6. Environment

Pune was once known as the pensioner’s paradise because of its great year round climate, green cover and overall good quality of life.

By the beginning of 2024, Pune has lost all of its USPs. The Air Quality has degraded to dangerous levels and the water quality is suspect, the river has become a dirty nala.

But these are just the symptoms of a deeper and insidious issue that plagues our city.

Air Pollution

Air pollution in Pune doesn’t just create an uncomfortable, unaesthetic and irritating lifestyle, it is far more dangerous.

Air pollution has caused an estimated 7,100 deaths in Pune in 2023 (IQAir.com)

Air pollution has also cost approximately $1,000,000,000 USD or Rs 8300 crores (equal to the entire annual budget of the PMC) in Pune in 2023 (IQAir.com).

Air pollution leads to or exacerbates debilitating diseases in children, senior citizens and other vulnerable sections of society. But it also leads to black lungs in healthy adults.

A report titled ‘Tracing the Hazy Air 2023: Progress Report on National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)’ released by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) on the fourth anniversary of the NCAP highlights that Pune could not achieve its performance target under the NCAP and showed deterioration of air quality.

The latest report attempts to analyse the implementation and progress of the NCAP towards reducing air pollution levels since its launch in January 2019. The review takes stock of the progress in governance and management of ambient air quality in the country till December 2022.

The 2021-22 annual average PM10 (µg/m3) for Pune was 85 against the target of 58.65, showing higher air pollution levels. In the year 2020-2021 too, the air pollution levels remained higher for Pune as the annual average PM10 (µg/m3) was 69.

Causes of Air Pollution

Even school going children know the causes of air pollution. Vehicles, industrial sector, burning of waste, farm stubble are the major contributors to the rise in ambient air pollution levels.

Solutions:

Regular vehicular checks to keep air pollution levels within prescribed levels
Increase the use of alternate fuels like CNG and Electric. Build infrastructure around this. We need far more CNG pumps than are currently available, and even existing ones are often faced with supply issues. Electric charging stations around the city need to be installed. There are some issues car users are facing in installing chargers within their housing societies – this needs to be resolved.
Continuous monitoring at various locations within the city at regular intervals.
Strict regulation of construction activity (which the PMC has started doing recently).
Road network must be improved for reducing vehicular emissions
Radical move to Public Transport and minimise private vehicles (Ref to the relevant chapter)
Increase green cover with planned Plantation in the city areas, choice of air pollution resistant tree species in order to minimize ambient air pollution.
Preservation of the Hills – the Lungs of the City.

Hills

Pune’s cool climate owes a lot to the greenery on its hills (like Parvati, Taljai, Vetal, Baner, Warje ). However, in recent times, excessive concretisation and plantation of non-native plants have affected the city’s weather.

The hills which were once the lungs of Pune, are now under a threat due to excessive concretization and unscientific plantation drives that take place on these hills. It has not only endangered the biodiversity but is also affecting the weather in the city.

Pune is situated in close proximity to what is arguably the most biodiverse place on the entire earth – the Western Ghats. As per the land use distribution of Pune city, the total area covered under hills and hill slopes is 1245 ha i.e. 5.10% of the total land. The 11 major hills in the city are Parvati, ARAI and Malwadi Hill, Fergusson College Hill, Vetal Tekdi, Ram Hill, Baner Hill, Taljai, Chaturshringi Hill, Law College Hill, Katraj Hill and Kirkitwadi Hill.

The total area under reserved forest and agriculture as per the landuse distribution of Pune city is 2905 ha which is 11.91% of the total area. The Hills are currently subject to intense pressure due to development and encroachment.

As per the Mashal Slum Atlas Report, the unauthorized informal houses/ slums have come up on privately-owned lands in hill top hill slope zone with a total of approximately 62,205 households.

The law holds the beat officer accountable for encroachment in their jurisdiction. There is a provision for jail as well as a huge fine. However, the PMC administration has not taken a single action to date. The state government has enacted legislation to use satellite imagery to combat encroachment on mountainous terrain. The administration has completely failed to prevent encroachment on the hilltop and hill slopes.

How many Trees in Pune?

The Total Number of trees is 51,37,632 (according to Environment Status Report 2022-23 by PMC). According to the norms of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), there should ideally be seven trees per person, therefore, at least 1 crore trees have to be planted (if 2011 population census is taken into consideration, 1,67,87,369 additional trees need to be planted).

