In the year of our indenpendce-1947,Delhi received an influx of 8.2 lakh people- an increase of 90% over the 1941 figure. In succeeding decades, the decennial growth has been around 54.2%DElhi has the highest growth rate of urban population compared to other metros of India. Delhi has clearly been an irresistible magnet for job seekers, investors, and builders. The phenomenal growth of population is not only due to migrants arriving in lakhs but also because of more villages merging into urban sector. Urbanisation has a strong bearing on travel demands. Higher incomes , mobility, employment cities, and the proliferation of employment centers have increased the demand for motorised transport, resulting in disproportionately high concentration of vehicles in Delhi. If we look at the total emission picture of a city we would se three types of emissions:
But of the total air pollution load from various sources, vehicular pollution contributes to a shocking 64% in Delhi. On day of high pollution a Delhiite inhales an equivalent of one and a half packet packets of cigarattes.the incidence of respiratory diseases in Delhi is 12 times the national average and 30% of Delhi's population suffers from respiratory disorders due to air pollution. The major sources of water pollution are the 17 major storm water drains falling in river Yamuna of which major ones contributing 95% of the pollution load. Among the 44 resettlement colonies, sewer lines have been provided only in 19 colonies: among 108 urban villages under MCD juridisaction ,sewerage facilities exist only in 69 villages. The Wazirpur Industrial Area has polluting units generating 10,000 cubic meters a day of liquid wastes. The list continues... Delhi has come into limelight in the recent past by being dubbed as the fourth most polluted city in the world. the environment degradation of Delhi compels citizens to undertake collective action. But before formulating any preventive and ameliorative action strategies, it is essential to determine the root causes of the ill effects on the environment. Monitoring and assessment of environment quality then forms a sound basis for such actions. Deeply concerned by the deterioting environment consitions in Delhi, Development Alternatives has launched Delhi Environment Action Network ( DEAN) programme. The Concept The main thrust of DEAN programme will be to initiate a series of citizen led environment improvement actions. DEAN will include members from among schools, college and NGOs, industry associations, municipal authorities, funding organisations and other interested citizen group may hopefully participate. It will be an ongoing programme wherein environmental quality monitoring, assessment and implementation of enviromental improvement schemes will be undertaken in a sequential manner. Training and Monitoring Development Alternatives provides initial training to the school 'core group' (comprising two teachers and 4 students), the DEAN school monitoring team and will assist the team in monitoring, interpreting and evolving action programmmes. The school children equipped with a field based water testing kit (JAL-TARA kit, developed by Development Alternatives) will monitor any natural water sources, be it ground water bodies (ponds, lakes, pools) or municipal water supply. Data validation A mobile pollution monitoring laboratory with sophisticated equipment provided by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation for the DEAN programme facilitates the process of validation of the data collected by DEAN school monitoring teams.This information will be disseminated by school children to DEAN zonal network members.
Networking Besides carrying out documentation of environmental monitoring data and local area survey data, the school children will also exchange information with other network members. Children will be encouraged by Development Alternatives to write articles for newspaper and other communication media not only in Delhi, but throughout the nation as well as internationally. Agents of change Development Alternatives has chosen school children as agents since they can catalyse attitudinal changes within the community while growing into responsible citizens. The children will learn about their right to clean environment. They will alsodevelop skills such as observing , enquiring , comparing , analyzing and interpreting. DEAN programme has been designed to establish an ongoing process of interaction among school children, teachers and the citizens for the betterment of the environement quality through environmental education, monitoring and action. Community Action The DEAN school monitoring team in close association with DEAN zonal network members such as Resident Welfare Association,municipal authorities and voluntary groups can chalk out a detailed action plan for implementation at individual , household, community and government levels. Current Status of the Programme Delhi has been divided into 12 zones based on certain critical environmental parameters. Schools have chosen so far to represent them in different zones. The basic concept of the programme, significance, methodology and specific monitoring rules were explained to each school. They had hands on experience on the use of the Operational Manuals of the JalTara kit and carried out tests and analysis of results during this workshop. Within a short span of time, the core group of schools acquired a high degree of skill. Right now the first round of monitoring is complete and results have started coming into Development Alternatives. Subsequent to this , there will be a get together of all DEAN school teams to interpret on the future course of action. Scope of the programme The DEAN programme has been launched in Delhi with a few schools to begin with. In a couple of months the programme will be taken up at the national level by extending through organized networking. Development Alternatives aspires to carry this programme across countries thereby hoping to achieve a global network through the interaction of the local authorities, communities and the government with children as the prime agents for monitoring , assessment and initiation of action plans. We hope to share more news about this programme on a regular basis on this forthcoming issues. We welcome information regarding similar efforts around the world especially , about the tools , techniques, and resource materials used for such programme. |
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