluent constitute a little more than 1 per cent of the total 3,026.24 wastewater in the river. Additionally, industrial effluent is completely treated before being released in the river. The cpcb report on the river analysed samples from manual monitoring stations at Palla (Yamuna’s entry point in Delhi), Nizamuddin bridge, Okhla barrage, along with Najafgarh and Shahdara drains. The bod levels recorded marked improvement at Nizamuddin bridge (90 per cent) and Okhla upstream (77 per cent) between the two samples collected on March 4 (pre-lockdown) and April 6 (lockdown). Yet they remained unfit for outdoor bathing (5 mg/l or more). “The Wazirabad barrage had to be opened because of the heavy showers. The reduced agricultural activity also meant lower withdrawals during the lockdown. So the quality improved because of higher water levels,” he says. The average daily release this April was 152,320 cusecs, which is five to six times the 22
VISIBLE CHANGE Despite considerable improvement, the 22-km Delhi stretch of the Yamuna remains unfit for bathing Numbers are in mg/I Pre-lockdown (March 4) Lockdown (April 6)
30
Palla
20 100
Okhla U/S
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20
20
0
300
DO
BOD
COD
Najafgarh drain
500
250
10 0
DO
BOD
DO
BOD
COD
COD
Shahdara drain
400
200
300
150
200
100
100
50 0
0
Nizamuddin bridge
BOD
COD
0
BOD
COD
Standards for outdoor bathing Dissolved oxygen 5 mg/l or more Biological oxygen demand 3 mg/l or less Chemical oxygen demand 10 mg/l or less
Source: Report on assessment of impact of lockdown on water quality of river Yamuna—Delhi stretch, Central Pollution Control Board
normal release, says the report. The overall DO levels cannot be compared as data is unavailable for two of the three sites in the prelockdown period. Palla, however, recorded a drop in DO levels from 17.1 mg/l to 8.1 mg/l during the lockdown. This is surprising as the region does not have industries or solid waste dumping. “The improvement at Palla is marginal due to closure of industries upstream regions like Panipat and non-availability of enough dilution,” says
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
Prashant Gargava, member secretary, cpcb. He adds that “in-depth analysis” of the report will bring out “newer dimensions that should help in future strategies,” Mukherjee adds a word of caution. “The lockdown resulted in the closing down of small-scale industries around the Yamuna and this could have decreased 9 to 10 per cent of pollution load of the river. Such improvements in the river quality are not sustainable in the post-lock@down2earthindia down period.” D T E
DISTRESS DRAFT Centre is in a rush to amend power law. The draft bill takes away powers from state governments and gives them to private firms KUNDAN PANDEY
A
T A time when India is fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Union Ministry of Power has hurriedly started the process of amending the Electricity Act, 2003. On April 17, when the crisis was peaking, the ministry floated the Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020, inviting suggestions from stakeholders, the extended deadline for which ends on June 5. The draft makes three key proposals: abandon the existing subsidy and cross-subsidy model, allow private parties in power distribution as sub-licensee, and create Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority (ecea). The intention is clear: centralise power and protect the interests of private players. “The Centre has been pushing for privatising the power sector for long. The draft is a step in that direction,” says Shailendra Dubey, president of the All India Power Engineers Federation. The National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees and Engineers has expressed concern over the rush to float the draft during lockdown. In 2018 and 2019, the opposition parties had forcefully rejected the draft. This could well be the reason for the Centre’s great hurry. The Telangana government has not only criticised the draft but said it
would oppose the bill as it takes away states’ powers.
PROBLEM AREAS
WHAT’S DISCONCERTING Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill puts an end to subsidy and cross-subsidy Allows private players in electricity distribution by sub-licensing Creates the Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority
As per the existing subsidy and cross-subsidy model, the state government charges more from rich power consumers like industrial units and provides subsidy to weaker sections. The draft proposes to fix one power tariff for all. The state government may later pass on the subsidy as Direct Benefit Transfer to the beneficiaries. This means, people would have to first pay up and then wait for the subsidy to reach them. “How many farmers have the money to give `4,0005,000 in advance?” asks Dubey. They use electricity for irrigation and other farming purposes. “What if the consumer does not get the subsidy amount on time?” asks Tejal Kanitkar, associate professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru. The authority may disconnect electricity while the consumer waits for the money. Once he gets it, he would again have to go to the authority for the restoration of connection. All this would lead to unnecessary chaos, she says. Kanitkar says the elimination of cross-subsidy would put the burden on the already empty state coffers. “As it is, the states have not got
1-15 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
23
RELATED STORY
\ ENERGY
BACK TO CONTENT
GOVERNANCE
/GOVERNANCE
BACK TO CONTENT
ENERGY
their dues from the Centre,” she adds. Till March, the Centre owes `30,000 crore to the states in gst compensation alone. The states now plan to move the Supreme Court to get their money back. The draft introduces the concept of “distribution sub-licensee”. This gives discoms the power to authorise another company to distribute electricity in the state without a separate licence. Similarly, the existing “distribution franchisee” can distribute electricity without separate approval from the authorities. Experts say this is a gradual movement towards privatisation of distribution. It may begin from a public sector company like the National Thermal Power Corporation (ntpc) and gradually move towards the private sector. Another big concern is the states losing control over the sector. Kanitkar says the effort to centralise is unprecedented. While a central committee would appoint even the state regulators, the crea24
tion of ecea can disempower not only the state regulatory commissions but people engaged in legal battles as well. The power to settle disputes between the generation and distribution companies would vest in ecea, which would have the status of a civil court. It would be the sole authority to adjudicate conflicts over power purchase and sale contracts. Its decisions can be challenged only at the appellate tribunal and, finally, at the Supreme Court. This means that the aggrieved party would no longer have the right to approach the high courts for dispute settlement, explains Leo Saldanha of Bengaluru-based nonprofit Environment Support Group. “At present, if we are not happy with the regulatory regcommission, we can easily access the high court. This will not happen. The National Green Tribunal (ngt) is an example,” he says. If a person wants to litigate in Imphal, he or she would have to go to Kolkata. It takes
DOWN TO EARTH 1-15 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
two days to reach Kolkata by road or a heavy expense by flight. This is why thousands of people do not get justice in environmental matters. People may again be deprived of justice in electricity disputes, says Saldanha. “I fear the new authority is being brought in with the single purpose of protecting the interests of licensees.” This is to ensure ease of business to the licensees and power generators, he adds.
REPEATING PAST MISTAKES Kanitkar says the government is promoting the failed model of allowing private parties in power distribution as the distribution franchisee, refusing to learn from the past. On many occasions, the states have expressed reservation over engaging with private players in power distribution. On February 13, for instance, Bihar energy minister Bijendra Prasad wrote to Union power minister R K Singh, saying the state does not support privatisation of the sector as it has
back in 2007 when the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (msedcl) handed over distribution in the power-loom town of Bhiwandi to M/s Torrent Power Ltd. Though the contract with the company was extended uptill January 2027, Maharashtra has seen the model failing in two other cities. In Aurangabad, msedcl appointed gtl as the power franchisee in May 2011, but the contract was terminated in November 2014. Crompton Greaves was appointed the franchisee in Jalgaon in May 2011 and ousted in 2015. “There are similar examples in Ranchi and Jamshedpur in Jharkhand where regulatory commissions were compelled by hard evidence of failure to cancel the franchise,” says K Ashok Rao, patron of All India Federation
of Power Engineers. Initially, suggestion on the draft bill were to be submitted within 21 days. The government later extended the deadline to June 5. All India Federation of Power Diploma Engineers, All India Federation of Electricity Employees, Electricity Employees Federation of India, Indian Electricity Workers Association and All India Power Men’s Federation have now demanded that the government should extend the submission date to September 30. Be as it may, Dubey nurses no confusion. “The draft bill is highly problematic and the government must withdraw it.” Kanitkar readily concurs. “The only way out now is for the Centre to take it back.” D T E @kundanpandey158
D O W N T O E A R T H • B O O K S • F I L M S • E- D A T A B A S E S • T- S H I R T S • B A G S
the new refreshed revitalized
csestore
@
http://csestore.cse.org.in
CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062 Ph: 91-11-2995 6110/5124 Fax: 91-11-2995 5879 Email: [email protected] Website: www.cseindia.org
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 1-15 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
25
BACK TO CONTENT
not had good experience with private players. In 2013, Bihar had engaged private companies in Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur for electricity distribution. Bihar is not an isolated case. In Madhya Pradesh too, the model was executed in three cities—Ujjain, Sagar and Gwalior—with Essel Vidyut Vitaran Private Limited as the distribution franchisee. Just before Simhastha Kumbh 2016, held every 12 years in Ujjain, the government had to terminate its contract with the company for inadequate maintenance work, poor complaint redressal and lack of adequate technical manpower. In fact, the company could not last in any state for long. Government’s experiment with the sub-licensee model started way
/AGRICULTURE
WEATHER
WARNING SIGNAL
RELATED STORY
Why does India fail to caution its farmers of weather changes despite a rich meteorological infrastructure?
A farmer checks his wheat crop damaged in heavy rain, on the outskirts of Amritsar, Punjab. A large part of India lost ready wheat crop in March and April this year due to unseasonal rainfall
26
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
P H OTO G R A P H : P T I
BACK TO CONTENT
AKSHIT SANGOMLA and VIVEK MISHRA
its 27 districts. A large part of India lost a substantial amount of ready wheat crop. Bihar, the worst hit, also lost masur and mustard crops. The state grows pulses in 5 lakh ha, of which masur is grown in 1.5 ha. This year, masur production may drop by 30 to 50 per cent, says J S Mishra, head of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Patna. Muzaffarpur’s shahi litchi, known for its size, flavour and taste, may also suffer. Litchi is sensitive to variations in temperature, rainfall and humidity. Bihar has sown corn in 278.437 ha. They are all drooping after the hailstorm. This will impact production. Honey may also slip by 25 to 40 per cent. During mustard season, honey boxes that gave 10 kg
western India,” he adds. imd, the country’s only public meteorological organisation, does well in predicting large-scale weather phenomena like high temperatures and heat waves. But it fails to predict smaller incidents like storms that bring rain, hail, dust and lightning such as those that occurred in March and April, says Murtugudde. Small wonder, despite India having one of the world’s best agrometeorological advisory systems, the farmers were left in the lurch.
