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Author: Aura Kataria

  • India’s Race Against Superbugs: Can New Research and Policies Outpace Antimicrobial Resistance?

    India’s Race Against Superbugs: Can New Research and Policies Outpace Antimicrobial Resistance?

    What began as an ordinary and persistent fever and stomach ache turned into a life-threatening infection when a young man, instead of going to the doctor, took ciprofloxacin on his own. The antibiotic failed to work because the bacteria had become resistant. By the time the patient reached the hospital, he had severe intestinal bleeding and a perforated intestine that required surgery. 

    This is a documented case of Antimicrobial Resistance. In India, according to the most recent data,1.04 million deaths were associated with AMR between the years 1990-2021 and around 1 out of 3 sepsis deaths are linked to AMR, according to a 2024 Lancet Analysis 2024.

    WHY INDIA IS AT HIGH RISK

    There are a number of reasons why India is considered one of the countries most vulnerable to AMR. This happens because, in an Indian household, self-medication is common; instead of going to the doctor to get yourself checked, people treat antibiotics as quick fixes. For instance, some people, instead of taking the complete course, just take it until they feel better. One of the major issues remains cost; going to the hospital is still not accessible to low-income families. In this economy, health is not treated as a priority. One of the other reasons we are ahead of other countries is the over-the-counter access to antibiotics; without prescriptions, we can get medicines at the chemist.

    AMR SURVEILLANCE AND RESEARCH NETWORK (AMRSN)

    The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) launched the AMR Surveillance and Research Network in 2013, which every year publishes reports based on data from hospitals across India, and these consistently show that E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are among the most drug-resistant pathogens.

    AMRSN has created the first national database on this issue. Instead of capturing one-time snapshots, the network continuously monitors resistance patterns; it supports genomic research by using molecular techniques and whole-genome sequencing to understand how bacteria develop resistance, how resistance spreads between hospitals and communities and whether outbreaks are caused by the same bacterial clones, helping scientists detect emerging superbugs earlier and design targeted interventions.

    NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON AMR 2.0 (2025-2029)

    This was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The National Action Plan on AMR builds on the first national action plan (2017-2021). It has been designed to be aligned with the WHO Global Action Plan and adopts a One Health approach.

    The One Health approach states that this issue is not just a hospital problem but rather something which involves other dimensions such as Animal Husbandry, Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment by bringing in these ministries as well.

    NAP-AMR 2.0 encourages development of rapid diagnostic tests, research into new antibiotics and alternative therapies and greater collaborations between research institutions. Many supporting initiatives have also taken place, one of the major ones being the Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programme; these programmes review antibiotic prescriptions, recommend the most appropriate drug and dosage, restrict unnecessary use of last resort antibiotics and monitor resistance trends within hospitals.

    While these initiatives represent a moving trend and hope for a better future with controlled AMR cases, records of implementation suggest that the above statement might just be an overestimation of governments’ powers, as we see that certain rules like prescription-only rules are not always enforced, surveillance coverage in rural India remains a question mark, and public awareness about antibiotic use remains limited. So, in conclusion, these steps have given us some hope for betterment, but whether these policies will translate into measurable betterment or not is yet to be seen.

     

     

  • Green Fuel, Dirty Air? Inside the Industrial Pollution Crisis of Byrnihat and the Hidden Cost of India’s Ethanol Push

    Green Fuel, Dirty Air? Inside the Industrial Pollution Crisis of Byrnihat and the Hidden Cost of India’s Ethanol Push

    Byrnihat, a town lying on the border of Assam and Meghalaya, has ranked number 1 as world’s most polluted city, recording an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 128.2 μg/m³, according to a study which was conducted by a Swiss air quality monitoring company IQAir in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). As we see India has been promoting ethanol blending programme as a key step towards reducing carbon emissions and dependence on imported crude oil, but the recent documentary on Byrnihat have sparked a debate over whether the environmental costs of producing green fuel have been adequately calculated or not.

    The issue came into spotlight after a documentary by journalist Sarthak Goswami went viral on YouTube and clips made it to Instagram, which questioned whether the environmental impact of ethanol production has been overlooked ,but it didn’t make any strict claims , but it did challenge the claims made by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari that ethanol blending significantly reduces India’s carbon footprint, arguing that emissions generated during production deserve greater scrutiny and it also questioned whether carbon footprints are just being replaced by water footprints.

    By 28 June 2026, the Meghalaya Health Department stated that it had not received any formal complaint regarding the alleged health impacts of the ethanol unit in Byrnihat and later also stated by Mr. Gadkari in an interview with AjjTak. The government clarified that while the allegations circulating online would be examined if its supported by evidence, no official complaint had been filed at the time.

    Fuel ethanol production in Byrnihat commenced on 1 September 2024. Coincidentally, 2024 was also the year in which Byrnihat emerged as one of the world’s most polluted urban areas in global air quality rankings. However, this timing alone does not establish a relationship between the two. Byrnihat has been an industrial hub since a long time, it is housing a number of cement hubs, distilleries, ferroalloy units in and around it, more recently in 2024 ethanol manufacturing facilities as well.

