Another COVID story

As I was travelling in the half-empty Mumbai suburban local, many thoughts came up in my mind.

“Will I ever see Mumbai again?” (Eventually I did)

It was March 23 and Maharashtra was becoming a hotspot of COVID.

A day before I booked my flight for my hometown-Dehradun. Life never felt so slow-paced in Mumbai. The train, which was always filled with people more than its capacity, felt empty.

I was never fascinated about Mumbai as many people in my college did but the city makes you a different person.

I was a software engineer in Gurgaon having a comfortable life, enjoying the perks of corporate life. Coding, testing became a part of my life which I never enjoyed.

“Should I quit the job?” I asked myself.

I have been in this dilemma for so many times but never got the courage to implement it.

“It has been two years,” I sighed.

Whenever I felt this conflict of quitting the job, I used to watch ‘Tamasha’, one of my favourite films. Watching ‘Tamasha’ takes me down the memory lane when I had different ambitions in life. Unlike Ranbir Kapoor, I was very good at studies and like everybody, I opted for Science.

I enjoyed studying science. It was fascinating, innovative and logical. Being the topper of the class, my teachers were full of praises for me.

“But life changes once you exit the school gate,” said one of my teachers.

It did happen. Life changed.

I was pursuing engineering but something always bothered me.

“Do I really want to do it?”

With this question, I completed four years of engineering. I was not bad at it. But I never enjoyed it. The grades matched my hard-working attitude and I continued to get my scholarship for four years.

During college, I was more involved in extracurricular activities than performing new experiments. I was a part of a drama club, participated in sports and organized many conferences. Apart from that I visited Delhi’s historical monuments, ate the finest street food at Chandni Chowk and trekked in Uttarakhand and Himachal.

After four years of college came the corporate life which was quite fascinating at first but it didn’t work out well.

After completing two years of corporate life, I decided to quit and this time I did it. I moved to Mumbai to pursue a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication.

And this felt right.

Organic Solar Cells: Lightweight and flexible solar cells to bring ease of use way up

Organic Solar Cell| Photo: IITB Monash

In future, energy consumption is going to rise continuously especially amongst developing countries that aspire to have the same benefits as developed countries. One major potential contributor to the overall energy picture is to harvest solar energy, as it is a highly abundant resource. 

A majority of solar panels used at homes and businesses are standard silicon solar panels. They weigh around 20 to 30 kg which limits their application. However, there is an alternative which is lightweight and more flexible- Organic Solar Cells (OSCs). 

Unlike Photo Voltaic (PV) which has a high carbon footprint , OSCs are much greener. Moreover, OSCs are flexible and lightweight and they can be used in locations inaccessible to the heavier silicon PV. They can be printed and stuck onto buildings, car windows and can also be used for mobile charging

The recent increase in the efficiency of organic solar cells to 26% in low light by Armor- a French organic PV specialist, has put more onus on this technology.

With climate change happening right now, it has become more crucial for countries to invest in renewable energy and cut down their fossil fuels budget. But even amongst renewable energy, there are differences on how green they really are. 

OSC promises low carbon footprint

One of the major causes of climate change due to CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) is burning fossil fuels. However, replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy is not sufficient. The creation and operation of renewable energy sources result in CO2 emission and other GHGs.

CO2e(CO2 and other GHGs) emission per kilowatt-hour for fossil fuel sources is approximately 400-500 g kWh-1. For renewable sources, the values are much lower but not negligible. 

In case of silicon photovoltaics, values differ according to the technology and location of manufacturing- with values roughly around 50 gkWh-1. 

In the manufacturing of traditional solar panels, metallurgical-grade silicon is purified into polysilicon which creates silicon tetrachloride. Recycling tetrachloride to extract silicon needs less energy but the reprocessing equipment required is quite expensive. 

Some industries discharge the byproduct into water streams. If exposed to water, silicon tetrachloride releases hydrochloric acid, acidifying the soil and emitting harmful fumes.

In the case of OSC, the carbon footprint is less. According to Dr Karl Leo, professor at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, OSCs can reduce carbon footprint “dramatically, and it has a super-low CO2 emission.”

A study by German testing institute- TÜV Rheinland, revealed that carbon footprint from OSC is 14.52 kg CO2e per square metre. The study took into account OSCs produced by German based technology leader in organic photovoltaics, Heliatek. 

It also revealed that the organic solar films allow to recover the CO2e arising during the entire life cycle (from manufacture to disposal), after less than 3 months.

How do OSCs work?

Picture: Sigma Aldrich

Like traditional solar cell technology, OSCs convert the sun's energy into electricity. The concept of OSC technology emerged from the field of organic-light emitting diodes (OLEDs) which is used in television and phone screens.