RICH INFRASTRUCTURE The country has about 13,000 automatic weather stations (awss) and 8,000 automatic rain gauges (args), states Delhi-based nonprofit Centre for Science and
IMD DOES WELL IN PREDICTING LARGE-SCALE WEATHER PHENOMENA LIKE HIGH TEMPERATURES AND HEAT WAVES, BUT FAILS TO PREDICT SMALLER INCIDENTS LIKE STORMS THAT BRING RAIN AND HAIL, SAYS RAGHU MURTUGUDDE, CLIMATE SCIENTIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, USA per year, are giving only 2 to 6 kg. Experts blame it all on the western disturbances—the extra tropical storms that originate in the Mediterranean and travel to India bringing sudden rainfall. “The unusually warm temperature over Eurasia and the warm-cool pattern over the Atlantic Ocean worked together to favour western disturbances during pre-monsoon,” says Raghu Murtugudde, climate scientist at the University of Maryland, US. “These would otherwise bring dust storm but they brought enough moisture to produce rain and thunderstorm when they met warm air over
Environment in its report, “Agrometeorological Advisory Services in India—An Assessment”. A network of observatories collects data focussing on agriculture (see ‘Centre’s data collection network’ on p30). Five meteorological satellites—Kalpana-1, insat3A, insat-3D, insat-3DR and Megha-Tropiques—help imd provide countrywide weather warning bulletins, with a five-day lead time. This apart, imd uses Global Forecast System developed by the US National Centre for Environmental Prediction, which provides forecast for a minimum 144 sq km area. TURN TO P30
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
27
BACK TO CONTENT
B
HAGWAN LAL Nitharwal is a big farmer in Gudaliya village of Chaimu tehsil in Jaipur, Rajasthan. This year he harvested 300 quintals (1 quintal equals 100 kg) of wheat and barley each from his 16-hectare (ha) farm. But before he could move the grains from the farm, a sudden hailstorm on April 25 night soaked all his produce. By the next day, the grains had turned dark. Watermelons he grew on 1.6 ha also got ruined. That night, another farmer in Chaimu Mool Chand lost most of his green chilly, kakdi, cucumber, tomato and bottle gourd he had grown on 1.6 ha. “I had spent `2 lakh on the crop and could have brought home `5 lakh,” he says. “I have not seen a hailstorm like this in my life,” says Ashok Yadav, 30, of Mauli Khas village in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. In the state’s Banda district, rabi crop is grown on 324,000 ha, says A K Singh, deputy director, agriculture department. Of this, black gram is grown on 100,010 ha; the rest is wheat. When sudden rains came, some of the wheat had been harvested and labourers were still threshing it. Though losses are not huge, it will affect the grain quality. March and April were bad for farmers of 13 states and Union territories in northern, central and east-central India. The India Meteorological Department (imd) recorded 77 per cent more than normal rainfall in the country between March 1 and March 19. Bihar received nine times the usual rainfall, while Jharkhand got eight times more. Uttar Pradesh and Delhi recorded 698 per cent and 621 per cent excess rains respectively. Chhattisgarh got excessive rains in 25 of
/AGRICULTURE
WEATHER
WHEN CLIMATE AND COVID-19 COLLIDE BACK TO CONTENT
South Asia has to ready itself for the double whammy BY GIRIRAJ AMARNATH
A
S IF managing the coronavirus pandemic was not enough, countries in South Asia now have to brace for an onslaught of climate disasters. This summer, central and southern India are forecast to heat up faster, making heatwaves more likely. And, normal to above average monsoon rainfall could flood parts of the country from June. Careful planning is needed to escape major damage to crops, homes and infrastructure, all amidst marshalling of resources towards limiting the spread of covid -19. Forecasts indicate that northeast India and Bangladesh are set to experience extremely high rainfall and thunderstorms around May 13-14. A cyclone forecast in the second week of May in southern Bangladesh is likely to have high impact in the coastal cities and inland too. Shirish Ravan, who implements the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response, or un-spider, believes space-based technologies can provide critical information on the extent and scale of impacts ahead of crises. The map showing maturity of crops is an example. This, the coming extreme weather events, and the pandemic present a host of challenges for governments. In India, north and northwest states have already struggled to harvest and sell their wheat, fruit and vegetable crops because of lockdown. If the cyclone damages ripening crops in eastern parts, it will place even more pressure on the agricultural sector. The number of covid -19 cases in the parts of India and Bangladesh where the cyclone is set to
A map created by scientists at the International Water Management Institute and CGIAR Research Program of Water, Land and Ecosystems shows crops planted extensively fall within the path of forecast storms. The dark green areas indicate the place where crops will ripen after April 23
hit is relatively low. However, the number is high in places where other extreme events are forecast. Scientists at the International Water Management Institute (iwmi) compared a map showing the levels of risk from multiple natural hazards, such as landslide, cyclone, heatwaves,
and its partners have prepared 10 recommendations to guide South Asian nations. These are: l Integrate multiple-hazard and covid-19 hotspots to inform disaster preparedness and response strategies for monsoon planning; l Minimise the burden on hospitals by treating covid-19 patients separately; l With the participation of communities, revise the standard operating procedures (sops) for managing cyclone shelters. Incorporate social distancing and provision of Personal Protective Equipment (ppe) in these sops; l Strengthen capacities and resources for preparing for other hazards; l Advise disaster response forces on protecting themselves from covid-19. Establish protocols for their protection and provide personnel with appropriate ppe and psycho-social support; l Establish support networks (with social distancing) for providing food and financial relief for the most vulnerable; l Put in place provision for the elderly in disasterpreparedness mechanisms to eliminate their exposure to covid-19; l Strengthen hospital preparedness, including access to sanitation and quality water, to protect functionality when natural disasters like cyclones strike; l Establish capability for rapid response mapping, incorporating gis data for hospital and health centre locations, connectivity, schools and colleges, and other community facilities; l Form multiple-hazard response teams with wide-ranging expertise and the capacity to respond rapidly to the combined impact of covid-19 and natural disasters. Countries need to get ahead of the coming crises by moving quickly and act on these recommendations. Only early action, heavy allocation of resources and smart planning will make sure we can avoid collapse of medical, economic and food systems. (The author is research group leader, Water Risks and Development Resilience, International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka) iwmi
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
BACK TO CONTENT
floods and coastal inundation, drought, earthquake, extreme rainfall and forest fire, with the covid -19 cases published by India’s National Disaster Management Authority. They identified 411 districts in 22 states that have both higher risks from natural hazards and elevated covid -19 cases. Large parts of Maharashtra show a high level of risk for multiple hazards, including heatwaves. As of May 8, as many as 17,974 covid-19 cases have been confirmed, with 698 deaths. A heatwave will most likely increase the number of people needing hospital treatment at a time when medical services are already stretched. Similarly Bihar, India’s most flood-prone state, will need a joint response to covid-19 and flooding. Safely housing people whose homes are inundated, without risking contracting covid-19, and providing financial assistance to smallholder farmers who have lost crops, will be necessary. In Sri Lanka, where iwmi’s headquarters is located, monsoon brings rain between May and July. It can sometimes unleash extreme events, including flooding and landslides. Where storm water is released into urban canals, the number of mosquito-borne dengue fever cases greatly increases. Worryingly, the western, southern and central regions that the monsoon affects are also forecast to be the most vulnerable to covid-19. Anoja Seneviratne, director of Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre, has urged the country to prepare for the combined impacts of extreme events and the pandemic. In the past two decades, more than 750 million people in South Asia have been affected by at least one natural disaster. Of late, the Disaster Risk Reduction sector has sought to shift disasterprone countries’ focus from “response preparedness”, where action plans are simply put in place to deal with the aftermath of disasters, to “disaster risk reduction”, where a greater level of resilience is built into communities to make them more able to endure disasters. With time running out before new climate extremes arrive and collide with the pandemic,
29
/AGRICULTURE
WEATHER
In addition, imd runs models specific to cyclones and hurricanes that generate forecasts with a lead time ranging from hours to days. Yet, why does imd falter?
BACK TO CONTENT
REASONS APLENTY The main reason for imd’s failure is the poor density of observatories. The government contends that the country needs 40,000 awss every 10 km in the plains and every 5 km in the hills. India has only a third of this, the report finds. There is also a drastic difference in the scale of weather data collection infrastructure across the states. Kerala, for instance, has one aws every 87 sq km but Chhattisgarh has one every 2,703 sq km. Assam has one aws per 472 sq km, Karnataka one per 167 sq km, Odisha one per 281 sq km, Bihar one per 313 sq km and Uttar Pradesh one every 1,005 sq km. args face a similar problem. Of the 8,000-odd args in the country, 6,400 are in Karnataka alone. This apart, imd does not provide micro-level advisories. Its default scale for forecasts is the district level. This is insufficient with each district spanning hundreds to thousands of sq km, and significant weather variations found within short distances. No standard protocol for awss on data collection worsens the situation. “Only a part of the aws network collects soil and agriculture-specific data,” says the cse report. “This lack of standardisation arises from the fact that the recent and ongoing expansion in the aws network has proceeded with minimal coordination and oversight,” it says. A large number of awss and args were set up in “project mode”, compromising on quality. The link between expansion and larger weather data 30
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020
Agriculture in focus The country has a strong network of observatories that collects farming-specific data
1,400 Automatic rain gauge
219
700
Automatic weather stations
42
Evaporation stations
Evapotranspiration stations
76
25*
Dew fall recording stations
Doppler weather radars
43
48**
Soil moisture recording stations
Lightning sensors#
62***
39****
Upper air observational network
*Currently expanding to 55; ** To be expanded to over 65; ***Pilot balloon observation points; **** Radiosonde observation points; # Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Source: Agrometeorological Advisory Services in India—An Assessment, a report by Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi
system was not properly calibrated resulting in lack of good quality data. Weather stations are poorly managed and don’t have quality control. There is no common platform for data collection. The problem escalates due to poor inspections. In 2017, the Comptroller and Auditor General reviewed the functioning of weather stations and found Assam was not monitoring its stations. The reason it gave was non-receipt of funds. Rajasthan had a negligible number of stations installed on the ground. In Maharashtra, some weather stations officially listed as installed, were not there at all. Agromet advisories should ideally provide weather information, and add value to it through advice on agricultural best practice. This is not always the case. In Assam, for instance, an advisory regarding wheat states, “As there is no possibilities of getting rainfall in the coming five days, farmers are advised to apply second irrigation in wheat crop.” Such generalised recommendations are also visible in Gujarat. “Weather is clear so harvesting should be done at early morning,” states one. Some advisories are outdated and recommend fertilisers or pesticides that are prohibited, out of production or not available. “Changing climate has the potential to invalidate centuries of agricultural knowledge accumulated in rural India. A modern agromet system is key to building resilience against this challenge,” says the cse report. The base for such a system has been laid in India. Focus now has to be on the integration and coordination of technology and human resources, across fields, levels of government, and the private and public sectors, @down2earthindia it adds. D T E
Advertisement
THE WATER ENGINEERS
s
De
tio n
P & Hi g h u ri t y S yst e
m
a
a li n
Polishing S yste nsate de m
C
on
Ind ust rial
ors & Municipal Sect
& er at W
Wastewater Treat
me nt
an
nt
si
s
De
gn
dM an
ufacture of Equ
ipm
e
ENGINEERING WATER TO PERFECTION WATER PURIFICATION
WATER RECYCLING
WATER MANAGEMENT
WATER ECONOMICS
Global partnerships. Since 80's in the business. Cutting-edge technology. Multi-industry experience. Well respected client base. Innovative, customised solutions. If there's anyone in the country who thoroughly understands the dynamics of water treatment: from purification to recycling and management to economics—it's Triveni. The Water Engineers.
TRIVENI ENGINEERING & INDUSTRIES LTD. WATER BUSINESS GROUP
A-44, Hosiery Complex, Phase-II Extension, Noida - 201305, National Capital Region (NCR), India. Phone: +(91)-(120)-4748000. FAX: +(91)-(120)-4243049 Email: [email protected] www.trivenigroup.com
83Triveni ad.indd 83
14/04/20 6:05 PM
/THE PANDEMIC
COVER STORY
HAVE WE GIVEN IN? Countries are taking a leap of faith to return to normalcy and get the economy going. India is desperately trying to follow suit. But can it do so without letting its guard down?
32
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
I L L U S T R AT I O N : A J I T B A JA J
BANJOT K AUR
W
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
BACK TO CONTENT
E HAVE to live with the virus. These words have somewhat become like an anthem in this time of despair. There has not been a day since March 8, when the world, barring a few countries, has not reported record spike in covid -19 cases. Yet, it has become ingrained in our collective consciousness that we have to live with this novel coronavirus, like over a thousand other pathogens, including hiv, Ebola, cholera and rabies, that are now part of our ecosystem and keep cropping up from time to time (see ‘Bats spread viruses, so do humans’, p38). This mood of resigned acceptance also reflects in the strategies of political leadership across countries, including India. On May 8, while holding a press briefing, Lav Agarwal, India’s official spokesperson on the covid -19 crisis, said: “It is important that today when we are talking about relaxation, when we are talking about return of migrant workers, we have a great challenge and we need to understand that we have to learn to live with the virus.” Earlier on May 4, as the Union government extended the nationwide lockdown, dubbed the biggest in world history, to 54 days, Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal also used “living with the virus” as a truism while urging the Union government for dilution of the lockdown rules. With 7,998 cases and 106 deaths as on May 11, Delhi is the third worst affected state in the country.
