It is only when people make this a priority issue will the politicians wake up and take action," Debi Goenka, member of the Conservation Action Trust, said.About 89 per cent people in Delhi felt sickness or discomfort due to the bad air quality and most of them believed that motor vehicles and felling of trees were the major causes behind pollution, the study said.

The survey also showed that the age group which "always" sought AQ information was 18-25 years..4 per cent) said they accessed air quality information "sometimes" and 12 per cent said "never".As many as 5,000 people were interviewed across different demographics in 17 cities for the study.The study titled "Perception Study on Air Quality" by the ASAR Social Impact Advisors, which works on social and environmental issues, said the awareness level was higher in the metros with the Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) respondents showing the maximum awareness of all three terms -- Air Quality Index, Particulate Matter 2.People who feel the air quality has become "much worse" belong to Angul, Delhi-NCR, Lucknow and Patna and the people of Chennai, Raipur, Mumbai, Korba and Pune feel it has become a "little worse", according to the study.5 per cent) and global warming and climate change (12.4 per cent), drinking polluted water (19. They also do not correlate air pollution as a significant contributor to their existing or future health condition."

There is a desperate need for a national-level campaign, aimed at addressing belief systems and changing behaviour," he said.2 per cent).New Delhi: About 89 per cent people in Delhi feel sickness or discomfort due to the bad air quality and most of the people believe vehicles and felling of trees are the major causes behind pollution, according to a new study.A majority of the respondents (33."This perception needs to be addressed.9 per cent) and construction activities (48.The study covers cities with a highly-polluted air -- Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Patna, Lucknow, Varanasi, Amritsar, Singrauli, Dhanbad, Raipur, Korba, Chandrapur, Angul, Nagpur and cities becoming rapidly polluted -- Bengaluru, China 4V210 valve Pune, Mumbai and Chennai.Ashutosh Dikshit, CEO of URJA, the apex body of Delhis residential welfare associations (RWAs), said, "This exhaustive survey reaffirms the fact that people are aware of air pollution.The top two sources of AQI information for those who were aware and who understood AQI were newspapers and mobile apps, the study said. However, looking at the violations on Diwali night in most parts of north India, I feel that people do not fully believe in the stated causes of air pollution and its proportionate impact.

Hide Comments | Add Comment

China began upping the ante in Arunachal Pradesh much before India began its military upgrade in the eastern sector. Since the inauguration of the upgraded ALG there on May 30, 2016, it is capable of landing large strategic lift aircraft like the C-130J.A November 18, 2011 report in Pakistan Defence, quoted a 2010 US Department of Defence Report to Congress, indicating that China replaced its old liquid fuelled, nuclear capable CSS-3 intermediate range ballistic missile with more advanced CSS-5 MRBMs and vastly improved its border roads in the eastern sector bordering India for PLA movement. Airports Authority of India is in the process of setting up a civil terminal, the construction of which has yet to commence.

Airfields have also been established at Hoping, Pangta and Kong Ka respectively, along with the existing six airfields in the Tibetan Autonomous Region for supporting fighter aircraft and to enhance PLA’s airlift capability.The Pasighat airfield is now a strategic asset of EAC from where all types of aircraft and helicopters can operate. China pointed out that Mr Koyu is a Chinese citizen since he belongs to Arunachal Pradesh and hence could visit China without a visa. Two ALGs at Tuting and Tawang are expected to be ready by year-end, while reconstruction of the ALG at Vijaynagar will be undertaken as soon as the road connectivity between Miao and Vijaynagar is restored. On the border with India, China has deployed 13 border defence regiments amounting to around 300,000 PLA troops. Intercontinental missiles such as the DF-31 and DF-31A have also been deployed by China at Delingha, north of Tibet. The ALGs at Walong, Ziro, Along, Mechuka and Pasighat have since been upgraded and are operational now. In May 2007, China denied a visa to Ganesh Koyu, an Indian Administrative Service officer from Arunachal Pradesh, who was to be a part of a 107 IAS officer study to visit to Beijing and Shanghai.In 2007, when then defence minister A. In October 2009, China expressed deep dissatisfaction when then PM Dr Singh visited Arunachal Pradesh as part of an election campaign for the state Assembly elections.On August 19, 2016, the old advanced landing ground (ALG) at Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, revived and upgraded, was inaugurated befittingly by minister of state home affairs Kiren Rijiju, who hails from that state, accompanied by Air Marshal C. In November 2006, just before Chinese Premier Hu Jintao’s state visit to India, Chinese ambassador to India, Sun Yuxi, stated that the whole of the state of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory. Yet, there is a lot more to be done. Replete with facilities such as aprons for ground manoeuvring — air traffic control tower, perimeter road and a security wall — it is now a full-fledged airfield, which will facilitate operations of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters of both civil and military.