An OLED screen consists of a layer of organic molecules which when applied with an electric current produces light. 

OSCs on the other hand when exposed to light generates electric current. They are made up of multiple layers, one of them is the acceptor layer. When OSC is exposed to sunlight, an electron is released from the layer of organic molecules. The acceptor layer’s job is to pass that electron onto the electrode. This leads to build-up charge which generates electricity.

The most common material used for acceptors in OSC is fullerene- a molecule composed of 60 carbon atoms joined together in a structure. However, the efficiency with fullerene acceptor is limited to 10% due to which many researchers are looking for non-fullerene alternatives.

Dr Soumitra Satapathi, associate professor at IIT Roorkee told CarbonCopy that the current thrust of the research is the development of low bandgap polymers and non-fullerene acceptors. In addition to these, small molecules which are capable of showing singlet fission-an exciton(electron-hole pair) multiplication process can significantly improve the efficiency of OSCs, he said. 

Will OSCs replace silicon solar cells?

With excellent stability, low generation cost of electricity and high efficiencies of above 20%, crystalline silicon solar is dominating the Photovoltaics (PV). In spite of being lightweight and flexible, OSCs are not able to compete with PV in all the three parameters.

According to Leo, “They (OSCs) are addressing very different markets where lightweight and flexibility are asked for, e.g. in building integration.”

OSCs have to carve a new niche for themselves where they can replace inorganic PV technologies. One of such niches is building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) where OSCs can be used on the roofs and walls of storage buildings. 

Since BIPVs are designed to carry lighter loads, crystalline silicon modules are not appropriate for them. However, OSC as a plastic foil with a surface density of less than 1 kgm-2 can be used because it weighs at least ten times less than crystalline silicon modules. 

In spite of the small market for BIPV as compared to the PV, BIPV could still reach a market size of USD 59.5 billion by 2028 which is a very attractive quickly growing market.

Owing to their flexibility, OSCs can also be used for consumer applications such as clothing, bags and in camping products. 

Despite being limited to some niches, it is interesting to speculate whether OSCs will be able to enter the mainstream PV market.  According to Leo, “In the very long term, if organics would reach very high efficiency, they might compete, but this is not very likely in the near and mid-term.”

A study published last year pointed out that OSCs can only compete with crystalline silicon if it reaches the following parameters- “module efficiency around 20%, lifetime of more than 20 years, and cost well below silicon.” 

Results from laboratories and companies show that OSC can reach a ‘20 years lifetime’ perimeter most easily. Cost-wise OSC is more expensive than mainstream technology crystalline silicon, the study noted. 

According to the study, the cost difference is not surprising since all tools and materials for OSC are mass-produced for the first time whereas silicon PV has been in the market for a long time. 

OSC research in India

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)- National Physical Laboratory has taken many research and development activities for the development of “efficient stable solar cells”. 

According to the data, CSIR group has started working in design and synthesis of donor and acceptor materials for organic solar cells to improve the power conversion efficiencies and lifeline of devices.

Many institutes in India are also working on OSC. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur have developed 12x12 cm2 sub-modules from organic solar PV cells on a paper substrate. It can be used to power flexible electronic devices under an indoor lighting environment. 

OSCs market trends

According to Fortune business insights report, the global organic cells market size was USD 55.63 million in 2019 and it was projected to grow from USD 44.9 million in 2020 to USD 101.29 million in 2027 at a CAGR of 12.30%. However, due to the pandemic, the global organic solar cells market will exhibit a huge decline of -19,2% in 2020, it said.

India imports around 80% of its solar cells and modules from China along with other equipment. Many projects in India and worldwide were delayed due to the initial lockdown of manufacturing activities in China, followed by lockdowns implemented in other countries, the report stated. 

In 2019, BIPV segment held a majority of organic cells market share followed by portable electronics, the report highlighted. It said that better government policies and guidelines regarding enhanced renewable installation are going to reinforce BIPV installations in the coming time. 

Will OSC be overshadowed by perovskite?

Perovskite is a rapidly expanding class of solar cells. There has been a lot of research going on because of their high efficiency- even higher than silicon in some cases.

It was found viable for PV 10-12 years ago, said Don Scott, business development director at Power Roll- a UK-based flexible solar film developer, adding, since then the amount of research and efficiency has gone up dramatically- from 1-2% to 16-17% in the labs.

“Compared to any material in the history of PV, the curve of perovskite has seen the fastest advancement in efficiency in the shortest amount of time,” he said.

However, there are some major bottlenecks related to perovskite. One of them is stability. They are highly sensitive to ambient air and moisture and they break down quickly on exposure. To protect them, they have to be put inside an encapsulation film as soon as they come out from the plant.