Tree Transplantation / Replanting:

This is a hoax that has been hoisted on Punekars for many years. Whenever the authorities decide to cut down trees, they say that either they will plant an equal number or many times greater number of trees elsewhere as compensation or they will Transplant existing trees to another place. This has completely failed in Maharashtra. Also, you cannot replace a 30 year old tree with a few saplings, and we have no track record of being able to do transplantations successfully on any meaningful scale.

Forests

Proper protection of the forest is imperative to check the threat of encroachments, wood cutting, garbage dumping and protection from vegetation and soil erosion. To restore the ecology and enrich the green cover on these hills, regeneration, afforestation for biodiversity and protection of these hills is necessary.

Along with tree felling, it is the rapid concretization under the guise of beautification of hills that is causing damage to these natural heritage sites. A lot of construction activities like tiled pathways, Gazebos, statues, etc., are being constructed on these hills under the guise of beautification which is posing a severe threat to these hills. Similarly, the construction of roads has given access to vehicles that have endangered the ecosystem. Taljai is one such glaring example. The hill has an ozone park and a gym following which, a lot of food-stalls have come up.

The unscientific plantation drive conducted on these hills is another reason for the shrinking of the hills. Many times, people plant exotic trees like Gliricidia instead of native ones on the hills due to lack of awareness. This has led to the shrinking population of migratory birds coming here which is damaging the ecosystem further.

These hills play a very important role in moderating the temperature as they act as heat sink. They also act in recharging the river as well as groundwater. Damage to these hills has played a great role in the changing weather pattern of the city. It is very important to take collective ownership among the residents and the administration. It is important to sensitise the residents about the importance of the hills.

The city needs planned policies for their conservation. Due to over urbanisation, the green cover is under threat. Construction of highways and various roads has broken the cord between the Western Ghats and hills in and around Pune. Due to this lack of connection, the hills have become islands and there is no movement of biodiversity which is endangering their ecosystem. These hills were acting as coolants but due to their deteriorating conditions, the weather of the city is being affected.

Action Steps / Solutions

Demarcation and Protection of existing Hills/ Forest & Recreational areas
Urban Forestry and Plantation Schemes for the city to increase green cover within the city
Plantation in dividers to curb dust, pollution and to restore aesthetic looks. This has to be done scientifically. Hardy plants are needed here. In the past the PMC has planted trees for temporary beautification purposes which is a complete waste of money.
Development of more parks & green open spaces
Development of urban green corridors
Linking of Green corridors, urban green areas & urban wildlife
Map and conserve heritage (old) trees/rare endangered species as well as ‘hot-specks’ of biodiversity
Develop and implement a Biodiversity Management Plan
Regular monitoring of compensatory tree plantation.
Implementation of Special project like Biodiversity Park at Baner
Afforestation of native trees rather than exotic plants
Deconcretization of green covers and hill tops

All our vital natural resources—rivers, hills, open spaces, trees—are endangered by a nexus of builders, politicians, and bureaucrats.

To protect these, we need proactive measures: leveraging technology for planning and monitoring, decentralizing commercial spaces, overhauling public transport, and fostering a city-wide commitment to climate action. Initiatives must include widespread & innovative public awareness campaigns and practical solutions such as strategically placed garbage bins, water-efficient and clean public toilets, an immediate ban on tree felling, stringent measures against sand and rock exploitation, strict checks on polluting vehicles with hefty fines, and rigorous prosecution of non-biodegradable waste producers & polluters, particularly industrial and commercial units. Urgent action is imperative to safeguard Pune’s ecological balance and combat environmental degradation.

The Current Reality:

Unfortunately, what is happening today is the opposite of what should be done. Let us take the examples of the proposed Vetal tekdi road and the River Front Development / Beautification plans.

Vetal Tekdi:

The government has proposed to create a Rs 200 cr road from Balbharati on Senapati Bapat road to Paud Phata (BBPP road) going over the hills of Vetal Tekdi in order to save about 5 minutes of travel time for people who currently take the Law College Road to complete the same journey.

