Environment & Pollution

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April 2026

As a CSR activity, you may consider distributing paper bags made of specially developed paper so that the people may have an alternate to polythene bag. Please do have a look at the thought presented in my recent post- A Paper Based CSR Investment Idea

June 05, 2023

(For World Environment Day)

गर्मियों के मौसम में टी-शर्ट पहनना हमको अच्छा लगता है. यह किफायती भी है, सहज भी, आरामदायक भी और सरल भी. परंतु अधिकांश स्थानों पर फॉर्मल रूप में शर्ट और उसके नीचे बनियान पहनने का प्रचलन है. कपड़ों का ज्यादा प्रयोग, ज्यादा कपड़े पहनने के कारण एसी चलाने की ज्यादा आवश्यकता और इतना ही नहीं, इसके अतिरिक्त कपड़ों की धुलाई पर खर्च होने वाला डिटर्जेंट भी ज्यादा.

लेकिन ऑफिस हो या स्कूल, किसी भी जगह के लिए निर्धारित परिधान, टी-शर्ट नहीं है. बरमूडा पहनकर किसी भी अच्छे ऑफिस में मुझको एंट्री नहीं मिलेगी. किसी किसी जगह पर तो टी-शर्ट पहनने पर दंड का भी प्रावधान है.

साड़ी के किसी शोरूम में जाकर महिलाओं की विभिन्न प्रकार की मांग को देखिए, "भैया! इसी डिजाइन में दूसरा कलर दिखाइए अथवा इसी कलर में दूसरा डिजाइन दिखाइए". छात्र जीवन में पढ़ा हुआ "सफ़ेद लाइट में सात रंग होते हैं". अचानक से निरर्थक सा प्रतीत होने लगता है. मानव जीवन के लिए कपड़ों का कदाचित एकमात्र महत्वपूर्ण कार्य यह रह गया है, कि दूसरे उन्हें देखें और सराहना करें.

इसी प्रकार से हेयर आयल, हेयर डाई- आखिर ये सब अल्प समय के लिए ही तो सर पर रहते हैं, और फिर शैम्पू, हेयर कंडीशनर इत्यादि के साथ बाथरूम की नाली में पहुँच जाते हैं. लेकिन, अधिकतर लोग कम अथवा छोटे बालों वाले लोगों का मज़ाक उड़ाते नज़र आते हैं. महिलाएं भी, ज्यादा लम्बे बाल रखना और उन्हें दूसरों को दिखाना पसंद करती हैं. लेकिन वास्तव में तो पर्यावरण के हिसाब से बाल, बाल नहीं, बबाल हैं.

मेरी फॉर्मल वेशभूषा पहनने के कारण, मात्र आपको अच्छा दिखने की अभिलाषा के कारण, जो प्रकृति पर, पर्यावरण पर दुष्प्रभाव पड़ रहा है; वस्तुतः उसका जिम्मेदार मैं नहीं हूं, दूसरे हैं. बेफिक्र रहिये, दूसरों को अच्छा दिखता रहूं, इसके लिए पर्यावरण को छतिग्रस्त करने के लिए अनिच्छा से ही सही, पर तैयार हूँ मैं.

खैर, आपको पर्यावरण दिवस की बहुत बहुत शुभकामनाएं.

Solar Energy

November 28, 2021

While having a discussion with some of my friends, the debate moved towards electrical power. Which power plant is less polluting- thermal, nuclear, wind, hydro or solar? While most of them were seeming much inclined towards solar power, I raised another viewpoint. Let me share it here.

There are two persons, both having large pieces of land of equal size and climatic conditions. One installs a solar power plant on its land, while the other decided to have a thermal power plant in 2% of the area, and allocate 98% for captive plantation. After 5-10 years, the first is already generating power from solar power; while the other cuts 8-10% of trees, use the wood to generate electricity, and replant trees on the harvested land thus keeping the cycle alive. The growing trees absorb carbon di oxide generated by the wood basedthermal power plant. That way the cycle is complete.

