-Down to Earth The city is still grappling with source segregation, door-to-door collection, waste treatment and processing and on-site organic waste management India’s greatest cleanliness survey, Swachh Survekshan, began in 73 cities in 2016. Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad was ranked 67th in its inaugural survey. Cut to 2019, Ghaziabad was declared the fastest-growing city and ranked 13th in the same survey under cities with a population of more than a million. The city’s waste...

-The Hindu * Why has it stayed away from both the methane pledge and the forest conservation declaration at Glasgow? The story so far: At the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference (the 26th Conference of Parties-COP26) in Glasgow, the United States and the European Union have jointly pledged to cut emissions of the greenhouse gas methane by 2030. They plan to cut down emissions by 30% compared with the 2020 levels. At...

-Down to Earth Nonylphenol, a hazardous chemical present in detergents, is known to enter water bodies and the food chains Contamination and pollution of water are serious problems today. Many of the chemical substances that are disposed in water bodies are toxic and hazardous. Disease-causing microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses are solely responsible for waterborne diseases in both humans and animals.  Water pollution caused by detergents is now a big concern in...

The rise in COVID-19 daily new cases and daily new deaths compelled many state governments to impose local level lockdowns during April-May 2021. As of 20th April, 2021, partial lockdowns were noticed in 10 states across the country and complete lockdown was imposed in Delhi. As of 8th May, 2021, nearly the entire country was under complete lockdown as a result of either partial lockdowns and night curfews or complete...

-TheWire.in Treating occupational safety for sanitation workers as a technical issue about personal protective equipment is not enough to understand the various elements involved, from changing behaviour to the larger context of sanitation workers’ lives. At 8 am every morning, Murali, a de-sludging operator bids his two children goodbye and leaves his house. He cleans his vehicle, removes and tucks his chappals in a corner of his truck, and begins his workday. As...