Air pollution has become a significant environmental and public health issue in India, particularly in urban centres. Key contributors to this growing crisis include industrial, vehicular and dust emissions from coal mining activities. The main emissions contributing to air pollution include particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and carbon dioxide (CO2).
Report-state: Jharkhand
Building a Climate Resilient Jharkhand
This report documents a national conference on climate change in Jharkhand, co-hosted by Asar and PDAG, which brought together over 100 stakeholders—including government officials, CSOs, academics, and local leaders. The discussions focused on three themes: climate adaptation and mitigation, decentralised renewable energy (DRE), and just transition. Key outcomes included the need for localised renewable energy solutions, the role of panchayats in energy governance, integration of traditional knowledge into policy, and the urgency of planning a just coal transition. Recommendations included setting up independent transition cells, improving DRE financing, and leveraging DMFT funds for sustainable development.
Summary Report | Co-Creation Conclave 2022
Held on October 1, 2024, in Ranchi, the Co-Creation Conclave 2.0 brought together over 30 participants from 23 organisations to advance a community-centric Just Transition in Jharkhand. Building on discussions from the first conclave in May 2024, the event focused on actionable steps for livelihood diversification, strengthening CBOs, skill development, and grassroots engagement. Key themes included institutional collaboration, women’s leadership, climate resilience, and inclusive planning. Participants co-developed action plans across three areas—livelihoods, CBO platforms, and capacity building—while prioritising grassroots engagement and technical support. The conclave fostered collective ownership and mapped pathways toward a climate-resilient, just Jharkhand.
Social and Behaviour Change for Reducing Household Air Pollution Handbook for the Facilitator
This facilitator handbook is part of the Cleaner Air and Better Health (CABH) project and aims to reduce Household Air Pollution (HAP) in Jharkhand through community-led Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC). Designed for use with Self-Help Group (SHG) women, it outlines three interactive group meetings focused on HAP awareness, promoting clean cooking alternatives like LPG, and enabling economic empowerment. Activities such as conversation maps, flashcards, and games guide participatory learning. The handbook culminates in a community meeting to reinforce key messages and catalyse collective action, with a strong focus on inclusivity, behavioural change, and local ownership.
Insights from Conference of Panchayats 2.0 – Locally Led Climate Action in Jharkhand: Present and Future
Taking inspiration from the global Conference of Parties on Climate Change, the Conference of Panchayats (CoP) was conceptualised by PDAG and Asar in 2022 to localise climate discourse and action. CoP uses a bottom-up, community-driven model that centres Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) as pivotal actors in localised climate response. The second edition, CoP 2.0, held between July 2023 and January 2024 across five divisions of Jharkhand, brought together over 250 elected PRI members, community leaders, CSOs, and government officials.
The convenings focused on:
- Understanding climate vulnerabilities faced by Jharkhand’s communities,
- Showcasing local adaptation and mitigation practices, and
- Exploring the potential of climate finance and convergence mechanisms to build resilience.
Participants shared lived experiences of climate impacts—declining rainfall, water scarcity, deforestation, crop losses, and disproportionate burdens on women and indigenous groups. Strategies like rainwater harvesting, crop diversification, afforestation, and use of renewable energy were discussed. Local governance bodies showcased initiatives and highlighted gaps in funding, awareness, and technical support.
Key takeaways include the need to empower Gram Panchayats, integrate climate resilience into village development plans, invest in climate-smart agriculture and skill-building, and build an institutional framework for a Just Transition in coal-dependent regions.
CoP 2.0 underscores that climate solutions must be local, inclusive, and informed by traditional knowledge—with PRIs leading the way.
Health Matters: Air Pollution & its Impacts
Air pollution has become a matter of serious concern in many parts of the country, with Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, being no exception to the problem of air pollution, especially in its urban centers. The data from the Global Burden of Disease shows that about 17% of the total deaths in Jharkhand in 2019 were attributed to air pollution. The top five risk factors for mortality in the state in 2019 were air pollution, high blood pressure, unsafe water and poor sanitation, high blood sugar, and a poor diet. It is important to point out that air pollution is not only considered the world’s biggest environmental health threat, where it causes and exacerbates many diseases ranging from asthma to cancer, pulmonary diseases, and heart disease but now it is considered a serious threat for the quality of our life and possibly its survival.