In second case, the green cover is maintained, the CO2 generation is offset by the planted and growing trees, and the power generation is sustainable with higher quantities of electricity generated. Compared to this, the solar power generation requires a land without trees, the power generation is quantitatively lesser and if you work out the costing part, becomes almost the same capital intensive.

Let us consider another case-

There are three persons living in exactly similar houses. One insalls a rooftop solar system, the second does nothing while the third just paints the roof with white paint so that the sunrays are reflected back to the atmosphere, thus lowering his room airconditioning electricity requirements. You may give 100 marks to the first person, zero marks to the second. But, how many marks the third person should get? Please do consider that his investment was just very little, and ROI shall be significantly better than the first.

Discussions with many experts gave mixed opinions. But, one thing is sure, the person is definitely better than the second one.

Thermal, solar, nuclear, water or wind power..... Whatever you name it; nothing comes without a price and so is electricity. Unfortunately its price is not to be paid in Dollars, Rupees or Euro but in terms of 'DTE' (Damage to Earth). And that is really avery very costly option.

The soon we understand it, the better would it be.

गंगाजी

Gangaji is the lifeline for millions of people and it is our moral responsibility to make every effort to ensure Gangaji flows without any impurity, without any contamination, without any pollution. Fortunately, our government is taking the issue very seriously. The present presentation shares a simple approach on what more can be done.

Some Thoughts on Ganga Rejuvenation

गंगाजी प्रदूषण मुक्ति को समर्पित एक कविता Chintan

April 2026

Another Idea: Another Idea Sirjee

High stacks of factories often keep me puzzled. Why do the stacks have to be so high? Is it not the time to review stack height standards? The small poem points out. बचपन से देखते जा रहे हैं हम ऊंची ऊंची चिमनियां. पहले धुआं उगलती थी बहुत, अब शायद संकोच करती प्रतीत होती हैं. लेकिन बार बार मुझको ये ख्याल आता है कि चिमनियां आखिर ऊंची क्यों बनाई जाती हैं? तार्किक रूप से कारण जो भी रहे हों, परन्तु आज के बदलते परिपेक्ष्य में क्या चिमनियों की वर्तमान ऊंचाई उचित है? क्या चिमनियों की ऊंचाई के मानकों पर पुनर्विचार करने का समय नहीं आ गया है? प्रस्तुत कविता इसी के सन्दर्भ में है. Chimniyan- Hindi Poem

The same thoughts, but in a presentation form... Rethinking Stack Height

Stuff bread (parantha) is one of the most favourite dish of all, including me. Just for fun, can we relate pollution to this lovely food? Have a look at the poem. Aloo ka Parantha (Hindi)

A Love letter with pollution within... A Polluting Love Letter (Hindi)

A new easy, cost effective, practical and feasible approach has been presented in the article as a possible solution to air pollution. Please do have a look ad share your comments. Ambient Air Pollution: Possible Solutions

Some other options: Fighting Delhi Smog

Yes. You can reduce pollution if you are ready to wear a hat! A Hat for Pollution Control

Alternatives to Plastics: Think Differently

A Concept Note on Air Pollution Control, 2019

In case of any crime, police takes action to help the victim. In case of court case, advocates fight the case in court on behalf of the person concerned. All of us, even if we are highly qualified, send our kids to school because the teachers are more experienced and capable to teach students. Everywhere, there are professionals who do their job for the sake of others. Why such a system cannot be made available for tree plantation? Planting Trees to Grow, 2018

When Environment Protection Causes Problems

Your Kitchen as a Source of Pollution

As all other options seem inadequate, Carbon Capture could be the concept which can be a potential approach to reduce global warming. Carbon Capture: Some Thoughts about Global Warming

Living in a World Full of Plastics

Is Paper Industry a Culprit or Victim of Pollution

Irrigation using Treated Pulp & Paper Mill Effluent

Electrical equipment, specifically the variable speed devices like AC VFDs, DC Drives etc. result in development of harmonic current. These harmonics create a lot of problems, though, many of the users are not aware about these. This elementary presentation is aimed to create awareness about the same. Electrical Pollution

Plastic Waste: Don't Give Much Space to it.