Another challenge is the use of toxic lead which is a concern from an environmental perspective.

Scott is not sure whether OSCs will be overshadowed by perovskite in the future but he emphasized that a lot of research is going on to overcome the challenges of perovskite.

Karl is of the same opinion as Scott. According to Karl, “Perovskite has super-high efficiency, but currently, they contain lead which is unacceptable for many. Furthermore, there are stability issues.”

OSC for developing countries

India receives sunshine for around 250 up to 300 days per year which puts it in a good position to harness solar energy to meet the rising electricity demand. The country receives approximately 5000 trillion kWh solar energy annually.

It has pledged itself to fast and large-scale renewable energy capacity addition. Under the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) India aspires to achieve 40% share of installed power generation capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. 

The country wants to increase its solar capacity to 280 GW by 2030-31 from about 39 GW currently, making it over a third of its overall power requirement. India is chasing a renewable capacity target of 175 GW by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030, from about 93 GW currently, as part of its commitment under the Paris Climate Accords.

With an efficiency of above 20%, crystalline Si solar cells rule the market. However, these cells consume a large amount of energy in the manufacturing process- extremely hot furnaces around 1,500 degree C are needed to develop high purity silicon. This increases the payback time.

Unlike Si solar technology, OSCs are less energy-intensive and owing to their thinness and flexibility they can be manufactured by simply printing the layers of the cell onto a backing such as paper and plastic. 

OSCs usually have lower energy payback time (few months) than silicon solar cells (2-3 years) considering its cost-effective fabrication process, said Satapathi, adding, therefore, India has huge potential in this technology. 

According to him, this will be helpful for building-integrated photovoltaics, portable electronics, defence and also Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

For developing countries that do not have access to electrical grids and the finance to build one, OSCs are a great alternative. With low upfront investment and certainly low product shipping costs, OSCs can provide electricity in smaller quantities required for mobile charging, home lighting and in textile industries.

Additionally, if PV solutions require very skilled engineers for installation, it is going to be a problem for people living in rural areas and farmers because of the complications and cost involved, said Scott.

According to him, “For a developing country like India, we need to bring the cost way down and bring ease of use way up. If we are able to do that we can enable new markets, new application of OSC right at grassroots of people's daily life” 

Is ZLD suitable for semiconductor and textile industry?

Photo: Saltworkstech

The Centre is examining various options of moving forward on the country’s Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) policy to ensure that investment in emerging sectors such as semiconductors is not hampered while the environment continues to be protected. 

ZLD is a closed-loop wastewater management system ensuring that no industrial wastewater is discharged outside the plot boundary of the manufacturing plant or the industrial park in which the plant is situated.

According to the report on BusinessLine, “The Department for Policy on Investments and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has been getting suggestions for removing regulatory compliances such as Zero Liquid Discharge to encourage investments in sectors like semiconductors. Any decision on removing regulatory compliances will be taken only after consulting all sectors.” 

ZLD in semiconductor industries

Despite various policies by successive governments to start semiconductor manufacturing in India, the country is yet to set up a private sector chip fabrication plant (fab) in India.

Semiconductor fabs consist of front-end fab manufacturing and back-end assembly. 

In July, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal asked the Indian industry to set up a semiconductor fabrication plant in India. Currently, India imports all semiconductor fabs from China and this push by Goyal comes under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) mission and the growing tensions on the Sino-Indian border. 

A semiconductor industry requires good infrastructure, high technology with good logistics, guaranteed water and power, a central waste-water treatment facility, and on-site availability of speciality and bulk electronic gases and chemicals.

Apart from the lack of infrastructure and skilled labour which creates hurdles in the path of setting up semiconductor fabs in India, environmental regulations like ZLD also affect the growth of fabs.

According to Arun Gandhi, Engineering & Construction Leader specializing in Advanced Manufacturing Facilities, “India’s environmental regulations demand a ‘Zero Liquid Discharge’ (ZLD) for wastewater management. This mandates that there should be no discharge of industrial wastewater outside the site boundary of the manufacturing plant.”

ZLD has a goal to ensure 100% treatment and recycling of water but the requirement of the recycled water to be contained within the boundary of the plant premises is not feasible in the semiconductor industry, he says.

Over the last decade many ambitious semiconductor projects in India have failed to progress from drawing board to reality, says Gandhi. “Apart from factors relating to business and financial incentives package offered, the fact that India-specific environmental regulations are not aligned with global norms have also contributed to the decision to drop these projects,” he adds.

Speaking about how ZLD has affected foreign investment, he says that one of the largest PV manufacturers did not invest in India because of ZLD norms. The foreign company has plants in various other countries with advanced manufacturing hubs where the norms are not as restrictive as India,.