The citizens of Pune came together to protest this on the grounds that this would lead to a massive loss of bio diversity (not just trees but also bird and insect life), hurt the aquifers that are important for our ground water table, reduce the ability of the hills ot be a heat sink as well as the city’s lungs and also be a colossal waste of public resources. Because in fact, the existing Law College road is more than enough already, and once the 2 lines of metro on its either side are operational, the transport load will be reduced drastically. Also, we urged that this road be covered by the PMPML buses – where till mid 2023 only a solitary bus was being used, if at all.

There were allegations that this entire project was being pushed through in a hurry to benefit a certain builder who has land along the proposed BBPP road.

Similarly, the banks of the mula mutha river are being cleared of its old and important trees to turn it into a concrete promenade in the name of beautification. Again, thousands of citizens marched in protest against this, but the killing of trees continued.

After thousands of us citizens marched in protest (April 2023) against this, the authorities promised to keep this hold.

These and many such examples show that the authorities are ready to use bulldozers on Pune’s natural assets under flimsy pretexts such as ‘saving 4 minutes and 30 seconds of commute time (which itself has been disproven by traffic experts)’ or ‘Beautification’. At the same time, civic activists are discredited and defamed as being ‘against development’.

If the same budget earmarked for such tree felling and beautification projects were to be used to purchase 2000 more buses, our traffic and pollution problems would be majorly solved! If earmarked for ensuring 100% sewage treatment, that would rejuvenate the river and make it alive again!

The main reason the authorities dare to make such anti environment, anti nature, anti future generation moves is because the Environment is never an election issue. Also, the citizens of Pune also think of the Vetal Tekdi issue as something that concerns only those living around that Tekdi (the upper middle class people in Erandwane), while those living away from the rivers also think that the river issue does not concern them. We need to drive home the point that an environmental issue anywhere in the city, the state, the country and in fact the world is an issue that will affect me today and even more so my next generations. Global Warming and Climate Change are made worse by every human action and will affect every human.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2023/nov/29/india-saw-extreme-weather-events-almost-every-day-in-first-9-months-this-year-report-2637237.html

Stray Dogs:

Stray dogs are one of the most polarising issues in Pune. Citizens are divided into 2 opposite groups of dog lovers and dog haters. Much of the hate is born out of fear – but let us save that discussion for another forum.

What both sides do agree upon is that sterilisation of stray dogs is of utmost importance.

As per the latest stray dog population census carried out by the civic body in May 2023, the estimated population has reduced from 315,000 in 2018 to 179,940 in 2023. This decline in the official figures has to be looked at with a little suspicion, as there is hardly any decline in the number of dog bite cases. The PMC had reported the highest number of dog bite cases in 2022 (16,569). By May 2023, there were already 7,484 recorded dog bite cases. Which puts on track to repeat or even surpass the 2022 numbers.

A simple back of the envelope calculation of the breeding cycles of dogs and the available infrastructure to carry out sterilization under the Animal Birth Control rules shows us that we will never be able to reach a low number of stray dogs, as they will always breed more than we are currently sterilising.

Both citizens who are uncomfortable with stray dogs, and the dogs themselves – who have been man’s best friends for 20,000 thousand years – deserve much better.

Water Pollution

When I travel to a new city in a foreign country, I am mesmerised by their rivers. These are clean, green and actually usable. They are sanctuaries in the urban chaos where people can go for walks and picnics.

Pune’s rivers and lakes are polluted with sewage, industrial waste, and agricultural runoff. Passing over a bridge or actually walking on the river bank is an unpleasant experience due to the stench and visible garbage in the water. Our rivers have indeed become nallas.

24% of the sewerage is untreated and disposed of into the Rivers Mula Mutha.

As per the information of the MPCB, while the total amount of sewage generated was 1,084 MLD, only 673.5 MLD of sewage was treated, and 410.5 MLD of raw sewage was finding its way into Mula-Mutha.

Now the thing about water is that whether you add a little bit of untreated waste or a lot of it, the net water becomes polluted. So while ‘76% sewage is treated’ may sound like a decently high enough number, in fact it means nothing.

According to the Water Supply and Sewerage departments of PMC, 76.20% of the total generated sewerage in the city is treated. The remaining is released into the river untreated and leads to high levels of both BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand.

