NEW DELHI, NOV. 8. The United States today announced two grants amounting to $230,000 for community-based programmes to reduce indoor air pollution from household energy use in India.
The two pilot projects under the aegis of the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) will address the increased environmental health risks faced in India from traditional biomass fuels such as wood, crop waste, dung and coal used in homes for cooking and heating.
Announcing the grants, the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy here, Robert Blake, said the Partnership was launched in September 2002 by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (USEPA) and other partners at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
The two grants will support local projects that will demonstrate effective approaches to increase the use of clean, reliable, affordable, safe and efficient home cooking and heating practices that reduce exposure to indoor air pollution.
Funded by the USEPA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the grants have been awarded to the Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI) for a project in Maharashtra and the Society for Development Alternatives (SDA) for projects in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The ARTI project will replace existing fuel-stove combinations with the compact biogas system in about 2,000 households and the SDA project will provide retail credit to about 3,000 families. Both the projects will conduct Statewide campaigns for social marketing and public awareness.
The U.S. is leading the Partnership, working with more than 70 partners, including India, to improve health, livelihood and quality of life by reducing exposure to indoor air pollution, primarily among women and children. The Partnership aims to reduce exposure to indoor air pollution from household energy use for 5 million people by 2010 so they can live healthier, more productive, and better quality lives.
According to the World Health Organisation's World Health Report (2002), more than three billion people — almost half of the world's population — still burn traditional fuels, such as firewood, coal, crop residues and dung, indoors for home cooking and heating. This estimate includes 90 per cent of rural Indian households.
