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@himantabiswa

@himantabiswa

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GemsOfINDOLOGY

@GemsOfINDOLOGY

Dec 2

🧵 Delhi chokes every winter. Politicians blame farmers. Farmers blame weather. Weather experts blame geography.

Nobody blames the real culprit: traffic mismanagement.

Here's the math they don't want you to see:

₹60,000 Cr lost annually. 37 deaths daily. 16 cigarettes worth of air per day.

The fix? ₹13,900 Cr. Payback? 11 months.

Every number below is sourced from IIT Kanpur, WHO, EPCA, CSE. Every solution has worked elsewhere. Every excuse has expired.

@BJP4India controls both centre and state. @gupta_rekha has 4 years left.

Let's see if data trumps inertia 👇 Bookmark and RT.

1) The damage — Quantified

- AQI 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝟒𝟓𝟎–𝟓𝟓𝟎 during winter months (safar data)
- WHO: every 10 µg/m³ rise in pm2.5 increases mortality by 6–8%
- Delhi averages 𝟏𝟒𝟎–𝟏𝟖𝟎 µ𝐠/𝐦³ 𝐩𝐦𝟐.𝟓 — ~10× the safe limit
- A𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧: ₹𝟔𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎–₹𝟔𝟓,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐜𝐫 (moefcc + teri)
- P𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: 13,752 deaths/year (gbd dataset)
- Exposure equivalent: 𝟏𝟔–𝟏𝟖 𝐜𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐬/𝐝𝐚𝐲

Sources of pm2.5 (IIT kanpur source apportionment):

- Vehicles: 𝟒𝟏%
- Road dust: 𝟐𝟏.𝟓%
- Industry: 18%
- Construction: 8%
- Waste burning: 6%
- Stubble burning: 𝟓.𝟓%
- Firecrackers: <1%

Here's the problem:

Everyone cites these percentages. No one asks 𝐰𝐡𝐲 vehicles contribute 41%. No one asks 𝐰𝐡𝐲 road dust is 21.5%. No one asks 𝐰𝐡𝐲 construction spikes PM by 8%.

The real question isn't WHAT pollutes.

It's WHY Delhi's vehicles pollute 3–4× more than vehicles in Mumbai, Bangalore, or Singapore.

WHY does road dust account for 21.5% here but <5% in Tokyo?

WHY does construction create such massive spikes?

The answer: 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞.

This thread dissects the failure points—and presents engineered fixes with ROI under 12 months.

𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 (𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐎𝐈, 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧)

Vehicles aren't the problem.

How Delhi moves them is.

2) No-Parking-on-Crossings Enforcement

𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐱: ₹𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐂𝐫 | 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭: ₹𝟖𝟎𝟎 𝐂𝐫 | 𝐑𝐎𝐈: <𝟗𝟎 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬

Delhi has 𝟏,𝟐𝟓𝟎 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

Blocked junctions slash throughput by 𝟑𝟎–𝟒𝟎% (CPWD traffic flow model).

Every car stuck at a choked crossing = idling engine.
Idle emissions at intersections = 𝟏𝟐–𝟏𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐌𝟐.𝟓.

Intervention:

- AI-enabled camera network with ANPR
- Auto-challan ₹2,000 base penalty
- Tow enforcement on 500+ red-flagged intersections

Expected outcomes:

- 𝟏𝟑–𝟏𝟖% 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐞-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
- City-wide fuel savings: ~₹𝟐,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐂𝐫/𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫

One blocked junction cascades into 12 surrounding roads. Clear the junction, clear the corridor.

Read 21 tweets

GemsOfINDOLOGY

@GemsOfINDOLOGY

Nov 30

1/9
Welcome to Jalore Fort, Rajasthan: the “Golden Fort” that literally glows at sunset yet remains invisible to 99.9 % of Indian tourists. Built to laugh at invaders, now dying of Instagram indifference. Classic. 🏜️✨
#SonarKila #GemsofASI
State protected monument number S-RJ-223,224

@UNESCO @narendramodi @PMOIndia @gssjodhpur @ASIGoI @MinOfCultureGoI 2/9
10th-century Paramaras: “Let’s park a fortress on a lone volcanic plug no army can climb.”
Result: Never fully conquered. Alauddin tried in 1311, lost 40,000 men, still had to bribe the gatekeeper. Peak medieval flex.

3/9
Songara Chauhans take over, rename it Swarnagiri (“Hill of Gold”). Because when your walls shine like Fort Knox, subtlety is overrated. Meanwhile Delhi historians call it “a local disturbance”. Sure Jan.

Read 9 tweets

GemsOfINDOLOGY

@GemsOfINDOLOGY

Nov 29

1️⃣ 🧵 While everyone obsesses over Hampi, let me tell you about Rayadurgam Fort.