The standard DO (Dissolved Oxygen) level for rivers is 5 mg/l. However, except for the rainy season, this level could not be maintained in any river stretches in Pune. This also indicates that the BOD and chemical oxygen demand (COD) levels increase, and the water is polluted. This adversely affects the water quality of the river. Aquatic plants and animals breathe dissolved oxygen in the water. “The eight PPM (parts /million) is considered the ideal level of dissolved oxygen in freshwater resources. However, while working on the river stretch rejuvenation project on the Mutha river, we found that the DO level at many parts of the river is below 4 ppm, precisely between 1-2 ppm during the non-rainy season. Which are the most toxic conditions for aquatic life.

Action Steps / Solutions:

Stop Vanity projects like ‘beautification’ if it means cutting existing trees and pouring concrete on the river banks. We need to understand that even small shrubs along the rivers are as important as big trees, because that is a part of the river’s ecosystem. Cutting the shrubs is not the same as cleaning rivers! For example, the African Savannah or grasslands have very few tall trees, but the grass itself is important. On such matters we must defer to expert scientists and not bureaucrats.
Protect existing trees like you would your personal property.
Treat 100% sewage before releasing into the river. Use this recycled water within the city for flushing, gardens etc in all possible housing societies and commercial establishments.
Penalise those releasing untreated domestic and industrial effluents, sewage, garbage, and debris into the river.
Alternate options to be identified for water supply source as per gravity in north and north-east area of the city
Monitor the water quality in the river regularly and engage experts to find solutions.

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution in the city is mainly due to vehicular movement on the road owing to traffic jams and honking, celebration of festivals, construction activities, diesel generating sets, etc.

Current Scenario 4: Noise Pollution

The noise pollution levels for commercial areas in all the monitoring locations were above the permissible limit of 65 dB.

Noise pollution levels for residential area were recorded below the permissible limit of 55 dB in few areas like Erandwane, Katraj Lake and Khadakwasla areas, the reason being these areas on the outskirt of the city area have minimal traffic and more of green cover while others have the maximum noise above the permissible limits.

The sensitive zones like hospitals, schools and colleges are most susceptible to noise level. Noise pollution levels for sensitive area of various locations in Pune were recorded above the permissible limits of 50dB

Solutions: Noise Pollution

Enforce noise pollution regulations. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has noise pollution regulations in place, but they are not always enforced. The PMC needs to do a better job of enforcing these regulations, and the public needs to be aware of their rights and report violations to the PMC.
Promote noise-reducing technologies. The government and private sector can promote the use of noise-reducing technologies, such as quieter vehicles, construction equipment, and industrial machinery.
Create noise buffers. Noise buffers, such as green spaces and soundproof walls, can help to reduce noise levels in residential areas.
Educate the public about noise pollution. The public needs to be educated about the negative effects of noise pollution and the importance of reducing noise levels. This can be done through public awareness campaigns, school programs, and other initiatives.
Religious / Cultural – We need to get all stakeholders together to put limits on the use of DJ / Loudspeakers for ALL religious and cultural festivals and events. 2023 was the worst year in terms of the abuse that our collective years had to face under the name of religion. This is an insult to every Punekar, but also an insult to the teachings of every religion, faith and tradition.

Conclusion

While solutions to Air, Water and Noise pollution are obvious, what is most important is for us to look at this through the lens of Climate Change. We also need to align the environmental to the civic and the political if we have any hope of getting any meaningful results.

Carbon footprint

Development of sustainable green cities is the need of today’s fast urbanizing world. The ever-growing urbanization threatens escalating carbon emission due to higher consumption of goods and services. Hence it is crucial that the balance be maintained between the carbon emission and carbon sequestration to achieve sustainability. Carbon emissions contribute to climate change, which can have serious consequences for humans and their environment.

According to the Environment status report (ESR) for 2017-18, the ratio of carbon dioxide equivalent to population was 1.42 tonnes per person in 2012 and 1.64 tonnes CO2e per person in 2017.

Pune’s carbon footprint, per person, has increased by .22 over a fiver-year period.

While the PMC does generate an Environment Status Report (ESR), it just remains on paper and is not used in actual policy making or implementation. This needs to change.
The PMC should assign a carbon footprint value to Every thing it does or proposes to do. So every new flyover should be assessed in terms of its Carbon Footprint – how much will the fuel savings be due to faster movement of vehicles and how much will it cost to build it, in terms of Carbon footprint? This will help us make more informed choices.