33
/THE PANDEMIC
COVER STORY
BACK TO CONTENT
Looking at states like Kerala, Odisha and even the worst-affected Maharashtra, where activities have been kickstarted to bring the economy back on the rails, it seems we have come to terms with the worst pandemic of the century. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set the tone for this in his address to the nation as early as on April 14, at the culmination of lockdown 1.0, when he said that “jaan (life)” and “jahaan (economy and livelihood)” both are equally important. By the first week of May, the country was divided into three zones—red, orange and green on the basis of the number of covid -19 cases—and certain economic activities were allowed depending on the colour code. Though the government has not introduced any codified lockdown exit plan yet, the focus is fast shifting from managing the health emergency to reviving the economy. In fact, this is a defining moment for the world. Several countries, despite being ravaged by the pandemic, are getting ready to take a leap of faith to return to normalcy—it’s another matter that no one knows if the pre-December-2019-world-normalcy still exists! And they are doing so wielding the certificate of “flattened curve”, a term that has not only become popular during the pandemic but has also assumed a positive connotation. In a pandemic, flattening the curve means reducing the number of new cases from one day to the next and then stabilising it before it becomes zero. So, since covid -19 cases started appearing outside China, the country of origin, governments have been directing their efforts towards achieving this magical phase. Some efforts include imposing strict curbs on mobility through weeks of lockdowns, aggressive containment and quarantine strategies offering near-imprisonment experience, enforcement of social distancing up to the level of personal habits and aggressive screening regime. So, have these helped achieve the objective? Let’s examine. So far, China and South Korea have been able to flatten the curve of new infections. Several European countries have also claimed to have achieved it, implying that cases are on the sliding path now. Germany began levelling its curve about six weeks into the outbreak, while France started seeing results in seven weeks. In Italy, the curve has not flattened yet but there has been a slowdown in new cases. However, in the UK, experts don’t foresee it in the near future as cases continue to rise. The UK’s initial response to covid -19 was marked by a series of missteps. The government pursued a controversial “herd immunity” strategy before finally ordering an Italy-style lockdown to regain control over the virus’s transmission. In the US, even though New York, the epicentre of coronavirus in the country, has not convincingly proclaimed this status, President Donald Trump on May 6 declared that the country has flattened the curve and is now in the next stage of the battle, which is a “very safe phased and gradual reopening”. In India, as lockdown 3.0 began on May 4, Agarwal, also the jointsecretary at the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said: “The covid -19 curve in India is relatively flat as of now and if work is done collectively, the peak may never come.” That day India recorded the
34
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
TEST SCORE
India has one of the lowest testing rates in the world, which means little is known about the spread. This is the reason the country’s case count is going up despite a strict lockdown
30.36 Canada
32.89 Germany
BACK TO CONTENT
13.28
Updated till May 3
South Korea
16.14
1.27
Peru
India
Total COVID-19 tests per 1,000 people May 12, 2020 No data 0
1
2
5
10
15
20
40
100
>150
Countries that are fairing better against the pandemic have managed to keep a strict response till the time they flattened the curve. India, on the other hand, is relaxing lockdown despite an upward march in daily cases Canada: 72,278,562 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0
100 80
Germany: 172,239
Peru: 76,306
South Korea: 10,991
2,490 deaths
Asia
713,740 cases
America
1,889,851 cases
DAILY COVID-19 CASES
Europe
1,623,586 cases
Oceania
8,394 January 21, 2020
May 13, 2020
cases
23,165 deaths
113,827 deaths
151,749 deaths
126
deaths
696 cases and 7 deaths have been reported from an international conveyance in Japan
GOVERNMENT STRINGENCY INDEX* 0 to 100, 100 = strictest
(Updated till May 13, 2020)
60 40 20 0
72,539 cases
STRICTNESS UNDERMINED
India: 78,003 (total confirmed cases)
Africa
January 21, 2020
May 13, 2020 Sources: Oxford University, European Center for Disease Control and Prevention
*Government Stringency Response Index is based on nine indicators: school closing, workplace closing, cancel public events, restrictions on gatherings, close public transport, stay at home requirements, restrictions on internal movement, international travel controls and public information campaigns
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
35
/THE PANDEMIC
COVER STORY
REALITY CHECK A DTE analysis shows India has been adding nearly 5,000 new cases every 2 days since April 30 JAN 30: 3 CASES Days
67 7 5 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 1 2
BACK TO CONTENT
Days
Days
Days
Days
Days
Days
Days
Days
Days
Days
Days
Days
APRIL 6
5,000 APRIL 13
10,454 APRIL 18
15,725 APRIL 21
20,082 APRIL 24
24,448 APRIL 27
29,458 APRIL 30
34,866 MAY 2
39,826 MAY 4
46,434 MAY 6
52,987 MAY 9
62,808 MAY 10
67,176 MAY 12
74,330
Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; 00: Cumulative cases on that day
36
highest spike of 3,900 new cases and 200 covid -19 deaths. It, in fact, broke the previous record spike of 2,293 new cases, documented just two days ago. On March 24, the day the nationwide lockdown was announced, India had only 571 cases. By May 13, the country had 78,003 cases, or 136 times hike in cases. Government officials, however, claim that significant achievements have been made. One of the most significant gains, they say, is cutting the chain of transmission by achieving a long doubling rate—this rate denotes the number of days in which cases double, indicating a slow spread of infection. On the face of it, this is a prologue to the still elusive objective of “flattened curve”. Agarwal, who holds daily pressers, has claimed several times over the past month that doubling rate, which was three days when lockdown began, has increased beyond 12 days; on May 10, he lowered the figure to 10. But several experts do not think that it is a valid indicator. “You have to look at the baseline figure,” T Sundararaman, former head of the Union health ministry’s National Health Systems Resource Centre, tells Down To Earth (dte). Cases, when in hundreds, would take fewer days to double as compared to cases that are in thousands. Now, saying that the 45,000 cases have taken more than three days to reach the 90,000-mark and calling it an achievement is nothing but a farce, he says, adding that counting the number of days it takes for every 5,000 or 6,000 new cases to appear would offer a more realistic scenario. Using 5,000 new cases as the base, dte did an analysis to understand how the pandemic has progressed in the country and found that 5,000 new cases are being reported every two days since April 30 (see 'Reality check'). This indicates that the spread is far from slowing down. Another tool that epidemiologists often employ for assessing progression of a pandemic involves comparing three-day rolling average, or the average number of new cases reported every three days. Worldometer, a private covid -19 tracker, shows that the three-day average was 76 for India at the beginning of the lockdown; as on May 5, it was 3,060. Worse, when compared with 10 countries that ranked just above India in terms of higher covid -19 cases that day, all of them had fewer three-day averages, with the exception of Brazil and Russia. Explains T Jacob John, senior clinical virologist and emeritus professor at Christian Medical College, Vellore: there were 571 total covid-19 cases in the country when the lockdown was announced. Forty days later, on May 5, the number of cases increased by 80 times to 45,000. If the government says the situation is better compared to its fear of a 200-time rise, then this is a manufactured good news, he says. India incidentally remains the only country, as per daily situation updates given by the World Health Organization, which does not report community transmission despite more than 60,000 cases. All countries that have reached this threshold or have fewer cases have accepted that the infection is spreading in new communities with no clear source of origin. Another indicator of the progression of a pandemic is recovery rate, which according to the Union health ministry’s official briefing on May
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
PREVIOUS EDITIONS ON COVID-19 CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
BACK TO CONTENT
5, stood at 27.41 per cent. The global average is 32 per cent. Peru, a close cousin of India in terms of cases, has a recovery rate of 30 per cent. By now, it is a cliché to say that lockdowns only help buy time so that there is no sudden pressure on the limited health infrastructure while preparing for the post-lockdown situation when the infection could spiral out of control. Ramping up testing was one of the most important fronts in which preparation was needed. The Union government did increase it to more than 60,000 samples a day in the first few days of May from a few thousands in the beginning of the lockdown. And with 1.27 tests per 1,000 populations, India now stands at the base of the testing spectrum in the world, above only to Bolivia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia and Mexico (see 'Test score'. Even countries like Senegal, Uganda, Zimbabwe and neighbouring Pakistan fare better than India, according to Our World In Data, an online publication based at the University of Oxford that tracks the number of covid-19 tests among others. Government officials, however, refuse to accept that they were testing inadequately. Only 5.7 per cent people tested were found positive to sars- cov-2 before the lockdown, says C K Mishra, who chairs one of the 11 covid -19 groups empowered by the Prime Minister’s Office, in a presentation on April 23. On April 22, the proportion was nearly the same, at 4.5 per cent, despite an increase in testing. This, he claimed, indicated that the government was not missing out on cases. Testing has increased significantly in India. While the government still needs to increase its scope, the strategy needs to change, says epidemiologist and economist Ramanan Laxminarayan, who heads the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (cddep) at the University of Washington, US. India has so far tested to identify individual cases for containment and to observe growth of the outbreak. Going forward, the purpose would be to identify the elderly population who are at risk and to bring them in for treatment. India will probably need about half a million tests a day at that point,” he tells dte. India has so far picked up only about 10 per cent of all infections and half of all symptomatic infections, says Laxminarayan, citing cddep ’s estimates. All public health experts dte spoke to agreed that it was inappropriate to test only those with travel or contact histories and symptoms of influenza-like illnesses. Tests should be offered to anybody with fever and cough, especially once the lockdown is phased out. The fact is, the pandemic is yet to reach its peak in India. A group of researchers who studied the landscape of the epidemic in India, write in medRxiv, a preprint server for research papers, that the country’s covid -19 curve is likely to peak around mid-July and early August. India, thus, still has around two months to prepare for its worst phase. It must not let its guard down in the rush to return to normalcy. D T E
DownToEarth 1-15 APRIL, 2020
FORTNIGHTLY ON POLITICS OFFORTNIGHTLY DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
Subscriber copy, not for resale
`60.00
V PEOPLE GLOBALISATION ECONOMY GOVERNANCE IDEOLOGY
S PE C I A L E D I T I ON
DownToEarth 16-30 APRIL, 2020
CLICK NOW
FORTNIGHTLY ON POLITICS OFFORTNIGHTLY DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
`60.00 CELEBRATING EARTH DAY
COVID-19
UNDER
SIEGE
What happens when half the humanity is put under lockdown
The pandemic rips apart India’s rural economy, already on crutches
The world will be different post COVID
Africa has long experiences with epidemics. Will it help the continent fight the pandemic?
India’s 10.5 million community workers ensure a robust disease surveillance and treatment regime
@Banjotkaur
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
37
/THE PANDEMIC
BATS SPREAD VIRUSES, SO DO HUMANS Pathogens that trigger infectious zoonotic diseases are fast learning how to expand their realm. The COVID-19 pandemic is a costly wake-up call for the world to get its act together ISHAN KUKRETI
I
F VIRUSES were capable of emotion, they would commemorate the day the World Health Organization (who) declared coronavirus 2019 (covid-19) a pandemic, and celebrated each time a country announced a lockdown to contain the spread of the respiratory illness. For what sars-cov-2, or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has achieved is no mean feat for its family. Yes, there exist hundreds of coronaviruses out there. Till the early 21st century, they were mostly known to circulate among pigs, camels, bats and cats and caused mild forms of common cold in humans. They caught the attention of virologists in 2002, when one member jumped from a horseshoe bat to a human, possibly via a civet cat, and went on to cause severe acute respiratoy syndrome (sars) among 8,500 people and killed 900. Just like covid-19, symptoms included fever, sore throat, shortness of breath and pneumonia. A decade later, another coronavirus, believed to have originated from bats but transmitted to humans via camels, caused a similar outbreak in Saudi Arabia. It was named the Middle
I L L U S T R AT I O N S: R I T I K A B O H R A / C S E
BACK TO CONTENT
COVER STORY
Pathogen load Viruses form just 14% of the total human pathogens. But among new and emerging pathogens, they account for 44% TOTAL PATHOGENS
EMERGING PATHOGENS
1,407 4% 57
177
20% 287
23% 317
5% 10
7% 14 12% 22
14% 208
44% 77
31% 54
38% 538
Virus Bacteria Fungi 00 : pathogens in number and %
Protozoa
Helminths
Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
EPIDEMIC, PANDEMIC PRONE DISEASES
ANTHRAX TYPE
Zoonotic Bacteria DEADLINESS*
Very High
80 %
Vaccine available
PLAGUE (pneumonic, untreated) TYPE
Zoonotic Bacteria DEADLINESS*
Very high
100 %
Spreads from human to human *Case Fatality Rate
a disease ecologist at the Ashoka Trust with the Research in Ecology and the Environment (atree), a Bengaluru-based non-profit. This means the pathogen does not get transmitted beyond the infected person, he adds. There have been instances when the pathogen has managed to hop on to humans, but did not cause mortality or morbidity. Early this year, researchers in the Brazilian states of Tocantins and Amapa identified one Ambidensovirus in patients with symptoms similar to dengue or Zika. “Viral species in this genus have been described only in insects, shellfish and other invertebrates; never in mammals,” the researchers wrote in the March issue of journal plos one. They are, however, not sure if Ambidensovirus is responsible for the patients’ morbidity.