“In India, we frame new tougher laws to compensate for lax implementation of existing laws,” says Gandhi. According to him those companies which are firmly committed to following the norms will find it tough. This will create problems in attracting investment, he adds. Instead, we should review how the global leaders in semiconductor manufacturing are approaching the problem of treatment and discharge of industrial wastewater, while still addressing the environmental concerns 

Since computer chip manufacturing requires large volumes of ultrapure water, to clean silicon wafers at multiple stages of the Fab process, ZLD is not the most suitable for the fabs. 

A report by Byron, mentions that the use of ZLD in the semiconductor industry often results in contamination of the product. Other issues regarding the implementation of ZLD, mentioned in the report are higher capital, engineering concerns and solid brine effluents.

The report also throws light on the advantages of ZLD in the semiconductor industry. “The data shows that although treatment and recycle make use of a greater amount of capital, energy, and consumables, treatment and discharge uses more water and disposal costs,” it says.

Water condition in India

The need for water conservation is one of the most pressing global issues that the world is facing. Throughout the globe, there is an overall shortage of water resulting from the effects of climate change and the rapid increase in world population.

India which has only 4% of freshwater needs to switch to sustainable use of its water resources. With over 1.3 billion population there is a greater demand for natural resources and even greater challenges to deal with increasing environmental problems.

The World-Wide Fund (WWF) in its latest WWF Water Risk filter report said 30 Indian cities will face ‘severe risk’ by 2050 unless immediate actions are taken to curb and mitigate climate change.

According to UNICEF, less than 50% of the population in India has access to safely managed drinking water. It also mentions waterborne diseases have an economic burden of approximately USD 60 million in a year in India. “Two-thirds of India’s 718 districts are affected by extreme water depletion, and the current lack of planning for water safety and security is a major concern.”

Why is ZLD required?

Industries like pharma, pulp and paper, tanneries, textile dyeing, chemical, power plants and many more generate wastewater with high salinity. The conventional treatment method does not remove salinity in the treated effluents which contaminate the groundwater and surface water when discharged.

ZLD was started by the United States to preserve Colorado river from increased salinity due to power plant discharges. 

Tirupur-the first district to implement ZLD

In 2008 Tamil Nadu became the first state to mandate ZLD in the textile factories in Tirupur. The textile industries in Tirupur used to dump all the wastewater in the Noyyal river which resulted in the death of livestock and people developing skin disease.

The farmers’ association has been fighting a legal battle against the dyeing and bleaching units in the district since 2003. The Madras High Court and Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board instructed the bleaching and dyeing units in Tirupur to implement effluent treatment plans to meet the ZLD norms in 2006 

In February 2011, the Madras High Court ordered the 700-odd dyeing units in Tirupur to be shut down as they were not complying with the court’s 2006 order to ensure ZLD. 

Tirupur’s journey had a mixed impact on the local communities and the textile industry. According to a study by Jenny Gronwall and Anna C. Jonsson, Tirupur’s journey inspired federal law and policy reform to mainstream ZLD as a standard. 

However, the impact of this journey came at a high price to the businesses whose reconfigurations were dismissed by the court as failing to achieve ZLD. 

“This resulted in closing down of their operations either for periods of time or permanently, and an ensuing loss of income for a very large group of workers,” claims the study. 

Use of ZLD in textile sectors

Textile industry is one of the oldest and economically beneficial sectors of India and it is highly water-intensive. To curb the excessive use of water, its insufficiency, conservation and issues related to water disposal, the government has implemented ZLD in textile units.

In the textile dyeing process, salt is added to enhance the process. The combined effluent from textile plants is highly coloured, having a high content of organic load and extremely high total dissolved solids. 

The Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) generally provides treatment only up to the secondary level due to which the total dissolved solid content does not get completely removed from the discharged treated effluent. Therefore, regulatory bodies made it mandatory for all the textile industries with the effluent discharge of more than 25-meter cube/day to set up a ZLD facility.

According to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board report, 95% of permeate water is recovered from the RO plant in the ZLD system for textile processing industries. 

While ZLD plays an important role in water recycling, there is another side of the coin which needs to be highlighted. 

According to research on Tamil Nadu textile plants at Tirupur, the total carbon footprint of a ZLD treatment plant was observed to 1.36 times the carbon footprint of a conventional treatment facility plant. 

It also generates hazardous solid waste which poses disposal challenges. In some cases, the solids can be used as a fill material if it complies with the state environmental regulations. However, if the solid waste is hazardous it is being sent to landfills resulting in more landfills.

Since most of the textile units in India are small and medium scale, putting up a new ZLD compatible plant requires more land which is very costly. Moreover, the cost of maintaining ZLD is quite high which affects the commercial viability of ZLD for the textile units.

