A few days back , I came across following statement
from Shri Prakash Javadekarji :
Pollution
Problem can’t be resolved in a day
Extract :
Ø Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on
Sunday said the pollution problem cannot be resolved in a day and continuous
efforts are needed to tackle each of the contributing factors.
Ø At a Facebook Live event, he said the major
factors behind air pollution are traffic, industries, waste, dust and stubble
burning, geography and meteorology
===================================================
Context :
Air
Pollution killed 1.6 million in India last year
Extract :
Ø …… air
pollution is globally the fourth highest cause of death
Ø Long-term exposure to air pollution contributed
to around 6.7 MILLION deaths globally……with India accounting for 1.67 million
of these
The report, however, notes the success of the
‘Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana
Household LPG “ programme , saying it
helped dramatically expand access to clean energy especially for rural
households and helped reduce “ household
air pollution exposure “
Ø “ Outdoor and household particulate matter pollution “ contributed to deaths of nearly 5 lakh infants globally,including
almost 1.2 lakh in India
=================================================
Dependence
on coal killing 80k-1L /year in India : Study
Extract :
Ø About
three-fourth of India’s electricity is coal-based
Ø India’s
dependence on coal is growing faster than any other country ( 6 % / year )
Ø Coal
extraction has doubled to 500 million tons since 1994
Ø The
coal complex in India has significant health impacts – mainly through local air pollution – including premature mortality ranging from 80,000 to 115,000
premature deaths per year
Ø While
coal contributed to 23 % of India’s energy supply in 1970, its share is nearly
40 % now
Ø India
is sourcing 70 % of its energy from non-renewable sources and accounts for 10 %
of global energy supply from coal
Ø Less
than 1 % of employment is in mining and electricity, gas, and water supply
combined
Ø Due to air pollution, India had 1,670,000
deaths in 2019
===================================================
Let us focus on just one cause of air pollution –
specifically INDOOR ( household ) air
pollution caused by cooking
, using wood / cow-dung cakes etc
Above report says this has considerably come down due
to implementation of :
Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana Household LPG “ programme
At what ( recurring ) cost ?
Take a look :
No
DBT on subsidised LPG for 3 months due to favourable oil market /
July 28 , 2020
Extract :
Ø Under the direct benefit transfer scheme (DBT), the government provides subsidy on 12 cylinders a household uses in a year. While consumers buy cooking gas at market rates, the calculated subsidy amount is transferred directly into their accounts.
The government has allocated Rs 40,915 crore as petroleum subsidy for FY21, a 6 per cent increase from Rs 38,569 crore allocated for the last fiscal
Ø Out of this the
allocation for LPG subsidy
has been increased to Rs 37,256.21 crore for current year.
Now take a look at the following figures :
Ø Total
No of Households in India………………………. 27 Crore ( 270 million )
Ø Poor
Households covered by Ujwalla Scheme…
8 Crore ( 80 million )
Ø Increase
in LPG Consumption ( 2014 > 2019 ).. 56 %
Ø Import
of LPG ( in Aug 2020 )………………………………
1.24 million tons
Ø LNG import in 2019-20……………………………………….. 33,680 (MMSCM) ( $9.5 billion=
Rs 70024 crore )
=====================================================
MY TAKE :
Ø Allocation
of Rs 37,256 crore for LPG subsidy ( for cooking
), is an ANNUAL RECURRING expense
Ø If
household cooking was to be based on use of a SOLAR CHULHA ( Stove ),
then no need for LPG !
Ø Some
3 years ago, IIT-B won a competition for design of a Solar Cooking Stove
Ø Govt
had specified its max “ Sale Price” at Rs 10,000 /- per
Stove [ $ 135 ]
Ø For
Rs 37,256 Crore , govt can buy and distribute ( FREE ), some 3.7 cr ( 37 million ) solar stoves
Ø Within
about 2 years, Govt can handover a SOLAR STOVE to all households covered by
Ujwalla Scheme
Ø Of
course , since food gets cooked even when there is NO SUNSHINE , each Solar
Stove would require a Tesla’s POWERWALL type of Storage device
( in which PM Shri Modi had shown keen interest
during his visit to TESLA factory in 2015 )
Ø If my suggestion gets implemented, country would save annually , foreign exchange
worth Rs 37,256 Cr
For details of my proposal , please read :
Dear
Shri Goyalji : How about a Solar Cooker ?
/ 26 Aug 2020
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 26 Oct
2020
===================================================
Related Readings :
The State of Global
Air / 2020
Highlights :
Ø In
India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, 100 % of the population lives in areas where PM
2.5 levels are higher than WHO-recommended air quality norms
Ø 476,000
newborns worldwide died in 2019 due to air pollution; India alone saw 116,000
such deaths
Ø India
and China together accounted for 58 % of worldwide deaths attributed to PM 2.5
in 2019
Ø India
and China had the highest ozone-attributable deaths worldwide – 168,000 in
India and 93,300 in China
Ø India
has managed to curb exposure to HOUSEHOLD AIR POLLUTION
– from 73 % in 2010 to 61 % in 2019 . This is mainly due to Ujjwala Yojana and other
schemes to provide CLEAN
COOKING FUEL
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