Conclusion

The only way we can turn Pune’s air and water back to what it was, the only way we can do our bit for the global fight against climate change is to make environmental issues an election issue. The Pune Model goes further and seeks to make Pune a model city in terms of the environment. We owe it to our future generations. Our failure on this part will have our own children cursing us down the line.

Existing Environment Regulations in Pune city

Environment Protection Act of 1986 is one such measure taken by Government of India. This act empowers the Central Government to establish authorities with the mandate of preventing environmental pollution in all its forms and to tackle specific environmental problems that are peculiar to different parts of the country.

As per Twelfth schedule (Article 243 W) clause 8 of the Constitution of India, it is mandatory for all Municipal Corporations to protect the environment & promotion of ecological aspects. Thus as a regulatory and controlling authority for the development of the cities, the Municipal Corporations have to play major role in this scenario.

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) implements a range of environmental legislation in the state of Maharashtra. The MPCB functions under the administrative control of Environment Department of the Government of Maharashtra. It is mainly responsible for:

Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974,

Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981,

Water (Cess) Act, 1977

Some of the provisions under Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 and the rules framed under this like:

Biomedical Waste (M&H) Rules, 1998,

Hazardous Waste (M&H) Rules, 2000,

Municipal Solid Waste Rules, 2000 etc.

The other regulations governing the solid wastes generated in the city are as follows:

The Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001

The Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999 (as amended subsequently)

The Maharashtra Plastic Carry Bags (Manufacture and Usage) Rules 2006

For all the three rules the implementation levels needs to be considerably increased.

C&D waste should not be mixed with MSW for disposal. However currently there is no specific provision for its disposal.

Similarly for Electronic Waste (E-waste) there is no prevailing regulation and no management guidelines have been specified.

Initiative/projects undertaken on environment by urban local bodies (PMC)

Environmental Status Report (ESR):

Pune’s annual ESR was produced in response to a provision of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils (Amendment) Act of 1994. It has been credited with reaffirming the need for an environmental assessment tool to help the municipality define its planning priorities. The ESR highlighted the fact that the increase in slums is a major problem that the city will face in the future, leading to considerable growth in population density and massive solid waste generation. The report also called for an equitable distribution of water and made drinking water the highest priority. It emphasized the need to treat drainage water to make it usable for irrigation. The report suggested policy issues as well, namely the need for the State and municipal governments to attempt to regulate the number of vehicles as a means to check traffic congestion, noise and air pollution.

But this ESR on remains on paper. Its publication is a checklist item to be ticked off. In fact, the ESR should be used as a foundational document while taking all other decisions at every stage. While planning, acquiring, building and execution.

Energy Conservation:

Pune Municipal Corporation has encouraged the use of Renewable Energy by giving exemption in 5% property tax for Housing Societies that run any one of the projects below and 10% tax exemption for those who implement any two of the projects below:

Vermicomposting Unit
Use of Solar Energy
Rain Water Harvesting.

As per the report of ESR, 2011, it was recorded that in year 2010, 12,003 properties have benefited from the scheme

Promoting the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG):

The Pune Municipal Corporation has introduced the use of environment friendly gas i.e. CNG in public transportation to reduce pollution in the city. According to the latest statistics available with the Regional Transport Office (RTO), around 45,000 rickshaws operate in the city, of which 17,787 run on CNG while another 8,134 run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This makes for 57% of the city’s rickshaws running on environment friendly fuel.

Compensatory Afforestation

PMC has laid down the regulations for compensatory tree plantation which are to be followed while constructing new buildings or any new development. These regulations are based on the area of the plot to be built or developed. To make these regulations readily available to the citizens, PM has taken the initiative to upload the information on their website.

This compensatory afforestation policy has a gap, which is related to the monitoring of this effort. To make this initiative successful, MC officials check the trees plantation at the initial stage of construction, but this Is not checked later on, arter the occupancy of the building; due to this in many cases the plantations are not taken care of after the necessary formalities are over.

Indradhanushya

A public facility of PMC to create environmental awareness and promote responsible citizenship.

Indradhanushya is a public facility of the Pune Municipal Corporation to create environmental awareness and promote responsible citizenship, thinking and action towards sustainable development in Pune.

The vision of Indradhanushya is to spread the message of environment conservation in society and develop skills and attitude in citizens which could improve their environmental literacy and environmental performance of the city.

