Indian cities to be rated on sanitation

December 17, 2009 · 0 comments

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Cities of India will now be rated on the basis of sanitation.  The new initiative, launched by the Urban Development Ministry today, is aimed at ensuring cleanliness and eliminate open defecation in 441 cities across the country as part of the National Urban Sanitation Policy. Besides rating of cities, it also initiated a sanitation awareness campaign to sensitise people about the issue. “The idea is to increase urban sanitation awareness in cities.

So we have introduced the rating of cities in terms of sanitation standard and also launched an awareness campaign on safe sanitation as part of National Urban Sanitation Policy,” Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy told reporters here. National Urban Sanitation Policy was launched by the ministry in 2008 aiming to have totally sanitised cities.

Source – PTI News

India – Irrigation Decreases, Urbanization Increases Monsoon Rains

December 17, 2009 · 0 comments

 (Dec. 17, 2009) — A Purdue University scientist has shown man-made changes to the landscape have affected Indian monsoon rains, suggesting that land-use decisions play an important role in climate change.  Monsoon rainfall has decreased over the last 50 years in rural areas where irrigation has been used to increase agriculture in northern India, said Dev Niyogi, an associate professor of agronomy and earth and atmospheric sciences. 

At the same time, heavily urban areas are seeing an increase in heavy rainfall. “In the rural areas, we’re seeing premonsoon greening occurring two weeks earlier than what it did 20 years back as the demand for agricultural intensification to feed India’s people increases,” Niyogi said. “The landscape has also moved in some places from what was once a traditionally rural setting to large urban sprawls. Both of these phenomena have affected monsoon rains.”

Niyogi used more than 50 years of rainfall data — spanning back to 1951 — collected by 1,803 recording stations monitored by the India Meteorological Department to determine different regions’ average yearly monsoon rain totals. While the mean monsoon rainfall for the entire country remained stable, Niyogi found that rainfall averages in India’s northwest region decreased by 35 percent to 40 percent from the historical mean during the past 50 years.

Analysis of soil moisture showed that before monsoon rains came, the northwest region had become as much as 300 percent wetter in recent years relative to the past 30 years, which has been attributed to irrigation from groundwater to sustain intensified agricultural production. This wetter surface causes cooling that weakens the strength of low pressure necessary for monsoons to progress into northern India. Satellite data showed that northern India is greening sooner than it had in the past.

That greening is creating a barrier for monsoons, which provide much-needed rain to replenish groundwater reserves being used for irrigation. “In this case, you need a warm, dry surface to advance the monsoon,” said Niyogi, whose findings were published in the journal Water Resources Research. “Because of increased irrigation, you now have a wet, green area, which does not allow the monsoon to reach far enough north.” Since that rain isn’t reaching the region, more irrigation is needed to sustain agriculture there. “Unless this is checked and controlled, the problem is going to become more and more severe,” Niyogi said. “With more irrigation, we will have less monsoon rain. With less monsoon rain, you will need more irrigation, and the cycle will continue.”

Urban areas, on the other hand, are being pounded with rain when it comes. Niyogi said there have been storms in some urban areas that drop as much as 37 inches of rainfall in a single day. Analysis of the areas that have received increases in heavy seasonal rainfall, based on Indian Meteorological Department and NASA satellite data, showed that those areas were experiencing fast urban growth. Areas where seasonal rainfall decreased were determined to have slow or no urban growth. “You only see these types of heavy rainfall events in those areas with heavy urbanization,” said Niyogi, whose research on the urban effect was published in the International Journal of Climatology. “The more urbanization spreads in those areas, the more of these heavy rain issues we’ll see and the more flooding will become a problem.” Niyogi said there are two theories on why that’s happening. The first says that urban landscapes create heat, which extends into the atmosphere and energizes storms. The second theory is that pollution created in urban settings interacts with passing clouds and increases rainfall.

Niyogi said the results of his study could have land-use implications elsewhere. “If urbanization is affecting the Indian monsoon season, it has the ability to affect patterns here in the United States,” he said. “This likely isn’t localized in India.”  He added that India is hotter than the United States, and that may be exacerbating the issues. As global temperatures rise, other parts of the world could see similar climate changes — if they aren’t already — based on how land is used and developed. Chandra Kishtawal, of the Space Applications Center of the Indian Space Research Organization and a co-author on the papers, said he hopes the findings trigger discussions on the role of large-scale land-use planning in regulating climate change in India. “These kinds of things are not sustainable,” Kishtawal said. “They cannot continue in the long run.” The next step in this research is to examine landscapes in the United States to see if development has affected weather patterns historically. The National Science Foundation CAREER program and NASA’s terrestrial hydrology program funded Niyogi’s study.

