Delhi

Experience Sharing Dialogue in Dhaka: Improving Quality and Performance of Natural Gas Vehicle Program in South Asia

Dhaka and Delhi met to discuss natural gas vehicle programme -- a unique opportunity for a clean up in the region where the mainstream technology of diesel and petrol are languishing. CSE-DOE event enthused all for a more robust CNG strategy for cleaner air.

Press Release: Delhi agrees to use Commonwealth Games as an opportunity to address air quality concerns

CSE Press Note: Clean air before the Games: Are we living up to it?

• CSE releases the results of its latest assessment of pre-Commonwealth air quality and air pollution control measures 
  

Press release: Studies say rising mercury levels could be connected to global warming

• 2009 warmest year ever recorded for India

• Globally, 11 out of 12 years (from 1995 to 2006) rank among the 12 warmest years on record since 1850
  
  

Reviving Yamuna_1

	Reviving our river
	Source: Times of India
	:: Change flush-&-forget mindset, cry for Yamuna
	:: Reduce water demand & wastage to revive river
	Blogs: Sunita Narain
	:: From water to water
	:: Excreta's economy: a true experience
	:: Making water-excreta accounts
	Opinion:
	:: Waste, by any other name...
	Report:
	:: Review of the interceptor plan for the Yamuna
	:: State of pollution in the Yamuna
	Presentation:
	:: About Yamuna. But not just Yamuna
	Book:
	:: Sewage canal: How to clean the Yamuna
	Film:
	:: Faecal Attraction: Political Economy of Defecation

How to Clean the Yamuna

While the Delhi government has been debating on what needs to be done to clean the river, the pollution levels have only worsened.

In its book Sewage Canal: How to Clean the Yamuna, published in 2007, the Centre for Science and Environment reported that the Delhi stretch of the river is not only dead but had an overload of coliform contamination. Two years later, the pollution data shows no respite to the river.

The 22-km stretch of the Yamuna, which is barely 2 per cent of the length of the river basin, continues to contribute over 80 per cent of the pollution load in the entire stretch of the river. There is also no water in the river for virtually nine months. Delhi, impounds water at the barrage constructed at Wazirabad where the river enters Delhi. What flows in the river subsequently is only sewage and waste from Delhi’s 22 drains. In other words, the river ceases to exist at Wazirabad. 

This also means that there is just no water available to dilute the waste. The issue of a basic minimum flow in the river has been discussed time and again, but with water becoming more and more scare and contested, Delhi’s upstream neighbours are reluctant to release water. Delhi itself is water greedy and sucks up each  drop that is released as its share. The river is then reduced to a drain for the filth and waste of the city’s inhabitants.

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Before cars take over

There I was, zipping down bustling Ahmedabad. The bus stopped at a station, designed so the doors of the bus and the station open simultaneously to let passengers out and in. People were walking to the station, buying tickets and waiting. A notice flashed when the next bus would arrive. Each bus has a GPS device that transmits its movements to a spiffy control room inside the city corporation. You know when the next bus will come. It will be on time.

What is the status of air pollution in Delhi?

Delhi has lost the gains of its CNG programme. Its air is increasingly becoming more polluted and unbreathable, bringing back the pre-CNG days when diesel-driven buses and autos had made it one of the most polluted cities on earth.

About Delhi’s water

The quality of ground water is alkaline with pH ranging from 7.1 to 9.2, chloride content ranges between 21 and 1380 ppm. South of Delhi average chloride content is 250 ppm while in Najafgarh area it is around 1000 ppm rendering the water saline covering the area of 32 km. Sq. and marginally saline over the area of 129 sq km.

Footfalls: Obstacle Course to Livable Cities

This study provides detailed analysis of walking conditions in Indian cities. The analysis indicates that walkability is overlooked and undervalued in transport planning, and that improved walkability is justified for equity and efficiency sake.

It provides specific recommendations for improving walking conditions to address a variety of planning objectives.