THEN WHO AILS AND WHY
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recognises 1,407 human pathogens; 60 per cent of them are zoonotic. These pathogens have managed to cross species barriers and establish diseases in human population. However, most of these pathogens maintain their life cycle
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
39
BACK TO CONTENT
East Respiratory Syndrome (mers). Despite high fatality rates—9.5 per cent in case the of sars and 34 per cent for mers— none of these coronaviruses managed to cause large-scale outbreaks. While sarscov appears to have disappeared in 2004, mers-cov causes limited outbreaks. Now, call it a third time lucky or the outcome of an evolutionary strategy, sars-cov-2, despite a low fatality rate of 2-5 per cent, has emerged as the most devastating pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu. The success of sars-cov-2 is no mean achievement, when compared with other thousands of pathogens that naturally get transmitted between animals and humans but more often than not fail to establish a disease in human populations, let alone cause epidemics (see 'Pathogen load'). Most of these zoonotic pathogens, be it a virus, bacterium, fungus or parasites (protozoa and helminths), are believed to be host-specific. This means they usually restrict themselves to a limited number of species, such as bats, pigs, rats and chimpanzees, and prefer residing in them by creating a life cycle reservoir. This trait of pathogens is due to species barriers. Along with the human body’s resilience system against diseases, species barriers help us most of the times lead a life free from infections, despite the fact that we live in a pathogen-filled world. Crossing it is not easy as these barriers are determined by the level of human exposure to pathogens—directly through faeces or body fluids like saliva, blood and urine, of an infected animal, or indirectly through areas where they live and roam, or contaminated surfaces—and the ability of pathogens to infect a human and cope with the new host’s immune response. It thus requires the pathogen to undergo specific changes through mutation or genetic exchanges with the host. However, these mutations are not always successful. Thus, a vast majority of animal-to-human spillover most likely results in a dead-end for the virus (and other pathogens), says Abi Tamim Vanak,
/THE PANDEMIC
COVER STORY
Invincible mutant In its journey from a bat to a pangolin or a snake and then to humans, SARS-CoV-2 mutated to iron out any glitches Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is an enzyme attached to the outer surface of human cells in the lungs, arteries, heart, kidney, and intestines. Both SARS CoV and SARS CoV2 use these cells as receptors to infect humans
But SARS-CoV-2 went through mutations which has enabled it to bind with ACE2 more efficiently, making it more successful at human-to-human transmission
SARS-CoV-2
This invisible feature on the crown of SARS-CoV- 2 is the reason why it has a death toll of 265,000, compared to 914 by its cousin, SARS-CoV
Cell membrane
BACK TO CONTENT
1
New SARSCoV-2
ACE 2
TMPRSS2
4 2
RNA
Replication complex
Viral proteins 3
5
6
Golgi Protein-making machinery
Source: “The spike glycoprotein of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV contains a furin-like cleavage site absent in CoV of the same clade”, published in Antiviral Research in April, 2020
reservoir in an animal and infect humans when they get a chance. For instance, avian influenza virus (h5n1) caused the bird flu outbreaks in humans when people came in direct contact with infected poultry or surfaces and objects contaminated by droppings or during slaughter, de-feathering and butchering. While the World Health Organization (who) maintains that the virus does not transmit efficiently from person-to-person, experts worry. “Animal-human interfaces where humans frequently get in contact with wild animals allow viruses to evolve and jump into humans leading to the emergence of a new virus,” says Pranav Pandit, a veterinary epidemiologist at the University of California, usa. h5n1 is considered endemic in poultry in six countries and at least 15 countries have reported human infections since 2003. It might not be long before the virus mutates to establish a life cycle reservoir in humans and spreads from person to person, infecting even those who have 40
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
EPIDEMIC, PANDEMIC PRONE DISEASES
AVIAN INFLUENZA TYPE
Zoonotic virus DEADLINESS*
High
60 % CONTAGIOUSNESS**
1.2 Spreads from human-to-human; vaccine available *Case Fatality Rate **Number of people an infected person will infect
never come in contact with poultry. That would result in a catastrophe as h5n1 can kill 60 per cent of those infected. Most human pathogens that have caused epidemics like measles, smallpox, tuberculosis, flu and whooping cough have actually had a low-key beginning like h5n1. Initially, they stayed relatively contained by restricting their jumps to humans from animal hosts like cattle, pigs, ducks and dogs. Their virulence increased as they eventually created a life cycle reservoir in humans. What’s worrying is that more and more zoonotic pathogens are now establishing themselves in human populations. In the past 30 years, they have been responsible for 75 per cent of the 177 emerging or re-emerging infections that the world is now grappling with. In fact, of the 23 infectious diseases that who lists as “epidemic and pandemic-prone”, as many as 17 are capable of human-to-human transfer; no treatment or vaccine is available for nine of these diseases.
EPIDEMIC, PANDEMIC PRONE DISEASES
EBOLA TYPE
Zoonotic virus DEADLINESS*
High
50 % CONTAGIOUSNESS**
1.9 Spreads from human-to-human
AIDS/HIV TYPE
Zoonotic virus DEADLINESS*
High
53 % CONTAGIOUSNESS**
6.0 Spreads from human-to-human *Case Fatality Rate **Number of people an infected person can infect
cent. In many ways, these mutations are the reason sars-cov-2 has had a death toll of over 265,000 in just five months till the first week of May compared to its older cousin that killed 914 over two years. Emergence of such robust and intelligent pathogens are worrying for another reason. This global coup is largely led by viruses, particularly rna viruses that can exploit all known mechanisms of genetic variation to cause epidemic spread.
VIRUSES LEAD THE COUP
Considered often a non-living entity, viruses can infect all life forms, including microbes like bacteria. This is probably because this submicroscopic particle, made either of rna or dna as its genetic material, can replicate or produce multiple copies of itself only when inside a living host cell. Most of the jumps to humans are, however, made by rna viruses that account for some 37 per cent of emerging infectious diseases, says a study, published in ilar Journal in 2017. In fact, some of the biggest zoonoses like chikungunya, dengue, Zika, avian influenza, Lassa fever, Ebolavirus, mers and
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
41
BACK TO CONTENT
hiv1, which is responsible for a majority of hiv infections worldwide, is one such virus. It made the jump from African primates to humans as a result of bushmeat eating in the 1970s. Subsequently, it has established a life cycle reservoir in humans. The Ebola virus, which causes a severe haemorrhagic fever with a fatality rate of up to 90 per cent, however, shows what a virus is capable of to ensure its transmission. Since its first detection in 1976 in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the virus has managed to cause outbreaks without establishing a natural reservoir in humans. It has rather mutated to develop the ability to transmit from human-to-human. This newfound ability of Ebola came to light during the 2013 outbreak when it spilled over, possibly from a bat to a 18-month-old boy in Guinea. Within months, it became a global epidemic. But the ongoing pandemic by sarscov-2 shows how zoonotic pathogens are constantly honing their genome to expand their realm. A study published in Antiviral Research in April this year, throws some light on this. Despite a genome sequence highly similar to that of other sars-like coronaviruses, sars-cov-2 differs from sars-cov in its interaction with ace2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2), a crucial enzyme that remains attached to the outer surface of human cells in the lungs, arteries, heart, kidney and intestines. Both sars-cov and sars-cov-2 use these cells as receptors to infect humans. As per the study, somewhere in its journey from a bat to a pangolin or a snake and finally to humans—the pathway still remains shrouded in mystery— the sars-cov-2 went through mutations which has enabled it to bind with ace2 more efficiently, making it more successful to infect a person and ensure human-tohuman transmission, despite a low reproduction rate of 2 and fatality of 2-5 per cent (see 'Invincible mutant' on p40). By comparision, sars-cov had a reproduction rate of 2.8 and fatality rate of 9.5 per
/THE PANDEMIC
COVER STORY
SOME DANGEROUS NEXUS Of the 23 infectious diseases WHO lists as “epidemic and pandemic-prone”, 17 can spread from human to humans Virus
Natural host
Civet cats/ pigs
SARS CoV
Bats
BACK TO CONTENT
Vector
Disease SARS
MERS CoV
SARS CoV2
Wild bird species like ducks, geese, and swans, gulls, terns, and shorebirds
Dromedaries
Disease MERS
Pangolin/ snake Disease COVID19
Pigs H5N1 avian influenza
Poultry
Disease Bird flu
H1N1 swine influenza
Ebola, Sudan, Taï Forest, Bundibugyo
No certainty but possibly bats, and nonhuman primates (chimpanzees, apes, monkeys)
bats and flying foxes
Disease
Apes, monkeys, duikers
Ebola virus
Bats, infected pigs
Nipah virus
Zika virus
Pigs
Disease Swine flu
monkeys, domestic sheep, goats, horses, cows, ducks, rodents, bats, orangutans, and carabaos
Disease
Nipah virus
Disease
Mosquitoes
Zika virus Source: World Health Organization
Infected human
sars are all caused by rna viruses (see 'Some dangerous nexus'). These rna viruses are considered recent evolutionary origins. Their mutation rate can be 100,000 times higher than dna viruses. “rna viruses show remarkable ability to adapt to new environments and confront different selective pressures they encounter. This not only include the host’s immune system and defense mechanisms, but also the current artificial challenges devised by the biomedical community,” notes the ilar Journal study. This high rate of mutation of a rna virus is because of the way it replicates. In dna viruses, several proteins correct themselves if there is any faulty genome replication. But rna viruses replicate without this proofreading process and this increases their mutation rates. But this has a downside too: any undesirable mutation can negatively impact the fitness of the virus. Among the rna virus group, coronaviruses have been found to have overcome this tradeoff between mutation rate and incorrect replication. A study published in plos Pathogens in May 2010 says sars- cov had mutated to produce an enzyme that diminishes the number of mutations. “The viruses might switch the proofreading mechanisms on or off depending on the context, allowing them to rapidly adapt to new environments without losing replicative fidelity,” the study says.
OUR TRANSGRESSION
Ulimately, it’s about humans and their interactions with other species, whether in the wild or in farming. It’s also about how we transgress into the habitat of wild species or “manufacture” food from domesticated animals. For instance, villages in the eastern foothills of the Western Ghats in India regularly experience outbreaks of the Kyasanur forest disease (kfd), a viral haemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola and dengue that is spread by ticks (Hemaphysalis
DIPHTHERIA TYPE
Non zoonotic bacteria DEADLINESS*
Low
11.3 % CONTAGIOUSNESS**
2.5 Spreads from human-to-human
POLIOMYELITIS TYPE
Non zoonotic bacteria DEADLINESS*
Low
11.3 % CONTAGIOUSNESS**
2.5 Vaccine available
MENINGITIS TYPE
Zoonotic Bacteria DEADLINESS*
Low
11.5% CONTAGIOUSNESS**
1.3 Spreads from human-to-human, vaccine available
MERS TYPE
Zoonotic virus DEADLINESS*
Low
35 % CONTAGIOUSNESS**
0.5 Spreads from human-to-human *Case Fatality Rate **Number of people an infected person can infect
oil industries had also prompted slashand-burn of forests for setting up industrial plantations. While deforestation destroyed the bat’s habitat, the haze reduced flowering and fruiting of forest trees. Reduced rainfall caused by the severe 1997-1998 El Niño conditions exacerbated the situation, resulting in mass migration of pteropid bats to Malaysia, which was experiencing an upsurge of large-scale piggeries with fruit orchards on their edges. A combination of factors led to the spillover of a novel virus from the bat to the domestic pig and then to pig farmers. The scope and scale of deforestation and the opening of new interfaces with forests and wildlife increase the chances of spillovers, says Prashanth N S, public health expert at the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, adding, “The way in which we interact with our environment has increased the exposure to newer pathogens that would have otherwise not come into contact with large populations.”