The ZLD system is highly sophisticated and needs skilled and experienced manpower for its efficient operation which increases the overall cost of treatment, operation as well as maintenance.

Many sectors in India are being directed by the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB) to adopt ZLD technology. Since there is no national ZLD policy, the SPCB takes decisions based on specific geographical areas and the amount of waste generated. Owing to a lot of implementation charges, it is creating problems for manufacturers especially those who are short of funding. 

Photo: Saltworkstech

The Journey of a Deceased Man

Legs dipped in the holy water of river Ganga, she blames God for making her a girl. "This is your fault, you made me a girl," she complains. 

Haridwar Ghat

A little before she was on the bus en route Haridwar. Her mind is occupied by many things. One of them is patriarchy. 

The journey has just started when one of the patriarchs disgusted by the presence of two women claims- ONLY MEN ARE ALLOWED.

"This is not our culture," says the patriarch.

The woman sits there calmly listening to the jibber-jabber of the patriarch with other 20 patriarchs in the bus.  

He tells her that she must have learnt this from YouTube and television. 

"Oh, they didn't know about Netflix yet," she thinks.

"This is Christian's tradition. We are HINDU BRAHMINS," he says.

In a bus of 23 people, no one stood up to tell the patriarch that he is wrong. 

"Calm down. Be quiet," responded the other patriarchs.  

As the patriarch continued to spur venom, two liberals stood up. One of the liberals was a male. To reiterate one male out of 20 and one female out of two stood up. 

The patriarch's argument is -"This is a man's job."

As she hears him, she smiles and thinks, "What if I was a boy? The society wouldn't have questioned me for my presence at my father's funeral."

"What if I was Christain, life would be much simpler."

And sitting beside the Ganga she questions God, "Why did you make me a girl?"

The patriarchs

PS: Why women not allowed to perform last rites of a deceased?

Look carefully: elements say a lot in a movie

Liberty, friendship, separation, pain, loneliness, oppression, greed and love, all this is encompassed in movie ‘Dor’ by Nagesh Kukunoor. Dor depicts the contrast between two female characters. Both are in search of something. The character of Meera and Zeenat (played by Ayesha Takia and Gul Panag respectively) develops as the movie progresses, influencing each other. The movie is full of symbolism and Kukunoor has done that job brilliantly.

The main door of haveli in which Meera lives with her in-laws is one such symbol. It depicts freedom. The main door opens first time when Meera’s in-laws enter the house.  Meera is with her husband Shankar dancing to the tunes of “you are my soniya”. Shankar is alive and so is Meera’s half-freedom.  

 

In latter part of the movie we can relate to that, when Meera calls Shankar and asks him to take her name because it is “azaadi ki awaaz” for her. After Shankar’s death, the main door never opens. Meera uses the wicket door whenever she goes to the temple. The wicket door signifies the very little freedom she gets after her husband’s death. She is only allowed to go outside once, to visit the temple. She is being treated as an object inside the haveli, whose duty is to perform daily chores. Once again, we see the main door opening at the end of the movie, when Meera runs from the haveli to meet Zeenat. At that moment the true character of the door comes into picture. She is fierce and independent now. She emerges out as the decision maker of her life and runs outside by opening the main door. 

Even ghungat is also an important aspect of Meera’s freedom. Whenever Meera is with Shankar, she does not cover her face. Shankar symbolizes half-freedom for Meera. Meera’s ghungat cover her face when she is in front of her in-laws. Even when Meera is with Zeenat her head is only covered not her face. Zeenat also like Shankar, is half-freedom for Meera, in front of whom she can be whatever she wants. In almost every scene, Meera is seen adjusting her ghungat. The only time she let go, is when she runs to hold Zeenat’s hand in the moving train. It depicts freedom from family, inner conflict, pain, loneliness and revenge. 

Another symbolism which I find quite interesting in the movie are bags used by Behroopiya (played by Shreyas Talpade) and Zeenat. When they go to Jodhpur in search of Shankar’s family, their bags are seen as an intact part of their life. Behroopiya’s bag consist of clothes. The whole concept of Behroopiya is to show how clothes can change a society’s perspective towards a person. He could be an inspector, a priest or a government official by just changing his clothes and looks. Zeenat’s bag contains the letter which is the only thing that matters to her. The letter is the only way to acquit Aamir (Zeenat’s husband). In earlier part of the movie Zeenat is seen saying that if she does not find a way to acquit Aaamir, she will not return back. In fact, the bags contain something important, on which both character’s life is dependent.

