Darjeeling to join the list of most polluted cities of West Bengal, reveals study (GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- A recent study by scientists has revealed that Darjeeling, the queen of hills and a popular tourist destination, may be on the way to becoming one of the most polluted cities of West Bengal.
Key Highlights:
- The six cities in West Bengal that are considered non-attainment cities and did not meet the national ambient air quality standards were Asansol, Durgapur, Kolkata, Howrah, Haldia, and Barrackpore.
- The research, spanning from 2009 to 2021, focused on characterising PM10 levels (very small pollutant particles found in dust and smoke) in Darjeeling.
- It determined that summer (March-May) and winter (December-February) were the two seasons in Darjeeling when PM10 concentrations exceeded 70 micrograms per cubic metre of air, surpassing the Indian standard of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.
- The study said that dust transport from the Indo-Gangetic plain, coal combustion from eateries, domestic use, and the Toy Train, as well as secondary sources, also played a role in the pollution.
Agenda:
- The present study throws light on one of the geographically, climatically, and ecologically important high-altitude Himalayan stations in India, where people have been contributing as well as experiencing huge pollution loads but remained out of sight of the policy makers.
- The study raises a serious concern in front of the policy makers that a high-altitude tourist station such as Darjeeling in the eastern Himalayas would soon become a non-attainment city.
Plan being discussed to create petroleum reserves from salt caverns in Rajasthan
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- India is exploring the idea of developing salt caverns in Rajasthan as strategic petroleum reserves and public sector consultancy company Engineers India Ltd (EIL) has been tasked with studying its prospects and feasibility.
- The company’s recent partnership with Germany’s DEEP.KBB GmbH is in line with the objective as neither EIL nor any other Indian company has the requisite technical knowhow, which the German company has.
Background:
- India has three strategic petroleum reserves at Mangaluru, Padur, and Visakhapatnam, but all of these are made up of excavated rock caverns.
- Over the past decade, while there were plans to build a strategic oil reserve in Rajasthan’s Bikaner, the project never really took off.
How salt caverns are created?
- Unlike rock caverns, which are developed through excavation, salt caverns are developed by pumping water into geological formations with large salt deposits to dissolve the salt.
- Then the salt cavern is created by draining out the salt dissolved in water. Developing salt caverns is said to be easier, faster, less labour-intensive, and cheaper than building a rock cavern.
Way Forward:
- India’s strategic petroleum reserves have a cumulative capacity of 5.33 million tonnes of crude, and can meet around 9.5 days of the country’s oil demand. The strategic oil reserves come under the Petroleum Ministry SPV Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
- Rajasthan has a forthcoming refinery in Barmer and has crude pipelines as well, and such infrastructure is conducive for building strategic oil reserves.