INDUSTRIAL CHURNING
Even as subsistence farmers and herders coped with zoonoses, the very nature of industrial food business has exacerbated the issue. The influenza a(h1n1) virus—swine flu — is not transmitted from human to humans by eating pork, and that remains its saving grace. Today, it is widely accepted that swine flu was first found in human beings in La Gloria, a little town in Mexico. It is known that a young boy suffering from fever in March 2009 became the first confirmed victim of the outbreak, which then spread from country to country. But then, when the disease broke out, what was quickly lost in this tragedy was the location of the ill-fated town—right next to one of Mexico’s biggest hog factories, owned by the world’s largest pig processor Smithfield Foods. What was also not reported that people in the town had repeatedly protested about water pollution, terrible stench and
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
43
BACK TO CONTENT
spinigera) living on monkeys. Here, people mostly depend on forests for a living (see ‘Forest fever’ on p47). sars and covid-19 outbreaks have also been linked to exposure to the viruses in Chinese wet markets. Interconnectedness of the world has only made the spread massive and instantaneous. It’s not just the interface with wildlife, livestock also plays a role. In the case of Spanish flu, it is widely held that the avian influenza virus jumped from a pig on a military farm in Kansas, usa, to the first known human case. Though there are other theories about where the “jump” took place, from Europe to China, what’s clear is that the virus mutated from animals and was taken across the world by the movement of soldiers during the World War I. Ultimately, the Spanish flu killed more people than the war. So, it is a combination of factors— movement of people, living conditions, population density and, of course, eating habits—that makes the virus more deadly in its new host. Ebola, for instance, was not new to parts of Africa even though outbreaks were reported way back in 1976. What changed between then and the outbreaks of 2013-14 was the demography in the affected countries, says Sanath Muliya, a scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Between the 1960s and early 2010s, population density increased by 223 per cent in Guinea, 178 per cent in Sierra Leone and by 275 per cent in Liberia, particularly in the urban parts that experienced high rural-to-urban migration. All major outbreaks occurred in such urbanised set-ups with high human densities, says Muliya. A similar devlopment in Indonesia in 1998-1999 led to the first outbreak of the Nipah virus infection, but in neighbouring Malaysia. The virus is naturally harboured by pteropid fruit bats. But in the months before the outbreak, large-scale deforestation was going on in Indonesia for pulpwood. Palm
/THE PANDEMIC
BACK TO CONTENT
COVER STORY
waste against the food giant. While this fact was never followed up or uncovered, what was reported was that food majors wanted who to change the name of the contagion so that pork eating would not be affected. Virologists at the US cdc, however, based on genetic fingerprinting found that the strain of this swine flu is the same as first identified on industrial pig farms in North Carolina, the hub of industrial pig farms in usa. The h1n1 strain is high on the evolutionary ladder. In 1998, when there was an outbreak of swine flu among pig herds in North Carolina, it was a triple hybrid—containing gene segments from human, bird and classical swine influenza 44
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
EPIDEMIC, PANDEMIC PRONE DISEASES
PLAGUE (bubonic) TYPE
Zoonotic Bacteria DEADLINESS*
Low
15% CONTAGIOUSNESS**
3.5 Vaccine available *Case Fatality Rate **Number of people an infected person can infect
viruses—that spread across pig herds of the integrated world. Then it mutated further. Today, it is believed that the common flu virus infecting humans has got mixed with this hybrid, creating an altogether a new human-animal virus. In 1997, when the world first caught avian flu (h5n1), wild migratory birds that are the natural carriers of the virus, had been widely indicted for the spread, but with little evidence. It was easier to blame wild birds with no defenders in agribusiness, than birds produced in poultry factory farms. The problem stemmed from the model of growing chicken in an environment that is highly conducive for the virus. The birds are
THE INEVITABLE
It’s time the world planned in a prudent manner as zoonotioc pathogens are ever-increasing and becoming unpredictable. Studies also show how viruses are everadapting and ever-expanding via new susceptible hosts and additional transmission routes. S Abdul Rahman, executive director, Commonwealth Veterinary Association, says, unlike the old diseases like
SARS TYPE
Zoonotic Virus DEADLINESS*
Low
9.6 % CONTAGIOUSNESS**
2.8 Spreads from human-to-human
CHOLERA TYPE
Non zoonotic bacteria DEADLINESS*
Very Low
3.2 %
CONTAGIOUSNESS**
9.5 Spreads from human-to-human; vaccine available
ZIKA VIRUS TYPE
Zoonotic Virus DEADLINESS*
Very Low
0.00003 % CONTAGIOUSNESS**
4.2 Spreads from human-to-human
YELLOW FEVER TYPE
Zoonotic virus DEADLINESS*
Very Low
5.5 %
CONTAGIOUSNESS**
4.3 Spreads from human-to-human; vaccine available *Case Fatality Rate **Number of people an infected person can infect
cholera and pneumonia, which we know how to deal with, these diseases are highly unpredictable. “With factors like climate change, zoonoses are emerging as the single-biggest threat to human health and we are not prepared, as is evident from covid-19 pandemic,” he says. But the pathogens are honing their genome and preparing for their next mutation, and there is no doubt about it. A study published in Nature in October 2015, titled “Spillover and pandemic properties of zoonotic viruses with high host plasticity” says that pathogens, present in animals belonging to 10 biological orders, are 12 times more likely to transmit from human-to-human than those found in only one animal order. This is because the evolutionary process which equips a virus to rapidly adapt to new hosts also makes it capable of interspecies transmission. Many viruses, like Ebola, sars-cov and mers-cov, before jumping to humans were limited only to animals. When all conditions were met, they made the jump. Small wonder, most jumps have been made by rna viruses. The next step would be finding the right transmission route for easier, faster and effective dispersals. So far, oral, aerosols, direct contact, fomite and vectors have been the five primary routes of disease transmission for zoonotic pathogens. These routes are crucial for determining their contagiousness, which is measured through reproduction rate (R0) or the number of secondary cases one case would produce in a susceptible population. In a way, they are responsible for taking a pathogen from the level of transmission to the level of epidemic spread. Cholera, a waterborne zoonotic bacterial disease, has a very high R0 of 9.5. By comparison, the R0 of Zika is 4.2; R0 of covid-19 is 2. A reasons for this low R0 of covid-19 is that the virus is still only hitching rides on droplets, expelled from the body through coughs and sneezes. Since respiratory droplets are heavy, they
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
45
BACK TO CONTENT
raised in tightly confined, often poorly ventilated enclosures with regular exposure to chemicals, blood and faecal matter. Diseases can spread, and spread fast, in such conditions. Since the birds also have lowered immunity because of their genetic uniformity, they are almost literally sitting ducks when a disease hits. But after avian flu hit Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organization (fao) told governments that while it would be possible to tighten biosafety in commercial poultry farms, it would be impossible to do it in non-commercial enterprises, such as backyard production systems where flocks forage outdoors. It recommended animal production should move to larger farms where surveillance is possible. Danielle Nierenberg, who researches this sector at Washingtonbased Worldwatch Institute, reports that this prompted Vietnam in April 2005 to impose a ban on live poultry markets and asking farms to convert to factorystyle methods. This is when, the need of the hour was to regulate the industrial processes of growing chicken so that the virus does not breed and does not grow. The business needed to improve the genetic stock of birds and raise their immunity against diseases, just the way traditional backyard poultry farmers do. But instead of reforming the poultry industry, the containment of the flu ended up promoting the very industry and its practices and destroyed the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers.
/THE PANDEMIC
BACK TO CONTENT
COVER STORY
cannot travel more than 1 metre. At least, that’s what who believes as of now. However, with studies finding that sars- cov-2 can travel up to 8 metres, several virologists seem to disagree that it is not airborne. As the jury is still out on how sarscov-2 travels, the fact remains that airborne transmission is the most lethal of all routes that can make a virus most contagious. Pandit says multiple factors determine if a pathogen is able to transmit with airborne droplets. First, an infectious person should be able to create droplets that are of appropriate size so that they can become aerosolised droplets 46
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
EPIDEMIC, PANDEMIC PRONE DISEASES
SWINE FLU TYPE
Zoonotic Virus DEADLINESS*
Very Low
0.2 %
CONTAGIOUSNESS**
1.5 Spreads from human-to-human *Case Fatality Rate **Number of people an infected person can infect
with the help of particulate matter in the air. Then enough viable infectious dose has to remain in the air for a significant time so that either wind or air currents transmit it to other places where it can infect another susceptible person. Once in the air, the success of the virus to remain infections depends both on the virus and the particle. Environmental factors like temperature, ultraviolet radiation, relative and absolute humidity, and air movement are important drivers influencing virus viability. Factors like temperature and humidity also impact the size of droplets which, in turn, affect the viability of virus.
DON'T PANIC, PREVENT
The threats zoonoses pose to the public health, global economy, food security and geopolitics are well established. In what may sound like prophesy now, a 2014 study published by the Bank of American Merrill Lynch, after extrapolating historic examples, estimated that, “a severe and prolonged global pandemic could kill 180-360 million and hit global gdp by as much as 5-10 per cent in the first year, with most industry sectors adversely affected.” Pandemics aside, between 1997 and 2009, the economic cost of six major zoonoses outbreaks was estimated to be about US $80 billion by the World Bank, report People, Pathogens and our Planet: The Economics of One Health, 2012. The cost would have been much higher had these outbreaks metamorphosed into pandemics. A 2011 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showed that pandemics are a prime global catastrophic threat. Potential losses resulting from a severe influenza pandemic, for instance, can be about 71 million human fatalities and $3 trillion, or 4.8 per cent of global gdp. Zoonoses such as leptospirosis cause an estimated 1.03 million human infections and 60,000 deaths annually across 34 countries, for which there is adequate surveillance data, says Bethan Purse, an ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology
FOREST FEVER KFD is India’s endemic zoonotic disease BETWEEN AN enemy of unknown prowess and a familiar foe, constantly perfecting its assault techniques, it’s difficult to tell who is more dangerous. Yet Karnataka recently found itself grappling with such a dilemma. Over the past few months, as it engaged in a desperate battle against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the worst infectious-disease emergency since the Spanish flu of 1918, another infection that it had thought to have thwarted to an extent, made people sick across the Western Ghats. The Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), as the tick-borne viral infection is known because of its origin in the Kyasanur forest, spreads through monkeys, causing haemorrhagic fever among some and killing about 10 per cent of those who get infected. To contain KFD, health authorities had conducted a door-to-door vaccination last year. But some 12 per cent of those who were vaccinated against the disease have contracted the infection again. The per centage of children in the total number of positive cases is also high at 8.6 per cent this year, compared to the usual 2 per cent.
COVID 19 TYPE
Zoonotic Virus DEADLINESS*
Very Low
0.2 %
CONTAGIOUSNESS**
2 Spreads from human-to-human
TYPHOID DEADLINESS*
Very Low
1%
CONTAGIOUSNESS**
1.2 Spreads from human-to-human, vaccine available *Case Fatality Rate **Number of people an infected person can infect
and Hydrology. In 2000, who estimated that more than a billion people are at the risk of scrub typhus and over one million cases occur annually. Since then, South-Asian countries with good surveillance have shown a rising incidence of scrub typhus. Muliya says zoonoses kill the most number of people, second only to noncommunicable diseases. In terms of years lost due to premature death or to disability for living with the health condition or its consequences, they are second to none. Unfortunately, though most of the major disease outbreaks have been caused by zoonotic viruses, Pandit says viral infections, in general, are difficult to treat. Very few antiviral drugs are effective against them, unlike antibiotics which we use against bacterial infections as they are broadly effective. Besides, since emerging viruses are novel, developing vaccines or antibodies related treatments take a lot of time, he adds.
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
47
BACK TO CONTENT
So far, Q fever among animals like goat, sheep and cattle, caused by zoonotic bacteria Coxiella burnetii is believed to be the only disease that is transmitted through airborne dispersal. While it remains to be seen as to how long other pathogens can resist this temptation to go airborne, a study published in the Cell in 2014 found evidence of airborne transmission of avian influenza among ferrets. The researchers discovered that the ability to go airborne only took five substitutions in the virus.