Given the complex nature of the problem with its multiplicity of sources and effects, it is clear that there
is no “silver bullet” solution. Addressing this problem will require a multi-sectoral approach, driven by environmental and health data, science & evidence, and a proper strategy. Realizing the seriousness of the problems, the Government of India launched the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) in the year 2019, under which city-specific clean air action plans have been prepared for the prevention and control of air pollution. Ranchi has been selected as one of the million-plus cities under the Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV-FC) and an action plan has been prepared for the city with defined mitigation measures to control pollution from all sources. The formulation and implementation of an action plan is
important because improving air quality through emission reduction and stricter air quality regulations is the most effective strategy. Effective policies to reduce emissions at the source is clearly preferable but plenty of evidence also supports the importance of preventive measures and risk reduction because of the fact that air pollution will remain a reality for a few years even if the mitigation measures are being implemented efficiently.
With this background, the convening “Health Matters – Air Pollution and its Impacts” was organized to discuss and deliberate on the linkage between polluted air and the deteriorating health of people in
the state. The discussion focused on risk reduction and preventive measures for air pollution. It also provided a forum to discuss the effects of air quality on health and share experiences, needs, and concerns. A more practical and participatory approach was expressed as the need to achieve clean air with health at the forefront.
Barriers to Access, Adoption and Sustained Use of Cleaner Fuels Among Low Income Households: An Exploratory Study from Delhi and Jharkhand, India
Household Air Pollution (HAP) combined with poor air quality is associated with several health hazards, posing a greater risk for women and children in low-income households across India. Burning biomass for cooking and heating is a major contributor to HAP and switching to cleaner fuels like LPG, can be effective for mitigating HAP. The government’s efforts to promote clean cooking fuels such as LPG through schemes like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has increased the coverage, yet several barriers exist in access, adoption, and sustained use of LPG.
This exploratory study was undertaken to help understand the use and perceptions around biomass and LPG and capture the perceptions of household air pollution among low-income households. Ten focus groups and nine interviews were conducted in five urban slums of Delhi (both notified and non-notified bastis) and five in villages in rural Jharkhand. The study was carried out during the latter half of May and first half of June, 2022. The findings highlight that for the users, ease of access is more important than ease of use when deciding which fuel to use. Users’ perceptions regarding LPG, such as LPG being unsafe, food cooked on LPG being unhealthy and less tasty, combined with supply-side bottlenecks such as challenges in applying for and getting an LPG cylinder, lump-sum cash outflow during ordering refills for an LPG cylinder are some of the factors that act as a hindrance in its sustained use by women in low-income households.
This study was carried out for a specific intervention under the Cleaner Air and Better Health project, which is focused on transition to clean cooking fuels to reduce the exposure to household air pollution. The findings of this study will be used to recommend context level solutions and design pilot interventions with respective State governments that will help improve access to cleaner fuel for low-income households in India.
As part of the study, consultations were held with stakeholders in both Delhi and Jharkhand. In Jharkhand, dialogues and consultations were organized with members of the women Self Help Groups linked to the Jharkhand State Livelihoods Promotion Society (JSLPS), ward members, as well as members of civil society and NGOs working in the state, and specifically in the study district – Lohardaga. Similar process was followed in Delhi, where stakeholders in the community, such as anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, teachers, LPG distributors, community heads and opinion leaders
were consulted during the study.
Conference of Panchayats (CoP): Climate Change and Just Transitions in Jharkhand
India signed Paris Agreement at COP 21 and committed to reduce emission intensity of gross domestic product (GDP) by 33 percent to 35 percent by 2030. It has also pledged to increase the share of non-fossil fuels-based electricity generation, increase its forest cover along with several other measures. While such transition is much needed towards sustainable forms of energy, there is a growing concern related to labour displacement in the existing coal value chain.
Jharkhand has a huge role to play in helping India meet its commitments because of its large-scale dependence on coal mining. Besides that, there are a large number of coal-based power plants which are a major source of carbon emission. Increasing consumption of coal to generate power is facing major challenges with respect to cost competitiveness and the commitment made by the country to be a Net Zero Carbon neutral country by 2070.
Policy & Development Advisory Group (PDAG) in partnership with ASAR, conducted a Conference of Panchayats (COP) on Climate change and Just Transitions. The two-day conference (14th and 15th March 2022) was organised, allocating full day sessions for local elected representatives (Mukhiya and Pramukh), NGOs/CSOs from North Chotanagpur (Bokaro, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Ramgarh) and South Chotanag- pur (Ranchi, Khunti, Gumla, Simdega) divisions. The sessions were moderated by Sumit Kumar, Senior Consultant at PDAG and Munna Jha, Network and Media Strategist at ASAR. The two-day conference was attended by the key stakeholders from the districts of the North and South Chotanagpur divisions.
The conference aimed to foster a discussion around climate change mitigation strategies at the grassroots level and key issues and challenges to ensure Just Transitions in the regions impacted by coal mining in Jharkhand.