Source – http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091215121049.htm

India – Conference on urban water management

December 17, 2009 · 0 comments

The National Conference on Urban Water Management in Bangalore ended on Tuesday with experts discussing several technical papers.  Secretary of urban development ministry M Ramachandran said the number of towns and cities in India have increased from 4,615 in 1991 to 5,161 in 2001.  According to him, at least 91% of urban population has access to water supply while 63% has access to sewerage and sanitation facilities. “But adequacy, equitable distribution and per capita provision of these basic services may not be as per prescribed norms.

There is no assurance on quantity, quality, timing and duration of supply,” Ramachandran said. According to a study done across 20 cities by the ministry, water (average per day) through pipes is supplied for 5 hours in Chennai, 12 hours in Chandigarh, eight hours in Kolkata, seven hours in Varanasi, two-and-a-half-hours in Surat, four-and-a-half-hours in Bangalore, four hours in Mumbai and one hour in Vishakapatnam.

Source – Times of India

Study Design for the Measurement, Learning & Evaluation Project

December 17, 2009 · 0 comments

The Measurement, Learning & Evaluation (MLE) Project will use rigorous evaluation methods to determine if Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (URHI) interventions in four countries (India, Nigeria, Kenya, and Senegal) increase contraceptive use among urban populations (particularly the urban poor) and improve the quality of and access to integrated reproductive health services in urban areas. The MLE project will also identify the cost-effectiveness of URHI interventions, when feasible. Using a quasi-experimental design with four intervention and two comparison cities in each country, the MLE project will survey women and evaluate reproductive health service delivery points at two-year intervals for up to four years. The study will also include cross-sectional surveys of women (and men in some countries) in a hybrid study design. This report highlights the MLE study design and its technical components.

Study Design for the Measurement, Learning & Evaluation Project (pdf)

Factors influencing waste separation and utilization among households in the Lake Victoria crescent, Uganda

December 15, 2009 · 0 comments

Waste Manag. 2009 Dec;29(12):3047-51. 

Factors influencing waste separation and utilization among households in the Lake Victoria crescent, Uganda.

Ekere W, Mugisha J, Drake L. Makerere University, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. wekere@gmail.com

Wastes, which are the by-products of consumption, are a growing problem in the urban and peri-urban areas of the Lake Victoria region largely due to high urban population growth rates, consumption habits, low collection rates and hence waste accumulation. Whereas the biodegradable proportion is high and could be reutilized, a few have tapped the economic potential of this waste. This study was conducted to explore the potential alternatives and determinants of waste separation and utilization among urban and peri-urban households in the Lake Victoria crescent. A random sample of households in five urban and peri-urban areas of the crescent were selected and surveyed. Logit models were used to establish the factors influencing waste separation and utilization in urban and peri-urban areas of the lake crescent. Results indicate that, gender, peer influence, land size, location of household and membership of environmental organization explain household waste utilization and separation behaviour. Campaigns for waste separation and reuse should be focused in the peri-urban areas where high volumes of wastes are generated and accumulate.  Social influence or pressure should be used to encourage more waste reuse and separation.

Phosphorus budget in the low-income, peri-urban area of Kibera in Nairobi (Kenya)

December 15, 2009 · 0 comments

Water Sci Technol. 2009;60(10):2669-76.

Phosphorus budget in the low-income, peri-urban area of Kibera in Nairobi (Kenya).

Kelderman P, Koech DK, Gumbo B, O’Keeffe J. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, PO BOX 3015, Delft DA, 2601, The Netherlands E-mail: p.kelderman@unesco-ihe.org ; j.okeeffe@unesco-ihe.org.

Kibera, located in Nairobi, Kenya is one of the largest (235,000 inhabitants) low-income areas in East Africa. Surface waters in Kibera show high pollution levels with respect to SRP (soluble reactive phosphorus; range: 2-10 mg P/L), coming from the uncontrolled wastewater discharges in the area. The different P production and consumption values in Kibera were estimated using interviews (155 interviewed) as well as detailed P house-keeping for five representative families. The results show that highest P consumption comes from food, in particular cereals. Highest P production came from urine (55% of the total) and faeces (31%), with relatively lower contributions from grey water and solid wastes. The overall P budget in Kibera amounted to around 9 x 10(3) kg P/month. This is equivalent to 0.47 g P/person yr, both for P production and consumption, with a relative error of 20%. Comparing with the estimated P outflows via the Kibera surface waters, around 65% of the P produced in Kibera will leave the area. In future ECOSAN techniques such as urine separation could well be applied for efficient recycling of these waste sources.