/THE PANDEMIC
COVER STORY
BACK TO CONTENT
THE GREATEST RESERVOIRS OF VIRUSES A RECENT study identifies domesticated species, primates and bats, to be harbouring more zoonotic viruses than other species. Three mammalian orders (rodents, bats and primates) have together been implicated as hosts for the majority (75.8 per cent) of the zoonotic viruses, while about 88 per cent of the mammal species have not been recorded with a zoonotic virus, says the study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences in April this year. Species listed as endangered on IUCN due to exploitation of habitat have also been found to share more viruses with humans than others. Yet more than any other species, bats have always been implicated in the emergence of most zoonotic diseases. There’s a reason. Bats are hosts to more zoonotic viruses per species than any other species, particularly those causing Ebola, SARS and now COVID-19. “Bats have a very good immune system and for their size, they live long, for around 30 years. They live in large colonies and are long distance migrants, which make it easy for the virus to spread,” says Sanath Krishna Muliya, a project scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Many bat species are gregarious and some live in dense aggregations. Some Mexican free-tailed bat colonies can reach densities of 3,000 bats per square metre, in populations of up to a million individuals per roost. “Roosting sites can house diverse assemblages of multiple bat species. High intra- and interspecific contact rates can facilitate rapid transmission of pathogens and large population sizes could sustain acute-immunising infections,” says a study published in Proceedings of Royal Society Biological Sciences in April 2013. It says since bats are ancient mammals in evolutionary terms, they might have co-evolved with pathogens to become immune to them. Another study has focused on the feeding habit of bats as a reason for the spread of viruses. “Bats’ feeding habits are constrained by the aerodynamics of flight, so they can’t ingest huge amounts of food. Yet many bats are frugivorous— that is, they meet their energy requirements by ingesting fruits. But they merely chew them to extract the sugars and higher energy components, and then spit out the partially digested fruits. Other animal species ingest these fruit remnants and may consequently become infected with virus particles in residual bat saliva,” says a study published in Science in 2005.
“Dealing with zoonoses is tricky because they keep mutating, forcing us to restart the effort to control it anew,” says Muliya. This also makes it difficult to promote a permanent cure. Another reason for the difficulty in treatment is that many zoonotic outbreaks are underreported. Zoonoses mostly infect people living under poverty with little access to healthcare. who’s report on neglected diseases also notes a correlation between living in proximity with livestock and the emergence of zoonoses. “Although one or more of these diseases can be found in almost every livestock-keeping community in the developing world, they are often simply forgotten,” acknowledges a 2015 report titled “The control of neglected zoonotic diseases”, prepared by who, Since these diseases are neglected, adequate efforts have not been made to curb them. Consider Ebola and Zika. Before they caught the global attention with outbreaks in 2013 and 2015, these diseases were, for a long time, considered tropical neglected diseases. But despite the attention, vaccines have not been developed for them so far. Ironically, before the outbreak, two promising candidates, the adenovirus-vectored (Ad5-GP) and the vesicular stomatitis virus-vectored (vsvag/ebovgp) were tested on non-human primates in 2003 and 2005. Although the trials produced positive immunogenicity and safety data, Ad5-GP was not investigated further.
PLAN AND PREPARE
Experts had been warning about a COVID-19-like pandemic for a long time. Yet, no one could say when it was going to strike. The potential for future pandemics is vast. As many as 1.7 million unidentified viruses of the type known to infect people are believed to still exist in mammals and water birds. Any one of these could be the next “Disease X”, and it could be potentially more disruptive and lethal
Neglected, even in funding While funding for HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria has increased since 20014-15, funding for neglected infectious diseases has remained flat for almost a decade 3,000 2,500 2,000
BACK TO CONTENT
1,500 1,000
HIV/AIDS, TB & malaria
All other funding
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
0
2008
500
2007
US$ (in millions)
than covid -19. Since such pandemics are a direct consequence of irresponsible human activity, we need to act now, when we are in the middle of a pandemic, caused by a zoonosis. Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of agriculture, mining and infrastructure development as well as unregulated trade in wild animals have created a “perfect storm” for the spillover of diseases from wildlife to people. Unfortunately, communities who live on the fringes of forests are most vulnerable to such infectious diseases and pay the price of resulting outbreaks. Experts at the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (ipbes), an independent intergovernmental body, in a recent article thus suggest to ensure that the actions being taken to reduce the impacts of the current pandemic are not themselves amplifying the risks of future outbreaks and crises. First, ensure the strengthening and enforcement of environmental regulations and deploy only those stimulus packages that offer incentives for more sustainable and nature-positive activities. Second, recognise the complex interconnections among the health of people, animals, plants and our shared environment. Third, fund health systems and incentivise behavioural change on the frontlines of pandemic risk. It may be politically expedient at this time to relax environmental standards and to prop up industries such as intensive agriculture and fossil-fuel-dependent energy sectors, but doing so without requiring urgent and fundamental change, essentially subsidises the emergence of future pandemics, say the ipbes experts. who has already floated a globally recognised response framework for dealing with zoonoses. According to who, “One Health” is an approach to design and implement programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work
WHO NTDs
Source: “Neglected Disease Research and Development: Uneven Progress” by G-FINDER in 2019
together to achieve better public health outcomes. Purse says, “We need to first understand how people come into contact with zoonotic infections as they use ecosystems for their livelihoods, what are their priorities and means of coping with diseases. Only by taking this joined up approach, can we understand what changes in policy, behaviour or systems might be required to reduce risks of infection and mitigate impacts.” There is also a need to pump in more funds for neglected tropical diseases, which include zoonoses (see 'Neglected even in funding'). As part of pandemic preparedness, surveillance programmes need to be initiated of species like bats that are known sources of zoonotic pathogens (see 'The greatest...', p48) and studies need to be done to understand "zombie" viruses and microbes that are being released as the Arctic thaws. covid -19 pandemic has offered us a opportunity to prepare for much bigger threats that are yet to come. Let’s not @ikukreti waste it. D T E
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
49
/LATHA JISHNU
PATENTLY ABSURD
RELATED STORY
A promise of equitable access to all
T
BACK TO CONTENT
HERE DOES not appear to be any evidence that intellectual property (IP) is a barrier to access to vital medical preventive measures, such as vaccines, or to treatments or cures. The problem is, rather, that there is, as yet, no vaccine or scientifically proven and approved treatment or cures to have access to.” Thus stated Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (wipo), towards the end of April when anxious questions were being raised worldwide about equitable access to equipment, treatment and cures for the sars -CoV-2 pandemic. Gurry could not be faulted for the latter part of his statement. There are no proven drugs to treat covid -19, the disease caused by the sars-CoV-2 virus. A vaccine is still a long way off. But surely, was Gurry also aware that desperate governments have used and plan to use patented drugs, such as Gilead’s remdesivir and Fujifilm Toyama Chemical Co’s favipiravir to treat covid -19 patients? He must also be aware that patents on these drugs are blocking generic companies from mass producing these drugs at affordable prices for the poorest countries. Gurry’s statement was perfectly in character since the wipo’s brief is to promote IP globally. But it struck a jarring note when other UN organisations were focused on a ‘landmark collaboration’ to provide equitable global access to innovative tools for covid -19. Put together by a beleaguered who, the initiative—called Access to covid -19 Tools Accelerator, or act Accelerator—brings together the pharma industry, big ticket donors such as the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the
50
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
World Bank in what could be termed an unusual venture. For who chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who has been under attack from the US, it was a validation with act Accelerator getting global backing, notably from the European Union, which has also pledged a substantial funding of Euro 7.5 billion. Will it be able to end the shortages, high prices, and curb the tendency of rich nations to corner medicines and equipment as they have done so far? We can hope so. Should the choice of former Nigerian Minister of Finance Ngozi Okono-Iweala who is a board member of gavi, the Global Vaccine Alliance, and Andrew Witty, former ceo of GlaxoSmithKline, as special envoys to advance the act Accelerator be WHO, pharma reassuring? We giants and governments have think so. come together to But Gurry’s provide access to focus is only on all on COVID-19 “supporting therapies. But will science and WIPO allow this to innovation that happen? will produce a vaccine, treatments or cures” while ignoring the IP barriers to access. He lists other obstacles: lack of manufacturing capacity, impediments to the movement of supplies and lack of medical facilities and health workers. These are, indeed, valid issues and who does not demur. However, it maintains “that alongside public health measures, innovative covid -19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines are needed—in record time and at record scale and access—to save millions of lives and countless trillions of dollars, and to return the world to a sense of ‘normalcy’”. Why is Gurry being so obdurate? D T E @down2earthindia
Palette WHAT’S INSIDE
Female health workers remain invisible and stigmatised P58
An ancient herb to combat coronavirus P56
Migrants are the new untouchables P62
RECOMMENDATIONS: PANDEMICS
BACK TO CONTENT
FILM
The first full-length feature film on the pandemic, Corona follows six unlikely neighbours stranded in their building’s elevator. They suspect a seventh neighbour—a Chinese who also boards the elevator—of having the virus and likely to infect them. Fear and racism spread faster than the virus. “The film was shot handheld in one take to bring out the realism,” says director Mostafa Keshvari.
BOOKS
Economics in the Age of COVID-19 by Joshua Gans was written, edited and peer-reviewed in just over a month. Published by MIT press, the book traces the various phases of the pandemic economy—from containment to reset, recovery and enhancement—and presents some interesting choices. “We happily shut down most economies each Christmas and no one screams depression. So the easiest way is to just delay bill payments, provide loan guarantees, wage subsidies, straight-out cash and moratoriums on evictions or foreclosures,” he says.
As concerns are being raised in India about confidentiality and privacy while using the Aarogya Setu app, a new book, Too Smart, explores how digital capitalism is extracting data, controlling our lives and taking over the world. Data has become a new form of capital. “Smart technology in hands, homes and cities will measure, monitor, manage and monetise all aspects of our lives,” says author Jathan Sadowski. The book cites examples of how personal details are sent to various entities, including manufacturers and even insurance companies.
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
51
ROOTS OF WATER SCARCITY CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, AFFORESTATION PROGRAMMES THAT BLINDLY PLANT TREES IN THE HOPE OF CONSERVING WATER ONLY END UP CONSUMING MORE WATER AKSHIT SANGOMLA
N
ATURE-BASED solutions like planting of trees and restoration of forests are often touted as the panacea for water conservation. This is because forested watersheds—lands covered by forests which drain all the water flowing through them into waterbodies like rivers or lakes—provide a whopping 75 per cent of the world’s accessible freshwater resources. But many organisations implementing this crucial nature-based solution have been unable to differentiate between restoration of forests and planting trees. For instance, in India, afforestation was one of the interventions of the Union government’s Jal Shakti Abhiyan, launched in July 2019, to make the country’s most water-stressed districts water secure. Under this programme,
Fast-growing species such as eucalyptus consume more water as compared to needleleaved species such as casuarina and pines
P H OTO G R A P H : R E U T E R S
RELATED VIDEO
BACK TO CONTENT
RELATED STORY
Palette/CONSERVATION
INCORRECT ASSUMPTION
“Studies conducted in various parts of the globe, especially in semi-arid and arid regions have shown that blind afforestation does not increase water supply,” says Gopal Singh Rawat, former dean of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. “When sparsely vegetated land is converted into forest, there is a reduction in blue water (available for human use) and increase in green water (part of water available for plant use). Trees can consume more water than other shorter vegetation. According to the mass balance principle, if more water is used by trees, less water will flow into rivers and lakes or recharge the groundwater that people can directly use,” he says. There are three aspects to be considered while planting trees for water conservation. First is that of scale. In general, forest expansion of 2 sq km or more can increase the possibility of rainfall. Trees transport water to the air, and water vapour moves to another location, which can be far from the afforested area. “On a global scale, afforestation can bring benefits to the water cycle,” says Rawat. The
SIMPLY PLANTING TREES WILL NOT CONSERVE WATER. TRESS CAN SUCK UP WATER AND RELEASE IT THROUGH EVAPOTRANSPIRATION—WATER LOST BY TREES TO THE ATMOSPHERE THROUGH OPENINGS ON THE UNDERSIDE OF LEAVES KNOWN AS STOMATA second aspect is what kind of tree species must be planted for water conservation. Invariably, fastgrowing broad leaved species such as eucalyptus and poplar consume more water as compared to needleleaved species, such as casuarina and pines. The third aspect is that of site characteristics. Areas with varying geology, soil and patterns of precipitation have different responses to large-scale plantations. For instance, a study carried out for 30 years till 2011 in China shows that different regions experienced varying changes in precipitation and soil moisture with increasing number of trees. In north and southeast China, enhanced precipitation resulting from increased tree cover was able to cancel out water loss due to evapotranspiration leading to no changes in the regions’ soil moisture levels. In southwest China, during the same period, the researchers observed a significant decrease in soil moisture, while there was also a weakening of the summer monsoon season. In northeast China—the only region where a decrease in forest cover was observed—soil moisture went down drastically because of an anomalous anti-cyclone (high pressure area that disrupts the formation of rain bringing low pressure areas) formation during summer. A study published in plos One in August 2016 found that soil moisture in the topmost layer of soil decreased after afforestation and this decrease was different for different species of trees and varied with regions. In India, the problem began a
long time ago. “Misplaced tree plantations began when some trees like the eucalyptus were used for draining swamps in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu, especially near Ooty. This was done in the middle of the 19th century by the British,” says M D Subhash Chandran, a senior scientist with the Centre for Ecological Sciences of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. The British saw these areas as health risks as these were mosquito habitats which could cause malaria. Moreover, most of the tribes who lived in the area also practiced slash-and-burn cultivation, which changed the character of vegetation, from primary to secondary. In later years, the British harvested teak trees for timber from secondary forests. “The British faced significant problems as sometimes the old evergreen trees would grow back in these secondary forests as well. They shifted to large-scale tree plantations which introduced monocultures to India for the first time,” explains Chandran. Post-Independence, governments have pursued the same strategy, sometimes even more vigorously. “Eco-restoration of degraded natural terrestrial ecosystems would be better as compared to blind afforestation,” says Rawat.