पर्यावरण नियंत्रण: उपभोगकर्ताओं का कर्त्तव्य

Alternate Thoughts on Rainwater Harvesting, 2016

Delhi Pollution: How & Why, 2021

Flower Pot Plantation: Is it really a good idea?

Time to Reinvent the Wheel: To reduce pollution

My experiences about MVR

Water Audit: With more and more water recycling, and continuously reducing fresh water consumption as well as effluent discharge, the process of water audit is becoming more and more difficult. The present article presents some insight about the same. Issues with Water Audit in Waste Paper Based Paper Mills

To reduce pollution, Should Effluent Discharge Norms be Relaxed?

Pollution- The Need to Change the Point of View

रोटी कपडा और मकान- Are our Priorities Changing, Sept. 2022

City Saturation: A possible long term solution to pollution, Nov. 2022 Enviro Annotations Link

The biggest damage to environment by the plastic industry, Nov. 2022 Enviro Annotations Link

Environment- Gloss isn't Glossy February 2023

Energy & Environment Management in India: Need for a Competitive Approach, Nov. 2012

Everyone loves taking a shower. The bath soap is cruelly stripped off the wrapper, and the wrapper is thrown away. Sharing my thoughts about soap wrapper here. Please do have a look. Soap Wrapper, Jan. 2025

April 2026

Some thoughs...

03.03.2024

Disposal of Kitchen Waste: A case study

Disposal of municipal waste is a problem in every city. In fact, we must not ignore the fact that every action needs a certain scale of operation to give good results. Getting fruits and vegetables from own kitchen garden is not practically feasible. However, in case the logistics do not permit, having too big farms too away from cities will also not be feasible. One has to work always according to feasible scale of operation.

The same stands good for waste disposal also. A retired professor Dr. R C Agarwal has implemented this in his residence at Rajnagar Ghaziabad. Dr. R C Agarwal, who had been a colleague of my late father at M.M (P.G.) College, Modinagar, explained me in detail over phone. He has assigned just 1mx1m area in his kitchen garden. In one fourth of it, he digs a pit, around 2 ft deep. All household kitchen waste is dumped into it for nearly a month. If needed, the waste is pressed every 5-6 days. After the pit is full, the pit is covered with some soil to close it, and next pit is taken in use.

This way, after every 3-4 months or so, good manure is prepared, which he uses in his kitchen garden. He is growing many vegetables, like potato, palak (spinach), amla (gooseberry) and many other.

So, you must be wondering about the significance of scale of operation which I mentioned in the beginning. Let me explain. He owns the pits, he maintains the pits, he is the generator of waste and also he himself is disposing the same. So, he automatically ensures that the waste is segregated, and only the fruit and vegetable waste is dumped into the pits. We all know banana peals are bio-degradable. However, I have seen many people after having bananas put the banana peals in a polythene bag. Then they knot the bag from the top, and then dump it in waste bin, from where the municipal people collect and send to disposal facility. Imagine how complicated the process could be for handling such waste?

I know, passionate environment friendly people like Dr. R C Agarwal often remain ignored, but such people are real asset to the society. They show us a way foreward for the betterment of our cities, country and the whole world.

Just a humble request. Please initiate doing so at your own level. From the very beginning, you's be reducing load on waste handling facilities, and after a few moths, you'd start observing the positive outcomes of the simple approach.

November 16, 2020

एक छोटी सी बारिश होती है और दिल्ली में प्रदूषण का स्तर धड़ाम से नीचे आ गिरता है. एक छोटी सी बारिश पूरे वातावरण को कितना साफ, कितना स्वच्छ, और कितना खुशनुमा बना देती है?