 

A lone structure amidst Rajasthan’s desert, the temple, symbolizes hope for Meera and Zeenat. For Meera it is the freedom from grief-stricken widow life. For Zeenat it is a hope to quash the death sentence of her husband. Meera never ties a cloth by herself on the tree. In latter part of the movie she is seen tying a red cloth on the tree. The cloth can be perceived as the only memory of Shankar, which she let go. After tying the red cloth, she says “badla poora hua” to Zeenat. The red cloth separates out from rest of the orange color cloths tied to the tree. 

The red color cloth can also denote revenge that Meera wants to take from Zeenat’s husband who is supposedly believed to have killed Shankar. After that Meera leaves for the haveli and starts contemplating. Feeling of revenge is gone. She is ready to forgive Aamir and help Zeenat. 

  

Kashmir tourism heads towards “Stone Age” amid continuous lockdowns

Majid Imtiyaz started his dream project of opening a café at Sopore, Baramulla, in 2017. He rented a feasible spot and took loans from the bank to bear the expenses. Hampered by the frequent lockdowns and limited resources, his dream project was completed in August 2019. To advertise the café, he organized a pre-opening event "Coffee & Qalaam" which had a good turnout. Unknown to the unfortunate time that lay ahead Imtiyaz decided to open his café “Mann te Salva” on August 8, 2019.

Just three days before the opening of the café, the government revoked the special status of Kashmir that resulted in curfew, slowdown, and internet blockade leaving the valley halted and stagnant. Imtiyaz was shattered and decided to go to Delhi. The owner of the café started working in a call center to earn some money.

In January he got a call from his family, reassuring that the condition in Kashmir has started stabilizing. He went back to his hometown and finally his dream project was live on February 8. Little did he know that there was another lockdown hovering over Kashmir. “Mann te Salva” was closed after a month of obeying the lockdown rules set by the government to limit the spread of the pandemic. Imtiyaz was again left in despair with hefty expenses.
“This is the story of almost all the restaurants, cafes, food joints & hotels especially in Kashmir” emphasized Imtiyaz.

Picture Credits: Coffee & Qalaam Fb page 

Tourism which is the backbone of Kashmir fell after the government decided to abolish its semi-autonomous status on August 5, 2019, along with a communication clampdown in anticipation of unrest. According to the Preliminary Economic Loss Assessment Report by the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries which took into account 10 districts for 120 days from August 5, 2019, to December 3, 2019, found out that the tourism sector has incurred a loss of Rs 1056.3264 crores

Tour Agents

Many Kashmiri tourist agents were hoping for a good turnout of tourists this spring season but the lockdown implemented to limit the spread of coronavirus left them with empty houseboats and hotels starring at them. House to Asia’s largest Tulip garden, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Garden (IGMG), Kashmir has never been so dreary in decades. The tulip blooms which last only for one month is a major tourist attraction for domestic and foreign tourists but with the lockdown, there is no spectator for them. 

“I am jobless since August 2019,” said Ayoub Rather, owner of Premier tour and travels. According to him from 2015-2020 only 2018 was a good year for tourism in the valley. The travel agent’s only source of livelihood was tourism which was affected badly, leaving him and his family in a state of distress. 

Rather was hoping for good business during the spring season. “I received many bookings from November,” said the travel agent, hoping he would be able to achieve his target for the current year and might cover the loss he faced in the last year.

Picture Credits: Premier Tour & Travel Fb page 

Riyaz Ahmed who runs a homestay in Nigeen Lake compared the current time in the valley with zero business and a slow internet connection to the stone age. “There are 15 members in my family,” said Ahmed, adding, “how can I feed them when I have no source of income?” Ahmed’s family is associated with the tourism business for centuries but the prevailing conditions have forced him to think about changing the trade.

Hoteliers

Hoteliers, pony walas, dhabawalas, restaurants, shopkeepers, guiding personnel, labors are completely shattered as the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the Valley in March.

“We are totally paralyzed,” said Anwar Wangnoo, owner of Wangnoo Sheraton Group. He claimed that the houseboats which used to host around one thousand people have received no guests in 10 months. “There is no fun to have a houseboat without tourism,” said the owner. 

The Wanganoo Sheraton group has a chain of houseboats and they deal with international clients. “Since 2014 we are dealing with overseas tourists from Malaysia and Thailand. This year we were going to approach Vietnam but luck is not with us,” said Wangnoo.

Picture Credits: Trip Advisor

People working in the tourism sector were considered to be the richest in the valley, said Sameer Teli, “but those days are a dream now’. The hotelier is struggling to feed his family and take care of his kids. “I am not able to provide medicines to my family because of cash crunch,” complained Teli, “leaving them to die because of my helplessness.”

Adventure Sports Tourism

Known for its adventurous sports, Kashmir valley is a famous destination amongst people for trekking. The valley has many unexplored treks that are only known to the local people but with the continuous lockdown, adventurous sports business has been in limbo.