Obesity and the urban poor in Africa

December 15, 2009 · 0 comments

Overweight and obesity in urban Africa: A problem of the rich or the poor?

Obesity is a well recognized risk factor for various chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.  The aim of this study was to shed light on the patterns of overweight and obesity in sub-Saharan Africa, with special interest in differences between the urban poor and the urban non-poor. The specific goals were to describe trends in overweight and obesity among urban women; and examine how these trends vary by education and household wealth.

Methods:  The paper used Demographic and Health Surveys data from seven African countries where two surveys had been carried out with an interval of at least 10 years between them. Among the countries studied, the earliest survey took place in 1992 and the latest in 2005.  The dependent variable was body mass index coded as:  Not  overweight/obese; Overweight; Obese.  The key covariates were time lapse between the two surveys; woman’s education; and household wealth. Control variables included working status, age, marital status, parity, and country. Multivariate ordered logistic regression in the context of the partial proportional odds model was used.

Results:  Descriptive results showed that the prevalence of urban overweight/obesity increased by nearly 35% during the period covered. The increase was higher among the poorest (+50%) than among the richest (+7%).  Importantly, there was an increase of 45-50% among the non-educated and primary-educated women, compared to a drop of 10% among women with secondary education or higher.  In the multivariate analysis, the odds ratio of the variable time lapse was 1.05 (p<0.01), indicating that the prevalence of overweight/obesity increased by about 5% per year on average in the countries in the study. While the rate of change in urban overweight/obesity did not significantly differ between the poor and the rich, it was substantially higher among the non-educated women than among their educated counterparts.

Conclusion: Overweight and obesity are on the rise in Africa and might take epidemic proportions in the near future. Like several other public health challenges, overweight and obesity should be tackled and prevented early as envisioned in the WHO Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health.

Author: Abdhalah ZirabaJean FotsoRhoune Ochako Credits/Source: BMC Public Health 2009, 9:465

South Africa: Urban Women Bear Brunt of Aids in KZN

December 14, 2009 · 0 comments

The face of HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal is a woman in her thirties living in eThekwini, according to a study released this week.

Urban women in the province are far more likely to be HIV positive than their rural sisters, while over half (54%) of all pregnant women in their thirties were HIV positive.

Some 47% of pregnant women living in eThekwini who attended government clinics between May 2008 and April 2009 were HIV positive. This was followed closely by 45% in Umgungundlovu.

In contrast, women from the more rural districts of Amajuba (38%), Zululand (37%) and Umkhanyakude (35%) recorded significantly lower rates of HIV than their urban sisters.

The study, conducted by Dr Christiane Horwood from the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Rural Health, was aimed at finding out the HIV prevalence of mothers and babies as well as the HIV transmission rate.

Despite levels of poverty being higher in the rural districts, social scientists believe that there is more social cohesion in rural communities that protects against women against HIV.

The large HSRC-Nelson Mandela Household surveys conducted among the general South African population since 2002 have consistently found that people living in informal settlements have the highest HIV prevalence.

“The mobility and transient nature of life in informal settlements, rather socio-economic status, makes those living in these areas most vulnerable to HIV,” explained the HSRC CEO Dr Shisana.

Men living in informal settlements were much more likely to have more than one sexual partner in a year than those living in tribal areas, while urban youth were significantly more sexually experienced, according to the household studies.

Horwood’s study found that KwaZulu-Natal has managed to slash HIV transmission from mothers to their newborn babies by almost two thirds — to seven percent – since it started giving pregnant women and their babies two antiretroviral drugs.

However, the transmission rate was highest in eThekwini with one in 10 pregnant women passing HIV onto their babies. Amajuba had the lowest transmission rate with just 4.3 percent of babies from HIV positive moms getting infected.

Interestingly, the study showed that nevirapine alone was relatively ineffective at preventing mothers from infecting their babies.

Since 2002, pregnant HIV positive women have been given the ARV nevirapine to prevent her from passing HIV on to her baby. This followed research in Uganda and South Africa that showed nevirapine could cut HIV transmission by about 30 percent.

But a 2004 study in the province found that about 20 percent of pregnant HIV positive women who got nevirapine were still passing the virus on to their babies.