कदाचित इसी से प्रेरणा लेकर जगह जगह पर प्रदूषण नियंत्रण के लिए fogger लगाए गए हैं. परंतु यह समझ से परे है इतना पानी बर्बाद क्यों किया जा रहा है? क्या यह काम कूलिंग टावर की तरह से पानी को रिसाइकल करते हुए नहीं किया जा सकता? शायद नहीं. शायद पर्यावरण नियंत्रण से अधिक आवश्यक यह दिखाना है कि पर्यावरण नियंत्रण के लिए अनेक उपाय किए जा रहे हैं. भले ही ऐसा करने से पानी की बर्बादी भी होती रहे.

एक कदम और आगे बढ़ कर सोचिए अगर सारा पानी पूरी तरह से रिसाइकिल कर लेते हैं और साथ ही साथ हवा से पार्टिकुलेट मैटर भी अलग कर लेते हैं, तो क्या फिर भी पानी का ही इस्तेमाल आवश्यक है? ट्रकों के एयर फिल्टर की तरह हम पानी की जगह अगर लुब्रिकेंट का प्रयोग करें और उसको समय-समय पर सेंट्रीफ्यूज करते रहें तो पानी की बर्बादी भी रुक जाएगी.

आपने ध्यान दिया होगा कि, जेनेरेटरों में, ट्रकों में हवा को फ़िल्टर करने के लिए लुब्रीकेंट में भिगोई हुई जाली के बीच से हवा को पास किया जाता है, और समय समय पर उस लुब्रीकेंट को बदल दिया जाता है. यहाँ पर, केवल उस लुब्रीकेंट को सेंट्रीफ्यूज करना ही पर्याप्त होगा.

सोचिये

Why is India the dirtiest country in the world? Why are all Indian rivers highly polluted with garbage?

I often feel hurt by such questions asked on various platforms like Quora, whatsapp etc.? Well, let us not declare India as the dirtiest without understanding the facts. India has already witnessed a rapid growth in terms of development as wellas in terms of population. We must not forget that India is a country with just 4% of world’s land and is housing 18% of world population and 25% cattle.

Now coming to point, consider population is growing at ‘x’ percent every year. Due to rapid urbanization, more people from villages are coming to cities at ‘y’ rate. The overall population growth rate for that city would not be (x+y), but it would be ((x+y+(0.01*xy)), both x and y being significantly large in magnitude.

Obviously, for any municipal board (or whatever you name it) the first concern would be to provide adequate housing accommodation, civic facilities like school, hospital etc., in addition to provide roads, flyovers etc. For past few decades, India had been struggling with these big tasks, as immediately after independence, we needed to develop at a fast pace. The easiest way to throw garbage out of cities, which was initially followed; but during recent past, this option also got virtually exhausted.

The problem further increased due to shift in consumption pattern. You might have read that earlier if a man used a shirt 100 times before discarding it(in 2000), later (in 2015) the shirt was being worn just 64 times before discarding it. That means further more generation of municipal solid waste.

A small city with high population density can survive as it has a lot of available land nearby. A big city with low population density can also sustain easily. But, a large country, that too with high population density, the problem becomes severe.

India is a country that loves to accept big challenges, and has proved to be exceptional performing during past also. The municipalities and our civil bodies are working hard (I am not from any government department, but as an individual, I have strong faith in India), and I am sure, very soon the world would regard India in its cleanliness and sanitation.

All the best India, all the best to us.

(Based on my answer on the above question, posted on Quora long back.)

When will India realize that pollution is its main issue?

Pollution is NOT an issue. The issue is identification of our problems in a logical, definite, calculative and fruitful way. Let me give a simple example. We say water is polluted. So, what is there in water that pollutes it? Here we need certain parameters, and we chose BOD, COD, TDS etc. as major benchmarks. Most of the monitoring follows these parameters. Now, tell me a single drink- Tea, Coffee, Milk, fruit Juice, Beer, Whiskey, Rum, Lemonade or whatever- that has very low BOD or COD. Globally, the most of the focus has been towards these specific parameters only.