16th century. 2,727 feet elevation. Anantapur district.

A fortress that survived Vijayanagara's collapse, Muslim invasions, Nayaka power plays, and Tipu Sultan's expansion now may not survive few more decades thanks to bureaucracy 😑

Yet most Indians have never heard of it. Here's why that's a problem. 🏰

#GemsofASI MNI#20 #Archaeology @AndraPradeshCM @asicircle

2️⃣ Built by Junga Nayaka under Vijayanagara rule, but the site's earlier story is messier.

Local Balija chiefs—the Rayadurgam Palegars—held this hill. Called "turbulent" by imperial records. The emperor sent officers to drive them out.

Once conquered? Renamed to "Bhupatirayakonda" (King's Hill).

Erasing rivals through nomenclature. Colonial Tale as old as time. #VijayanagaEmpire #IndianHistory #ForgottenForts

3️⃣ The architecture isn't just impressive—it's brutal military logic in stone:

Multiple concentric walls. Nearly impregnable granite. 830m elevation advantage.

Four caves beneath the slope with stone doors carved with Siddha symbols.

Part of a network with Penugonda, Gutti, Madakasira.

This was Rayalaseema's defensive spine. 🗿
#AndhraHistory #Vijayanagara

Read 11 tweets

GemsOfINDOLOGY

@GemsOfINDOLOGY

Nov 26

1️⃣ These brick ruins are what remains of Karnasubarna—ancient capital of King Sasanka's Gauda Kingdom (circa 600-625 CE). Once a thriving Buddhist center with the grand Rakta Mrittika Mahavihar, as documented by Hiuen Tsang himself. 🏛️

Now? Barely anyone knows it existed.

ASI protected monument number 3692. Can you see the protection? #GemsofASI

2️⃣ Hiuen Tsang described Rakta Mrittika Mahavihar as having 'red brick walls' with over 1,000 monks studying here in the 7th century. A major Buddhist learning center in Eastern India, predating Nalanda's peak fame.

Yet most history books skip straight to Nalanda.

No signboards explaining the mahavihar's significance. No interpretive panels. Nothing.

3️⃣ King Sasanka ruled from Karnasubarna, controlling vast territories across Bengal and parts of Odisha. His kingdom was a political and religious hub—Hindu-Buddhist confluence, trade networks, administrative sophistication.

Colonial historians painted him as 'obscure.' Our own institutions continue that tradition by ignoring his capital.

Read 14 tweets

GemsOfINDOLOGY

@GemsOfINDOLOGY

Nov 26

THREAD: How Bengaluru Buried 3,000 Years Under Asphalt 🧵

1/ Take a moment. Picture Chikkajala—a megalithic burial site predating empires we revere. Unearthed by Captain Branfil in colonial times, packed with Iron Age cists (500-1000 BCE) and striking black-and-red pottery. Priceless for science. Until we paved it over. What a legacy, eh? 🏗️🪦🏛️

#GemsofASI #Archaeology

2/ This wasn't just dirt. A 3,000-year-old cemetery fused with a fortified temple, etched stepwell boasting fish, turtles, scorpions. Hoysala pillars, Vijayanagara scripts, a bicentennial Hanuman shrine, and a peepal tree clinging to granite like ancient defiance. But highways wait for no history. 🛣️🕳️🗿

3/ ASI listed Chikkajala among 208 protected gems in Bangalore Circle. Ironclad safety? Hardly. When NHAI bulldozed the entrance in 2011 for airport road expansion, ASI shrugged: Not our circus. Bureaucratic brilliance. 🙄📜🚧

Read 17 tweets

GemsOfINDOLOGY

@GemsOfINDOLOGY

Nov 2

Did you know Delhi’s winter pollution isn’t caused by Diwali fireworks, but by agricultural laws that changed how farmers grow rice? 🌾

Few know that the Punjab and Haryana Preservation of Subsoil Water Acts (2009) are major reasons behind the smog choking Delhi every winter. ☁️

Curious how? Dive into this short #Thread. 🔍

1️⃣ The Green Revolution in Punjab & Haryana: A Double-Edged Sword

In the 1970s and 80s, India shifted from traditional crops like maize and millet to wheat-paddy systems to reduce food imports. High-yield seeds, chemical fertilizers, and irrigation drove this change, boosting agriculture and making Punjab a key food supplier. However, rice cultivation strained water resources, dropping groundwater levels from 10 to over 200 feet. Increased pesticide use led to health issues, including more cancer cases and birth defects. ⚠️🌾🚜🚰🚱

2️⃣ Farmers began planting SATHI, a type of paddy, allowing for two harvests during a single kharif season (April to October). When sown in April, producing one kilogram of rice required 4,500 liters of water, but if planted in mid-June, it only needed 1,500 liters.

Read 10 tweets

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