Indradhanushya aims to sensitize the public by infusing a sense of responsibility through behavioural change.

Eco Housing scheme

PMC gives tax rebates to housing projects having rain water harvesting schemes. It has adopted Eco Housing scheme in which green buildings are promoted. The “Eco-Housing certification programme” was launched by PMC in 2005 with technical assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which calls for compliance with set assessment parameters which have developed by the Science and Technology Park (ST) – University of Pune, International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC) and the Energy Resources Institute (TERI).

In order to encourage developers to adopt eco-friendly techniques under the programme, PMC offers 50% rebate in premium charges incurred from developers while granting building permission. While 25 % rebate is granted while giving building permissions on verifying the documents and site visits, the remaining is given after completion of the project.

Some commendable initiative/projects undertaken on environment by NGOs

The Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Pune have been actively involved on the conservation and protection of the city’s environment. These NGOs helps in promoting the environmental awareness and conservation of nature. The lists of few of these working on the line of
Ecological Society: The core activity of Ecological society is through environmental research and education. Their main focus area is conducting trainings and environmental awareness programmes for village children at Panshet and Kamshet. The Society have also prepared a project on Eco-Development of River Fronts of Pune
Pune Tree Watch – Kalpavriksh: This group has been taking ingenuity on the conservation of environment through tree plantation.
Parisar: Parisar is a civil organization working on the field of sustainable development. Their main focus is on Urban Heritage Conservation, Natural Environment, Sustainable Agriculture, Urban Planning and Urban Transport. The organization has been actively involved in the major issues of their main focus area and has effectively intervened in any loopholes in policies at the
RANWA (Research and Action in Natural Wealth Administration): This society works on the field of environmental research, education and awareness. They have actively involved in imparting environmental education and awareness to the public and school children in Pune city.
Green-Hills Group: This group has been actively involved in the areas of rainwater harvesting and tree plantation in Pune for the last 10 years in areas of Hanuman Tekdi and chatushhrungi Hills. Supported Forest Department and PMC in planting 4000 trees and started nurturing them on forest department land on ARAI hill near MIT College.
Tekdi: Tekdi Pune is a group of young people working in the common cause in protecting the environment. The group has been actively working on site for the conservation of Law College Tekdi in restoring its environment
SWaCH: An NGO working actively in the field of Solid Waste Management which became operational in 2008. The “SWaCH model” involves creating micro collection and recycling zones for informal workers. In Pune, the city provides health insurance, and the union has designed a wet-dry source separation protocol. The system is based on a minimal form contract, and a standard for calculating service tariffs. Service fees are paid directly by the households to a service provider, and who has the right to separate both the dry recyclables and the organic waste.

Suggested best practices:

Copenhagen model

Sustainable transportation: Copenhagen has a well-developed public transportation system that includes buses, trains, and bicycles. The city also has a congestion charge in the city center, which encourages people to use public transportation or bicycles instead of cars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Copenhagen

Green spaces: Copenhagen has a lot of green spaces, including parks, gardens, and forests. These green spaces help to improve air quality and provide a place for people to relax and enjoy the outdoors.
Energy efficiency: Copenhagen is committed to energy efficiency. The city has a number of energy-efficient buildings and it is working to make its energy grid more sustainable.

https://www.dezeen.com/2019/10/08/big-copenhill-power-plant-ski-slope-copenhagen/

Waste management: Copenhagen has a well-developed waste management system. The city recycles and composts most of its waste, and it has a zero-waste goal for 2025.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/27/business/technology-and-trash-intl/index.html

Surat
The Surat Clean Air Action Plan (SCAP) was prepared by World Resources Institute India (WRI-India) in collaboration with Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF).The source apportionment study, prepared by TERI, identified air pollution sources in Surat, resulting in the development of a clean air action plan by WRI India that outlines mitigation actions aimed at reducing air pollution.
Vancouver
The City is doing its best to enhance the existing natural environment, protect sensitive habitats, and promote environmental stewardship among residents, businesses, and community groups. A number of policies, regulations, and bylaws have been put in place to ensure the health and safety of City residents and the protection of the environment. https://www.cnv.org/community-environment/environmental-protectionhttps://www.portvancouver.com/environmental-protection-at-the-port-of-vancouver/leading-with-environmentally-responsible-practices/