The major issue, to me, is consumption and population. Now, you can only reduce birth rate to control population, that is the only way. So, whatever population is there you have to think accordingly. Now, next comes consumption. Ask yourself, ‘Can you live with less?’ Use less items for your daily needs. Make a chart of your consumption of various household items, and make a target to reduce consumption by 50% or so. If you feel it difficult, think of many poor people who are living even without these. Use less shampoo, as the shampoo goes to drain after every bath. Use less hair oil, use less deodorant, less shaving cream, less hair oil. Do not keep AC, lights, fans in your home while not being used actually.

Think yourself, and you’d be able to find many products we are using today, but can even stop using these, or at least reduce the consumption.

January 05, 2018

The Intelligent Pollutants

Take a map of Delhi. Mark two places- IHBAS and Anand Vihar. What do you observe? These two points are very near to each other- just less than 5 kilometer. Point- both of the places are being monitored for pollution on daily basis.

So, what's the issue? Yes. You check the pollution data of these two places, and find significant difference in pollution levels. Do you know from where the pollution comes to Delhi? It comes from burning of agri-wastes in Punjab and Haryana; it comes from burning of municipal solid wastes from Uttar Pradesh; it comes from the mills of NCR using Pet Coke or coal to produce steam in boilers; it comes with the winds from Afghanistan. From every side of it, the pollution is coming to Delhi. That has already been reported and certified by several agencies.

Well, if most of the pollution is coming from other countries, states or distant areas, one may hope that the whole Delhi would have (almost) similar level of pollution. But, here the scene is different. You find significant difference in pollution level at these two places.

Not only this, if you observe closely, you’d find that the pollutants prefer to go to more densely populated areas like Anand Vihar, rather than to less densely populated areas like IHBAS. You'd find the similar trend everywhere in Delhi. The particulates travel and stay longer in more population dense areas. At airport, pollution level is low; but at Punjabi Bagh, it is higher. Even at Faridabad, an industrial city, the pollution levels are generally lower.

It is the need to take a detailed analysis of pollution level at different places in Delhi to identify the causes which are responsible for different pollution levels at different places. Are there some specific reasons? To me a possible reason could be like that given hereunder-

Delhi is a big city; the capital of India. So, everyone wants to come here. And it seems that the pollutants are no exception. These pollutant particles, comprising of PM2.5, PM10 as well as NOx, SOx, CO travel to Delhi- just to visit Delhi and stay there. Like humans.

Yes, these particulates (PM2.5 & PM10) have their own mind, and prefer to go to more densely populated areas like Anand Vihar, rather than to less densely populated areas like IHBAS. Probably there is something that creates fear in the minds of particulates, so these want to avoid IHBAS.

If we want to reduce pollution, we need to investigate further why the pollutants love to stay in densely polluted areas. Some biology experts, micro-biology experts and psychology experts might guide the direction of further research in this area. You may call me stupid, absent minded or mindless; but, the evidence show that the pollutants have a mind or brain, and we desperately need more intelligent people to solve the pollution problem.

FB Comment by a Senior Scientist

Hit the nail on the head, Devesh Style. And to hell with the brownian motion theory. Not applicable to Delhi you see. And no particulate matter nor any gas for that matter can defy Hastinapur ka singhasan. And then you have people like yours truly calculating the AQI and wondering agenda kya hai bhai?

the 10 top industries polluting earth?

Which are the 10 top industries polluting earth?

Industries!

Well, everyone seems fanatic against industries. Why so? Why people are not concerned about consumption based pollution and focussing exclusively only on industrial pollution only?

You might find my question abnormal here. But let me present a case-

A mill manufactures Shampoos. All the mill's effluent is treated in the effluent treatment plant before discharging to some water body or for irrigation. There might be some ocassional negligance, some minor violations, but more or less, there is a network to ensure that the pollution is not created by mill effluent.