Saddam Hussain who runs a trekking company Mountain and Dreams in Sonmarg incurred a loss of approximately 4 lakhs when the valley was put under a political lockdown. The peak season for trekking starts in July and he had bookings of 22 groups consisting of 15 each people for the treks. “As soon as the trekking season started, Article 370 was removed,” said the trekker, “resulting in canceling of all the bookings.”

Picture Credits: Fb page

Kashmir doesn’t have big malls or industries but it has a natural beauty that is praised worldwide, said Anayat Hussain, General Secretary at Jammu & Kashmir Society for Trekking and Environmental Preservation. “Trekking is a big chain,” emphasized Hussain, adding, “not only hotel and dhabbawalas are benefited from it but also small vegetable vendors, porters, rickshaw and many more people are attached to this business.” They are all interlinked with each other said the general secretary.

Taxi Service

A majority of tourists in the valley relied on taxi service for the journey. With continuous lockdown, taxi companies are burdened with loans.

Unable to pay his instalments on time, Wasim Ahmed Bhat, owner of Kashmir Tourism Cabs has to pay a double amount to the bank. Bhat has employed many local people through his taxi service but with the lockdown in the valley, his business has come to a standstill. “Locals don’t take Fortuner or Innova for traveling,” said Bhat, adding, “these cars are meant for tourists.” But with the lockdown, these cars are resting in the garage.

Picture Credit: Kashmir Tourism Cabs Website  

Initiatives by the government

To promote tourism in the valley post abrogation of article 370, J&K Tourism Department provided financial assistance to organize 12 promotional events in various cities across India claimed Mushtaq Reshi, General Secretary of Domestic Tour Operators.

Domestic Tour Operators are tourism associations that are linked with the J&K tourism department. These associations are headed by an executive body. If there is any issue with tourism in the valley, the members of the association can talk to the higher authorities.

Reshi who is also a Managing Director of Essence Holidays Pvt. Ltd. organized a promotional event in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. It was the best event out of the 12 events organized by the associations, claimed the general secretary. The promotional event was meant to create tie-ups with travel companies who in return will send people to Kashmir for tourism.

The event which took place on February 6 was aimed to bring more people to the valley but it turned out to be a “wastage of money” due to the onslaught of the contagion, complained Reshi. The association had spent Rs. 9.35 lakh for the event out of which Rs. 7 lakhs were to be paid by the government.

Slow Internet

Apart from continuous lockdowns, Kashmir is also struggling with a slow internet connection. After revoking the semi-autonomous state of Kashmir, the UT was under a communication clampdown.

Following the Supreme Court order on January 10, 2019, the J&K government announced it would restore 2G mobile data on post-paid mobile phones in all districts in Kashmir. But access was only allowed to a few selected websites as per the order, leaving internet curbs largely unchanged.

Rather, the travel agent from Srinagar spent four months in Chandigarh to generate leads due to the communication blackout in the valley spending a hefty amount. Hoping the money, he spent on traveling and hotel would be reimbursed during 2020, the travel agent was devastated when the pandemic hit the valley.

Similarly, Wagnoo had to ask his relatives living in other parts of the country to handle the bookings for Wangnoo Sheraton Group.

Advertising for a new business is very important but Saddam was not able to promote his trekking company due to a slow internet connection in the valley. Struggling to get customers since 2019, the trekker was exploring new treks for tourists. “I explored a new trek in my village,” said Saddam, “but I failed to upload the video on YouTube due to the 2G network.”

The whole world is turning into a global village but Kashmir is excluded from it, complained Anayat. “I think Kashmir is not a part of the digital India initiative promoted by the PM.” He believed that it sends a bad signal to customers when the internet is not working in the valley.

Slow internet connection has deteriorated the relationship between the hoteliers and the customers, complained Mushtaq Pahalgami, President at Pahalgam Hotel and Guest House Owners association. “When people asked for pictures of the property, we send it in the morning,” said Pahalgami. But till evening the pictures didn’t get delivered. According to Pahalgami this creates a negative impact on the customer’s mind and they think, “if the internet is not working, everything is not normal in the valley”.

Lack of a local government

A majority of people in the tourism sector said that the valley lacks a strong local government who could raise issues of Kashmiris?

“Local representative understands the pain of people,” reflected Pahalgami because they know the ground reality. Controlling Kashmir from Delhi is not helping people of the valley. “When our political leaders are in jail how can we get our problems solved.”

The Sheikh ul-Alam International airport operates only Hajj flights as international flights. Anayat recalled that during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it was announced to make Srinagar airport as an international airport with flight connectivity to various countries to boost tourism but nothing happened after that.