The distance of about 400 km from Tezpur to the LAC can be covered by Sukhoi-30MKI in less than 15 minutes.Inaugurating the ALG at Ziro and Along earlier this year, Air Marshal Hari Kumar stated: "The ALGs will further enhance our existing operational capabilities in Eastern Air Command The capacity build-up will enable operations by some of our new inductions, including the C-130J Super Hercules Besides enhancing air maintenance capability of the IAF in the region, the new airfield will also facilitate civil air connectivity soon.The report further stated that in October 2011, India decided to deploy the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with a pneumatic control valve factory flight range of 290 km in the eastern sector to strengthen its defence posture vis-à-vis China and had a five-year expansion plan to induct 90,000 more troops, where already 120,000 troops deployed, are supported by two Sukhoi-30MKI squadrons from Tezpur in Assam. As such, it will not only improve our response time for various operational situations, but also the efficacy of our air operations in the eastern frontier and will enhance air support capability for the Army, security forces and the civil administration.

A flypast by three Sukhoi-30MKI air dominance fighters that took off from one of the forward EAC airbases was a highlight of the event. Placed on the civil aviation map, Pasighat, a pristine and picturesque town on the banks of Siang river and already known as a white-water rafting location, will become a destination for large number of tourists, leading to greater prosperity for the local population. Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who visited the state soon afterwards, announced a major financial package and a fast-track infrastructure development programme. Soon afterwards, another Sukhoi-30MKI landed at the ALG, recording a "historic first" in the predominantly hilly state of Arunachal Pradesh, which has several ALGs at varying altitudes. Hari Kumar AVSM VM VSM, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Air Command (EAC), Indian Air Force (IAF) and senior civil and IAF officials. In June 2009, China tried to block India’s request for $2. Antony visited Arunachal Pradesh, he was aghast at noting the great contrast between substantial infrastructural development across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by the Chinese and the starkness accentuating the lack of the same, particularly strategically, on our side. In November 2009, China protested against the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

This was the first time that China sought to broadcast its claim on Arunachal Pradesh in a multi-lateral forum.The writer, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi. The new runway surface and other infrastructure built are similar to the other upgraded ALGs inaugurated in the recent months.9 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as the request included $60 million for flood management, water supply and sanitation project in Arunachal Pradesh.For the people of Arunachal Pradesh, the Pasighat airfield will mean air connectivity with the rest of the country.On approval by the Cabinet Committee for Security and following a memorandum of understanding between the government of Arunachal Pradesh and ministry of defence in June 2009, the IAF had embarked on an ambitious reconstruction plan to upgrade eight ALGs, including infrastructure development at an overall outlay of nearly `1,000 crores."Mechuka, 7,000 feet above sea level, is approximately 40 km from China and was one of the strategic locations during the 1962 Sino-Indian War. The need of the hour is for all agencies to get together and make it happen.

Hide Comments | Add Comment

An AQI in the range of 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘Satisfa-ctory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘Poor’, 301-400 ‘ver-y Poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’. Sunil Dahiya, a campaigner for Greenp-eace India, said the respite was only momentary. This much talk about improvement is a natural phenomena as rain washes out the dust particles leading to impro-ved air quality," said Sunil Dahiya, senior campaigner Greenpeace India. The Air Quality Index of New Delhi was recorded at 43 which falls under the ‘good’ category."

The so called improvement in Delhi’s air quality is governed by the meteorological factors, not by addressing the source of pollution. Continuous rains over the past week jelpc solenoid valve washed away pollutants in the air and cleaned up the sky. More comprehensive actions on sources of pollution are required for sustained clean air days," he said. The fact is that air pollution is present all year around, irrespective of seasons."

This is momentary to have few clean air days. The ministry has prepared a draft programme, which aims to come up with a comprehensive plan for prevention, control and reduction of air pollution, and to improve the air quality monitoring network across the country..Greenpeace India said instead of being euphoric about few improved air quality days, the environment ministry along with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) should immediately enforce the National Clean Air Progr-amme (NCAP) by setting up time-bound emission targets.NEW DELHI: The air quality in New Delhi has improved due to meteorological conditions and not because the source of pollution was addressed, environmental group Greenpeace India said on Sunday after the city’s air turned ‘good’ for the first time this year.

Hide Comments | Add Comment