Coming back to point- what does the mill manufacture? Shampoo. What do you do with it? Apply on your head, and then rinse your head with plenty of water. The mixture- water plus shampoo, plus a little dirt/dust from your hair-body goes to drain and finally through municipal waste stream, where it might or might not treated. You might already be knowing that in many of the small ities, municipal waste and sewage treatment facilities are inadequate.

You buy a bottle of cold drink, drink it but often leave 2–5mL of drink in that bottle; this again adds up to pollution. The same thing happens with tea and coffee or fruit juices etc.

Have you noticed that you typically use 100 times more weight of detergent to wash your clothes than the quantity of dirt/dust on these. (Please do try to find out the weight of dirt/dust on your clothes, and the amount of detergent used for washing these!)

For each packet of potato wafers you buy, you are essentially buying the laminate used for packing it, the energy used to transport the whole package from factory to your hands (maybe that was produced in a thermal power plant). The unfortunate part is that people have started preferring more and more packaged products with their cup of tea at their homes replacing the home cooked tits-bits.

We want fashion, we want taste, we want luxury, we want everything in excess; and still we try to show that we worry for environment.

Industry- Yes. I say, human greed industry is most polluting today.

Use of a Marker Pen to Save Water

Water conservation is a must as it is fast depleting. Most of us are sharing a lot of messages on whatsapp, facebook, twitter etc. and showing our concern. At an individual level, we are also trying best to avoid any wastage of water.

Use of a Marker Pen to Save Water

I was calculating how much water we 'waste' just to take bath. Yes! Bath is a must in today's hot climate, but how much water is used to take a bath, and how much just flows to drain in the process? Let us have a look.

There are three common ways to take a bath.

1. Shower

2. Open tap in a bucket, and take bath while the tap is on.

3. Fill the bucket, close the tap and take a bath.

One may say that there is also a fourth way- using the bath tub. However, personally, I feel that the bath tub is a beautiful way of water wastage, and using a bath tub for your daily bath is a moral crime.

Shower is a good approach to take a bath using less water. However, most of the times, the aim becomes to beat the heat rather than just taking a bath, and you end up staying in shower for longer duration, and the additional water just flows to drain during the process.

In fact, the similar thing happens when you start a bath, while the tap is open to the bucket. Many of us love the sound of water flowing while taking a bath. But, in the process, you easily forget how much water you have used after the bath by just repeating the process of pouring water on your head.

Filling the bucket prior to bath seems a better way to me. You take some water in the bucket, and your aim is to finish the bath with that water only. However, we never try to quantify the water used, as it is rather impractical, particularly due to different types and sizes of buckets used, even in the same family.

Here, you might be annoying why I am taking so and so many headaches? A quick look at Dist. Bijnor shows that the population is nearly 40 Lakhs. I presume, everyone takes a bath daily. Even if we try to save one liter per bath, I can expect a saving of 40 Lakh liters or 4000 KL every day. The only problem is that nobody checks how much water anyone is using for a bath.

Let me present a simple trick. Take a marker pen, and mark the commonly taken water level for your bath. Tomorrow, when you take a bath, try to fill the water a little lower than the level and finish your bath with that quantity of water only. Observe the same practice every day, and after a week, if you feel, you can, just put another mark a little below than the previous one. Remove the previous level. Congratulations! You have already achieved a new level of water conservation. Well, if several family members use the same bucket, you may use markers in different colours, like blue for the husband, red for the wife, pink for the daughter, green for the son or whatever you like. No marking, restrictions or control for elders- they have already saved a lot for us.

Keep doing it, save water. Remember, nobody is watching and checking your water consumption while you are taking a bath. However, I can bet, you would feel a mental satisfaction after you reduce your water consumption for bathing.

Through this post, may I request you to try this approach for water conservation and avoid wasting water?

Please do grab a marker pen. Act now.

गंगाजी

Some Thoughts on Ganga Rejuvenation

गंगाजी प्रदूषण मुक्ति को समर्पित एक कविता Chintan

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