    Residents interviewed in the documentary told Sarthak Goswami and the team that emissions from factories have left their homes coated in black dust, leading to them washing vegetables multiple times before consumption and also making it difficult to breathe. Several villagers also claimed that respiratory illnesses, skin conditions and even cancer cases have increased over recent years.

    Importantly, the documentary itself acknowledged that there is currently no scientific evidence directly linking any individual illness or death to a specific factory or to ethanol production alone. However, government health data cited in the investigation indicates that reported respiratory disease cases in the area rose from 2,082 in 2022 to 3,681 in 2024, showing a 77% rise, highlighting a worsening public health situation consistent with growing industrial pollution.

    The debate also extends beyond air pollution. Ethanol continues to offer an important climate advantage over petrol by producing lower lifecycle carbon emissions, making it a cleaner transport fuel from a greenhouse gas perspective. Yet environmental experts have also bought the point that water footprints should also be part of the discussion about ethanol,

    According to Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra, producing one litre of ricebased ethanol requires approximately 10,790 litres of water, raising concerns that while ethanol may reduce carbon footprints, it could simultaneously increase water footprints, particularly in a country like India where groundwater depletion is already a big crisis. According to the experts, Ethanol production also generates a high-strength wastewater known as vinasse, which requires proper treatment before disposal to prevent contamination of rivers and groundwater but minister Gadkari refuses to agree this wastewater problem in his recent interview.

    The documentary by Sarthak Goswami further noted that although Meghalaya

    Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa

    Sarma announced plans last year to establish a joint committee to tackle Byrnihat’s pollution crisis, little visible progress has followed. As India’s ethanol blending targets continue to expand, Byrnihat raises a broader policy question:

    can India’s transition to cleaner fuels succeed if the environmental costs of production remain concentrated in industrial towns already struggling with severe pollution?

    Photo: Janak Bhatta / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

  • Namo Oxygen Parks or Court-Mandated Afforestation? Investigating Delhi’s Green Branding Claim

    Namo Oxygen Parks or Court-Mandated Afforestation? Investigating Delhi’s Green Branding Claim

    On World Environment Day, June 5, Delhi’s Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated “Namo Oxygen Parks” at Maidangarhi. A total of 185.5 acres of land throughout 18 parks are covered under this initiative, where they will be developed as green zones and a place where indigenous, environmentally beneficial species such as peepal, banyan, jamun and mango trees will be planted.

    “The Delhi government has set an ambitious target of planting 70 lakh trees and saplings this year. The objective is not merely plantation but ensuring 100% survival through geo-tagging and proper maintenance.” Rekha Gupta said. However, questions have emerged over whether the initiative is entirely new or largely overlaps with a court-mandated afforestation programme.

    The controversy can be traced back to the Delhi Ridge tree-felling case dating to May 2024, which came before the Supreme Court after around 1,100 trees were allegedly felled in the Southern Ridge area, which serves as  the ultimate environmental lifeline for the National Capital Region (NCR) and Delhi. The felling was for a road-widening project linked to the Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS). The Court found that the felling had taken place without obtaining the necessary permissions and initiated contempt proceedings against officials of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). In its judgment dated 28 May 2025, the Supreme Court held DDA officials guilty of contempt and directed extensive compensatory afforestation measures to restore the ecological damage caused by the tree loss. 

    According to the Supreme Court judgment, the restoration exercise was to be carried out under judicial supervision through a large-scale plantation programme. Subsequent DDA status reports filed before the Court proposed afforestation across 18 land parcels covering nearly 185 acres, with approximately 1.67 lakh saplings to be planted. The Court later approved the afforestation plan and sought periodic compliance reports from the DDA and the Delhi Forest Department. 

    The overlap between the court-approved afforestation plan and the Namo Oxygen Parks initiative has raised questions among journalists and environmental activists. Both programmes involve 18 sites spread across roughly 185 acres. Media Reports done by PeekTV and Times Of India examining DDA filings and court records found that several of the locations inaugurated as Namo Oxygen Parks correspond with land parcels identified for compensatory afforestation in the aftermath of the Supreme Court proceedings. The connection became more apparent after a DDA status report referred to the plantation exercise as part of compliance with the Court’s directions.

    Environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari, who was among the first to publicly raise questions about the project, argued that the branding of the parks obscures their origins. “Calling these parks a new environmental achievement is misleading. This was a penalty and a restoration measure,” she said.

    Government officials, however, maintain that the initiative forms part of a broader environmental agenda. At the inauguration event, CM Gupta said the previous government had not shown the required rigour in addressing the growing pollution problem over the years, whereas the present government has placed environmental protection among its highest priorities. 

    Field biologists note that while newly planted saplings begin producing oxygen within weeks, they may take between two and five years, depending on the species, to deliver broader ecological benefits such as temperature regulation, biodiversity support and a meaningful increase in green cover.

    This leaves a question about the initiative, whether trees are being planted as an independent program or compensatory afforestation mandated by the Supreme Court. The extent of overlap between the two programmes will remain a matter of public interest and scrutiny until further reports from the supreme court proceedings become public and an on ground report of  reviewing the 18 zones with the court assigned areas are done.