In 2018, Kashmir had received 316,434 tourists between August and December. In 2019, this number fell to 43,059 for the same period, a decline of 86% showed tourism department data accessed by IndiaSpend.

Present condition

On being asked about the present condition of the valley, a tourism lecturer at Sri Pratap College said anonymously that due to the pandemic lockdown, local tourism has also come to a halt. “There is zero percent activity in the valley and people are made to go on compulsory leave without pay,” emphasized the lecturer.

According to him, the government should exit the lockdown and announce a tourism booster package for the valley for maintenance of infrastructure, paying loans, and spending in new ventures.

Since a majority of the people in the valley are dependent on tourism, the lecturer believed that all stakeholders should look at the matter sincerely. To gain the confidence of tourists and bring back Kashmir to its glory it is important to revive tourism, insisted the lecturer, adding, “to revive tourism there should be a political will.”

From separation to psychological stress, how COVID is affecting mother-baby pairs

Let’s rewind to the time when shaking hands was a way to greet someone and hugging each other meant affection. COVID has changed the definition of physical intimacy. Now greetings are given virtually, hugs are almost forgotten, people connect through video calls instead of physically meeting, a minimum of six feet distance is maintained while talking to someone and there is a fear of being infected by the virus.

Besieged by the contagion, parents are finding it difficult to show affection to their children especially mothers with a newborn. Touch is the first language that an infant understands and amidst the pandemic, it is difficult for the family to be in physical contact with their infants.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines state that there can be a possibility of transmission of coronavirus from mother to baby before birth while it is in the mother’s womb or during delivery from a COVID infected mother. The guidelines mention, “Facilities should consider temporarily separating (e.g. separate rooms) the mother who have confirmed COVID-19 from the baby until the mother's transmission-based precautions are discontinued."

The separation between a newborn and a mother has many psychological effects on the family. The family experience negative emotions, depressions, fear, and helplessness. Though coronavirus has forced mothers to limit contact with the newborns, many studies claim that the contact between mother-newborn pair is very crucial.

A study by neonatologist Raylene Phillips shows that newborns who are placed in “skin to skin” contact with their mothers after birth “make the transition from fetal to newborn life with greater respiratory, temperature, and glucose stability and significantly less crying indicating decreased stress.” Not just the newborns, the intimacy between the mother-infant pair increases maternal instincts in the mother and the mother can breastfeed for a longer duration.

“Being skin to skin with the mother protects the newborn from the well-documented negative effects of separation, supports optimal brain development and facilitates attachment, which promotes the infant’s self-regulation over time,” adds the neonatologist.

Having is baby is an event that is celebrated in the family with mirth and delight but the current time seems to have put a stop to all the merriment. It is an unfortunate time for newborns and mothers who are separated because of the contagion.

During the first one-two months, mothers and infants develop a signal mechanism to communicate with each other. When there is no active response from the mother’s side the baby tends to avoid eye contact, does not engage in vocal dialogue, and is easily upset when offered social contact.

A Chinese study of COVID-19 and maternal mental health notes, “The potential (ill-informed) practices of separating mothers from their infants post-birth in the name of protection from COVID-19 infection, such as witnessed in China, and a lack of certainty leading to early cessation of breastfeeding, have harmful impacts on maternal mental health via ‘toxic stress’ and perceptions of self-blame and shame.”

Another similar study on the psychological needs of hospitalized newborns’ parents during COVID-19 outbreak identifies “five themes regarding the parents’ primary psychological needs” which includes urgent demand for timely up-to-date information about the children’s condition, demand for psychological and emotional support, reducing the inconvenience caused by the epidemic outbreak, claims for protective information after discharge and demand for financial support.

There is no evidence as if now to show that pregnant women are at greater risk of COVID-19. World Health Organization (WHO) encourages mothers to breastfeed their newborns safely with good “respiratory hygiene”. It also recommends mothers to hold the newborns skin to skin and sharing a room with the infant. Unlike the guidelines of WHO, Chinese expert consensus states that COVID-19 positive mothers should not breastfeed their babies because the virus may enter the milk during the incubation period.

According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) press release an estimated 116 million babies will be born “under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic”.

“Millions of mothers all over the world embarked on a journey of parenthood in the world as it was. They now must prepare to bring a life into the world as it has become – a world where expecting mothers are afraid to go to health centers for fear of getting infected, or missing out on emergency care due to strained health services and lockdowns,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director in the press release, adding, “It is hard to imagine how much the coronavirus pandemic has recast motherhood.”

While the vaccine for the contagion is under development, in the coming time it will bring some relief to the world. Until the vaccine is developed, precautions should be taken by mothers while handling the infants. Emotional support and counseling should be provided to mothers who are separated from their newborns so that they are relieved from psychological stress.

Picture Credits- Guillaume Payen