In Horwood’s study, 13.5 percent of women who only got nevirapine passed HIV on to their babies, which is only marginally better than the 15 percent transmission rate from moms who got no ARVs at all to their babies.

But the transmission rate for those on dual therapy was dramatically reduced to only 5.6 percent, while only 5 percent of mothers on triple therapy passed HIV to their babies.

“It’s hard to say why nevirapine was so ineffective in comparison to the earlier research, but perhaps it was the difference between a research setting and operational setting,” said Horwood.

Horwood’s study also measured the infant mortality rate in the districts, and found that babies fared worst in eThekwini followed closely by Amajuba. In eThekwini, 85 babies per 1000 died before their first birthday.

“The infant mortality rate has tripled in the province over the past 10 years because of HIV/AIDS, so it is very exciting to see the impact of dual therapy, which will make massive strides to prevent the deaths of babies and children,” said Horwood.

Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo welcomed the results of the study, but appealed to all pregnant women to report to their local clinics as soon as they knew they were pregnant.

“HIV positive women who are pregnant need to get dual therapy from 14 weeks of pregnancy but most of them only go to the clinic when they are in their last trimester of pregnancy,” said Dhlomo.

“We call on all community leaders to encourage pregnant women to go to their clinics early so they can be tested for HIV,” he added.

Source – http://allafrica.com/stories/200912140002.html

Cities should play main role in tackling climate change: IEA

December 9, 2009 · 0 comments

PARIS, Dec. 8 — Cities produce about 70 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, and should thus play the main role in tackling the problem of climate change, said a report released Tuesday by the International Energy Agency (IEA). There is still big room for improvement for cities in reducing emissions, the report added.

The urban share of global emissions keeps rising, which is assumed to hit 76 percent by 2030 compared with 71 percent in 2006. The governments’ measures to reduce emissions are winning increasing support from urban citizens, who are now more aware of the tragic consequences of global warming, the report said. Nobuo Tanaka, chief of the Paris-based IEA, said Tuesday at a press conference that cities have great potential for reducing emissions. He urged governments to encourage the use of renewable energy. Moreover, he expressed his gratitude to the efforts made by some cities to explore ways to reduce emissions.

The report listed several cities that have made great contributions in slowing the pace of climate change, such as Tokyo, Greensburg in the United States and Adelaide in Australia. Tanaka said these examples proved that cities can play a remarkable role in dealing with the problem of climate change. More than 15,000 participants, including delegates from more than 190 countries, are attending the Dec. 7-18 climate talks in Copenhagen. At the 12-day meeting, they are expected to discuss strategies to continue reducing emissions after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

Source – Chinaview

Afghanistan: Rapidly urbanizing Kabul pushes poor to mountain slums

December 9, 2009 · 1 comment

Kabul has grown by a factor of 10 since 2001, pushing the poor in Afghanistan’s capital to build slums on the steep mountain slopes. 

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – One might say that Mir Mohammad lives in a Kabul skyscraper he built with his own hands. He moved to Afghanistan’s capital from the countryside three years ago dreaming of a better life, but had no money to buy land.  So he copied other poor newcomers:  He hiked up a hill until he found a piece of empty land.  Kabul, a city of just 500,000 in 2001, now houses almost 10 times that number.  First the city engulfed the valley floor, stretching some 20 miles.  Now, like a bathtub filling with water, slums are spreading up the mountain slopes.  Those perched over the city have penthouse views but poor-house lives. 

Toop Mountain, where Mr. Mohammad lives, is too steep and overbuilt for vehicles. Instead, residents must climb dirt paths filled with trash that shoot straight up 500 feet. After a rainstorm, the footing is precarious.  Every couple of days Mohammad pays $2 for five gallons of water to be brought by donkey. The animals also carry firewood to his two-room house where 35 relatives live. “We decided to come from Panjshir to Kabul because we had nothing in Panjshir, either,” says Mohammad, a former farmer who now digs up rocks to build a cellar. “I have five sons. For sure, if they are able to find money, they will go down and make a separate life” in the valley. “I won’t live to do so myself.”

The mayor of Kabul says the valley is full, and soon the mountains will be, too. People come to Kabul because it has remained relatively safe and farmable land in the countryside is maxed out. The UN calls Afghanistan one of the most rapidly urbanizing countries in the region. “One school of thought is to discourage people and tell them to find work in other places,” says Mayor Mir Sahebi. “The other is to create some source of employment” here. But, as far as job creation goes, “nothing is happening in Kabul.  Forget about the rest of the country.”

Source – Christian Science Monitor

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