MODEL OF SUCCESSION
Natural ecosystems, especially evergreen systems found along the catchments of rivers in the Western Ghats, are much better at conserving water as they have complex root systems, which can
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
53
BACK TO CONTENT
district administrations were encouraged to undertake planting of trees in a big way. The enthusiastic local authorities reported a staggering number of afforestation activities which turned out to be fudged data, as admitted by district officials as well as a senior official in the Jal Shakti ministry. Even if these numbers were real, simply planting trees will not conserve water. In fact, trees can suck up water and release it through evapotranspiration—water lost by trees to the atmosphere through tiny openings on the underside of their leaves known as stomata.
BACK TO CONTENT
Palette/CONSERVATION
Plantations can lead to soil and water erosion as compared to natural ecosystems whose complex root systems hold soil and water
hold large amounts of soil together and that can, in turn, hold large quantities of water in place. They also slow down the flow of water streams through them which helps the soil absorb and hold more water. “Plantations, on the other hand, lead to soil erosion and greater water flow,” says Chandran. Moreover, secondary forests can also be restored back to primary forests scientifically. “This can be done using the model of succession. You cannot plant sensitive species of an ecosystem in the open areas as they will be scorched in sunlight. There are certain transitional species that need to be planted first. Then, the ecosystem needs should be allowed to grow around them, with sensitive species being introduced at a later stage,” says Chandran. There are myriad problems 54
with tree plantation exercises being carried out in India, even by forest departments. “Forest departments generally use tree species which can give good results, which in this case means survival,” says Chandran. So they have very few choices of tree species that are fire-resistant and consume less water. This criterion for the choice of tree species to be planted needs to change if we have
IT IS ILLOGICAL TO PLANT SENSITIVE SPECIES IN OPEN AREAS AS THEY WILL BE SCORCHED IN SUNLIGHT. THERE ARE TRANSITIONAL SPECIES THAT NEED TO BE FIRST PLANTED, AND THEN ALLOW THE ECOSYSTEM GROW AROUND THEM
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
to restore secondary forests and plantations back to primary forests, he says. “At least in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, I have observed that wherever teak plantations have come up, water in the surrounding areas have dried up. If water flows of natural ecosystems and randomly planted systems are compared during the monsoon season, the former are far more consistent than the latter,” adds Chandran. Areas where trees are randomly planted are also prone to landslides, forest fires and weed infestation. This is what happened in the case of bushfires in Australia and forest fires in California. “Fire hazard will be far less in the restoration model. The plantation policy of the country needs to be redesigned,” adds Chandran. D T E @down2earthindia
Advertisement
E-76, South Extension, Part I, New Delhi - 110 049 Tel. 011-24621790 E-mail: [email protected] Plot No. 18x, 19x, Near Rly. Resv. Centre, Karkardooma, Delhi-110092 Tel. 011-22106500 E-mail: [email protected]
71Arya Vaidya Sala Advt 01.indd 71
14/04/20 6:00 PM
/
FOOD
Immune to corona!
AN ANCIENT HERB IS STAGING A COMEBACK FOR ITS PROPERTIES TO BOOST IMMUNITY SANGEETA KHANNA
RELATED VIDEO
T
HE COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted life all over the world. There is a sense of insecurity and uncertainty about everything. Most people are looking for immunity-boosting foods. The price of Chyawanprash has skyrocketed. While there is an environment of fear and distrust, people are still searching for foods and herbs that can boost immunity. Several herbal teas and decoctions are being unearthed from the treasure chests of Ayurveda and Siddha forms of medicine, as there is no study about the specific immunity against the novel virus. Cure is a far-fetched idea because the exact impact of the virus on human physiology is still a puzzle. Yet it is vital to improve our generic or the broad spectrum immunity in these times so that our body is equipped to deal with this new infection. Fear psychosis and stress also compromise immunity, and therefore, the new course of immunity-boosting should be a holistic approach. Ethnic medicine offers some hope.
AKARKARA BY CHANCE
The plant is also used as an aphrodisiac
56
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
When I needed vegetables recently, I walked to the neighbourhood vendors expecting some fresh vegetables and fruits of the season, least expecting I would find something much more exciting. There was a large bunch of yellow flowers scattered on the sidewalk with dark green leaves and brown stems creeping close to the ground. I recognised the plant as Akarkara. In usual times, my first reflex would have been to pluck a flower and bite it to experience the sharp tingling sensation that it sends across the palate, numbing the mouth for a few minutes. But I had
P H OTO G R A P H : S A N G E E TA K H A N N A
BACK TO CONTENT
RELATED STORY
Palette
steamed leaves. People in Kokrajhar, Assam, cook a chicken soup with it, adding just ginger and salt to boost immunity.
ANCIENT WISDOM
For generations, Akarkara (Anacyclus pyrethrus) has been used for toothache relief, treating oral infections, nerve-related conditions like headaches, epilepsy, facial palsy and stammering, apart from being used as a muscle relaxant and for its anti-rheumatic properties. Akarkara has also been categorised in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine as one of the aphrodisiac herbs owing to its inherent properties to enhance testosterone levels coupled with improved nerve functioning. Since Akarkara is rich in pyrethrums, like many Chrysanthemum species plants, it has been trusted to be a potent insect repellent, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and has been shown to kill intestinal worms. Sialagogue action (increased secretion of saliva) of Akarkara has also been used by some ethnic groups across the country. In some
AKARKARA HAS BEEN USED BY SOME ETHNIC GROUPS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IN SOME PLACES, TODDLERS ARE ASKED TO LICK A PASTE OF ITS FLOWERS TO GENERATE APPETITE kitchen (see recipe). Another person from the Northeast, Jacqueline T Misra, messaged me that when the tribal heads in her state prayed for the safety of people after the covid-19 outbreak, they got the vision of this herb. They shared the prophecy through a scripture from the Bible, urging everyone to stay behind shut doors. A friend from Manipur, Rina Akoijam, told me they call it Yahidak and make Kangshoo, a spicy salad with
places when toddlers don’t eat solid food, they are made to lick a paste of its flowers to generate appetite. I was told by a family friend, Biranchi Sarang, that people in his hometown in Gaya, Bihar, mixed its flowers with chewing tobacco to increase salivation and their testosterone levels. The saliva-inducing and anti-microbial action makes Akarkara a great aid for gum and dental hygiene. In fact, the taste is
\
RECIPE
marsang chutney
INGREDIENTS
Handful of Akarkara leaves and tender stems (about one cup) 2 tbsp: chopped fermented bamboo shoots 5-7: dry red chillies 3 tbsp: black sesame seeds Salt to taste METHOD
Rinse and clean Akarkara leaves, parboil them in minimal water. Now dry roast the chillies in a pan or over open flame till it becomes aromatic and smoky.Toast sesame seeds and powder. Now pound everything together and serve with meals like rice and dal, khichdi or congee.
almost like natural camphor paired with schezuan pepper and it causes tingling along palate for some time. The root decoction is also used to treat foul breath and pyorrhoea, an inflammatory condition of the gum. There are a number of chemical constituents in Akarkara. The photochemical screening of roots, stems, leaves and flowers have revealed the presence of alkaloids, reducing agents and catechism tannins. The flavonoids, total phenol and ployphenol contents are highest in flowers, compared to leaves and roots. The roots are rich in alkaloids, while the aerial parts are rich in tannins and flavonoids. Dried roots of this plant are sold by herb dealers across India, but it is mostly used as an aphrodisiac. The aphrodisiac action is due to the presence of a bioactive compound N-alkylamides (pellitorine). With such a wide spectrum of medicinal properties, Akarkara may well be the magic herb in times of covid-19. D T E (The author is a food and nutrition consultant)
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
57
BACK TO CONTENT
to restrict myself from putting something straight into the mouth—the reflexes now being readjusted to not touch anything and never reaching the face when outside. Nevertheless, I could not suppress my urge to uproot a few branches and bring it back for my own garden. The life force of the creeper kicked in quickly, and it is now a flourishing bunch of tiny branches. I could taste the new flowers. Something more interesting happened later when I shared a picture of the plant on Instagram. Someone from Arunachal Pradesh replied that this therapeutic herb is called Marsangin in her state, and a chutney is made out of the leaves. That spurred my interest and I immediately made a tiny amount of the chutney using about 10 leaves. It turned out to be an explosion of flavours in my mouth. Only tribal recipes—where minimal native ingredients are used for greater impact, both on the taste buds as well as on health—have such quality. I have to thank Yapi Gongo for this recipe that’s going to be a regular in my
/
Palette
BOOK EXCERPTS
POLITICS OF PRECARITY BY PANCHALI RAY IS AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY THAT INVESTIGATES HOW HIERARCHIES IN THE NURSING SECTOR INTERSECT WITH SOCIAL IDENTITIES TO PRODUCE A DIFFERENTIATED WORKFORCE. THE BOOK’S RELEVANCE IN TIMES OF COVID-19—WHERE THESE INVISIBLE HEALTH WARRIORS ARE PERFORMING YEOMAN’S SERVICE—CANNOT BE MISSED. IN THESE EXCERPTS, THE AUTHOR EXPLORES THE QUESTION OF NURSING ETHICS
Politics of Precarity: Gendered Subjects and the Health Care Industry in Contemporary Kolkata By Panchali Ray Publisher: Oxford University Press Pages: 280; Price: `1,060
58
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
T
HE URGENCY to label nursing labour as “care labour” could arise from nursing ethics, which has a history of accommodating care ethics in its methodology. Nursing overlaps strongly with domestic work. The distinctions between affective labour that calls for “taking care”, “responding to needs” of the recipient of care, and menial/manual labour oriented towards cleaning rather than caring, is at best fuzzy. The domestic worker, nurse, or governess fulfils a role that is crucial in reproducing life in its most crude and biological form. What exactly comes under nursing care, and under what other domestic services? The difficulty in disentangling nursing from other kinds of domestic labour often leads to a conflation between the two, thus extending the stigma associated with the former to the latter. In fact, the struggles of the nursing profession have been to disassociate itself from domestic work and establish itself as skilled, trained labour, often leading to compartmentalization. While nursing within the domestic sphere overlaps with other kinds of reproductive labour, it is assumed that the professionalization of nursing would have countered such trends. Nursing labour is essential for
I L L U S T R AT I O N : R I T I K A B O H R A / C S E
BACK TO CONTENT
RELATED STORY
Untold labour of care
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
59
BACK TO CONTENT
unskilled domestic work to highly Western health care system that reproduction of life: cleaning the specialized medical tasks. presumes that doctors are the sole sick body, tending to bed sores, The increasing commodification repositories of specialized feeding, aiding in daily ablution, of women’s reproductive labour knowledge, and patients are fanning and sponging, uttering raises newer questions on ethics. constructed as passive recipients soothing words to calm patients The tension between acknowledging and beneficiaries. The questioning enough to administer medicine or the relational and the emotional of such traditional views of keeping the environment clean, component of feminine affective knowledge has highlighted the role making the bed, disinfecting and labour and the difficulty in of patients and other health care sterilizing instruments, watching measuring and adapting it to providers as equal participants in over patients for symptoms that market values informs most of the knowledge production. help in diagnosis—a range of debates on paid care work. The This challenge to traditional activities that include menial, demand for valorizing reproductive ways of knowing has opened up manual, and affective labour which labour as skilled work so as to be debates on nursing ethics that requires varied skills. For example, able to ascribe a market value to perceive nurses as equal changing soiled sheets without emotional/affective labour is in participants in the healing process, making the sick person get up from direct tension with understanding but distinguishes them from that of bed requires not just skill, but also “care” as a distinct feminine quality a physician. Nursing ethics strength and dexterity. It goes that escapes masculine market highlights the “caring” role of without saying that diagnosis and transactions. It would be fruitful to nurses as relational and contextadministering medicine is one look at the intersection of feminist specific interventions that stress on component of healing; regular care, debates on care ethics with newer affective bonds as against medical cleaning, and vigilance over the concerns of renaming paid approaches. However, traditional sick body and the environment nursing ethics are forms the backbone of the hardly feminist; healing process. Not just THE CLASSIFICATION OF NURSING deploying genderreproduction of life, oppressive norms and nursing—like domestic POSES A PROBLEM GIVEN THE stereotypes, it promotes work in middle-class MULTIPLE TASKS, WHICH RANGE FROM nursing as secondary to households—is also UNSKILLED DOMESTIC WORK TO other forms of medical status-producing work; it HIGHLY SPECIALIZED MEDICAL TASKS interventions. is bound with reproThe association of duction of lifestyles. reproductive labour as care women’s work with care implied Nurses have the responsibility of that historically doctors distanced ensuring that both the sick person work, particularly in the context themselves from such roles, carving and his/her environment are not of nursing. out a professional function that had dirty, infected, and contaminating. Carol Gilligan’s In a Different no linkages with affective/emotional They are the keepers of the Voice (1982) sparked the debate on labour. In later periods, when boundaries between sickness and care ethics, where she argued that health, ill-being and well-being, feminine morality and conception of nursing education was modified to incorporate scientific and medical contamination and purity. the self as relational, components, it occasioned debates Thus a nurse is not just interdependent, and located in a responsible for ensuring that there complex web of social relations gave regarding the suitable role of a are no open festering wounds, rise to an “ethics of care” as against nurse. This sexual division of labour within health care services infected equipment, dirty and soiled the masculine “ethics of morality”. reflects wider hierarchical binaries bandages/clothes, but also for This context-bound character of of objective/subjective, reason/ maintaining a clean, sanitized, and care ethics informed much of later emotion, masculine/feminine cheerful sick room essential for theorization on work ethics, whereby male doctors practiced reproducing social order. The particularly for health service medicine and female nurses healed classification of nursing labour thus providers; nursing ethics, for through affective labour, both poses a problem given the multiple instance, is far more hospitable to inhabiting normative gender roles. tasks that fall under its ambit, care ethics than others. Feminists FOR INTERVIEW TURN TO P60 which range from purportedly have critiqued the traditional
/
RELATED VIDEO
BACK TO CONTENT
RELATED STORY
Palette
INTERVIEW
“We worship people when it is convenient for us, and then go on to discriminate when they are no longer needed” PANCHALI RAY SPENT THREE YEARS IN HOSPITALS AND NURSING HOMES TO STUDY THE WORKING CONDITIONS OF FEMALE HEALTH WORKERS, AND FOUND A WORKFORCE DIVIDED BY CLASS, CASTE AND SEXUALITIES. SHE SAYS THEIR STATUS WILL NOT CHANGE EVEN AS WE LIVE THROUGH A PANDEMIC. RAY SPEAKS TO
MEENAKSHISUSHMA
Precarity is a term often used by researchers to understand the contemporary labour market, which is characterised by the spread of contingent work and insecure employment. It is not just economic marginalisation of nurses—lack of job security, less than minimum wages, little access to mechanisms of collective bargaining and no social security—but also the diminishing social and political networks, which are making their lives vulnerable and unlivable.
chical and structured. They often find themselves working in less prestigious hospitals, with low pay and exploitative working conditions, doing jobs that local nurses refuse. However, it is still better than the way we treat nurses in India. The potential for economic and social mobility is so much that women who work as nurses abroad are considered prize catches in the marriage market. We see this in Kerala, where women have migrated only to be followed by their husbands and families. However, intersecting inequalities constituted by race, gender and class place migrant nurses at the lowest end of the hierarchy. This discrimination reflects in the former’s access to institutionalised forms of recognition
they are also being physically attacked. This is a classic trick in the book of discrimination—we celebrate women, yet we devalue and look down on feminine labour. It is just a ploy to brush away the fact that they continue to work in extraordinary situations without minimum support.
How do you explain the huge increase in people opting for jobs in healthcare services?
For the last few decades, there has been masculinisation of the labour market; women have been pushed out from agriculture, industry and manufacturing. While some midWill the ongoing pandemic dle-class women continue to gain change the status of nurses? employment, for most working class It is almost impossible. Evidence women it is domestic work or the suggests that even today most bedlower end of healthcare side care has been deleservice. Health services gated to ancillary nursare seen as one of the few ing staff, employed in “THE PANDEMIC HAS UNMASKED THE sectors that has been emlarge numbers, and in an RISK AND UNCERTAINITY THAT MARKS ploying women, but there ad hoc manner. MoreTHE LABOUR OF HEALTH WORKERS” has been no significant over, most private estabincrease in the number of lishments submit dubious data to the government to hide and infrastructure, which further nurses in the past decades. So one the fact that a majority of their constitutes their responses to ha- would assume that the increase has and discrimination, been either at the level of the doctor nursing staff are women with no rassment registration and have minimum whether it is sexual or racial abuse. (middle-class women), or the lowest end—the precariously located training. The invisibility of unreghealthcare givers. istered nurses, nursing aides and Health workers are being attendants means that those who “worshipped” for their role give most of the nursing care are during the pandemic. In the What will be the position of not counted in the official statistics. long-run, will this bring healthcare labourers once So in a pandemic, like the one we them dignity? the lockdown is lifted? are facing now, any recognition or I don’t think there will be much dif- This is a tricky question. We are all access to infrastructure is denied to ference. This is the hallmark of neo- vulnerable. How do we respond to them because of their sheer invisi- liberal society that is morally bank- this vulnerability depends on the bility. The pandemic has unmasked rupt. We worship people when it is ethical and moral ethos of the counthe risk and uncertainty that convenient for us, and then go on to try and as a race. Can we go back to marks their lives and labour. discriminate when they are no lon- our usual ways of devaluing and ger needed. In fact, instead of the stigmatising those who ensure the semiotics of worship, what we need reproduction and continuity of life? What are the differences in is a language of justice, recognition Or shall this moment of vulnerabilthe employment condition of and rights. Worshipping and label- ity make us rethink our fundamennurses working in India and ling them as ‘warriors’ out to ‘save’ tals of how we view society, life and those who have migrated? Migrant nurses often find them- humanity takes away the fact that labour. I think this is the moment of selves in a labour market in a for- they are not being provided mini- reckoning. D T E eign country that is deeply hierar- mum protective gear; in some cases @down2earthindia
DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWN TO EARTH
61
BACK TO CONTENT
Could you explain the title of the book Politics of Precarity?
/
RICHARD MAHAPATRA
Migrants are the new untouchables
W
HILE REPORTING distress migration from rural areas, I have often come across many migrants making a powerful statement: “We faced distress in cities, but escaped the social regression of the caste system in our villages.” It is not that villages only practice the great Indian genetic caste hierarchy. But the poor who belong to the lower hierarchy suffer the most in villages, where they are taught to inculcate “social distancing” right from their childhood. When they move to cities/towns in search of better livelihoods, they become “the migrants”. Here, they continue to remain poor, but somehow the caste barrier feels “distant”. As they now return to their villages due to loss of jobs in cities, a new and equally discriminatory type of social distancing awaits them: they are assumed to be carriers of the virus that causes covid-19, thus, must be kept in that medically prescribed “quarantine”. And this period is being increased—in Odisha, one has to spend 28 days in quarantine. In the last few weeks, there have been widespread reports of villages not allowing their own migrant residents. Even migrants walking to their villages are being vilified on the way, as many villages have stopped them from crossing their geographical area. In Odisha, some people even went to the High Court, which ruled that only covid-19-free migrants would be allowed into the state. Fortunately, the Supreme Court stayed this order. But in popular imagination, migrants continue to be perceived as carriers of this contagious virus. They are the new untouchables; the new pariahs. And it is no longer a clinical “disease distancing” they have to suffer from, but that of being pronounced a long-term outcast—both physical and social. Worse, the caste distancing is going to become even more pronounced. This is because
BACK TO CONTENT
RELATED STORY
Civil Lines
62
DOWN TO EARTH 16-31 MAY 2020 DOWNTOEARTH.ORG.IN
socially and economically disadvantaged groups have always been kept out of the developmental bonanza. They have the least landholding; they have the least access to irrigation; and they have the least level of education. Now, having lost their livelihoods in urban areas, they are reentering the old regressive system that perpetuated inequality. Some may argue that the massive relief efforts announced by secular governments could halt caste distances. But past pandemics have demonstrated that inequality widened in such crises. To begin with, pandemics have always impacted the already poor and marginalised the most. Though some say that the pandemic of 1918 was “social neutral”, but in reality, scientific examinations showed that those who shared rooms/apartments in higher density suffered the most, Past pandemics or died the most. have demonstrated Who are these that inequality people who had to widens during share apartments/ such crises rooms? Invariably, they were the migrant workers belonging to the lower economic strata. The current pandemic is no different. A recent research paper by imf’s Davide Furceri, Prakash Loungani and Jonathan D Ostry, and, Pietro Pizzuto of Italy’s University of Palermo shows that “the shares of incomes going to the top deciles increases and that to the bottom deciles falls after a pandemic event”. According to their research based on the last five pandemics, “the share of income going to the top two deciles is 46% on average, while the share going to the bottom two deciles is only 6%—a gap of 40 percentage points.” After five years of a pandemic, this gap in inequality in distribution of income increased by 2.5 percentage points. A poor’s person’s economy depends a lot on interactions with society. The poorer one gets, the more is the dependence on others. So, social distancing is the highest order of economic punishment—those living on the margins will, @richiemaha sadly, fall first. D T E
A web-based tool for preparing city sanitation plans
https://www.cseindia.org/sanik
it/index.html
kindly visit cseindia.org or scan the QR code
For queries contact [email protected]
MOUNT is an online aggregator platform disseminating knowledge on sustainable technologies and good practices for wastewater and faecal sludge management.
https://www.cseindia.org
/mount/home
Share your technology or case study on
[email protected]
Explore on www.cseindia.ord/mount/home or scan the QR code
R.N.I. NO. 53588/92 POSTAL REGN. NO. DL(S)-17/3109/2018-2020
ISSN 0971-8079. Licensed to Post without Pre-payment U(SE)-44/2018-2020 at Lodhi Road HO,
New Delhi-110003. Published on 1st of every month. POSTED ON: 16-17 of the same fortnight, Total pages: 64
TOOLKIT FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT (5 new books, in an attractive Box Set) AUTHORS: Dr. Suresh Kumar Rohilla et al 1. Urban Water Sustainability 2. Water Sensitive Urban Design & Planning 3. Green Infrastructure 4. Water Efficiency & Conservation 5. Septage Management
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS 5-BOOK TOOLKIT? Key practitioners from the Centre and States, ULBs, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Jal Nigams and Water Supply & Sewerage Boards, town planners, architects, academicians/ research institutions, international donor agencies, practicing consultants, Engineers, Resident Welfare Associations, NGOs and Libraries.
LIMITED OFFER FOR ONLY. PERIOD
KAGE:
COMBO PAC
-
Rs. 1,000/
Please place your order online immediately by visiting us at https://bit.ly/2Kf7M5d or mail your order to us along with a Cheque for the required amount, drawn in favour of 'Centre for Science and Environment' addressed to Centre for Science and Environment, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110062
Please write to Ramachandran if you have any queries at - [email protected] We are updating our Mailing list of DTE readers. Please send an email confirming your preferred emailing address to: [email protected]. Thanks a lot.