Toxic Air & Water: India Must Act Now Over Deadly Pollution Levels In The Country

Fourteen of the world¡¯s 15 most polluted cities are in India. India fares worst in global pollution deaths with 2.5 million people dying early because of effluence. This is a wake up call.

According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, Delhi, Kanpur Agra, Lucknow, Varanasi, Gaya, Patna, Muzaffarpur, Jodhpur and Jaipur have made it to top polluted cities in the world.

The WHO report said that more than 90 per cent of air pollution-related deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries and nearly 40 per cent of the world's population do not have access to clean cooking fuels and technologies at homes, a major source of household air pollution.

A Lancet report published last year said that in 2015 India accounted for maximum deaths due to pollution. According to the study, 25 lakh deaths in India were due to pollution, and of these nearly 20 lakh were due to air pollution.

The study also pointed out that 92 per cent of the pollution-related deaths took place in low-income and middle-income countries In countries like India, Pakistan, China and Bangladesh, every one out of four deaths in 2015 was due to pollution.

"Welfare losses due to pollution are estimated to cost more than USD 4.6 trillion each year, equivalent to 6.2 per cent of global economic output," the Lancet study said.

Living on the edge

Most Indians do not have access to clean water and clean air and the problem keeps getting worse. More than 163 million people in India do not have access to clean water, the highest in the world, says a study by WaterAid.

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A Greenpeace study titled Apocalypse II raised alarms over he increasing levels of pollution in not just Delhi but big states such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar.

None of the Indian cities passes the World Health Organization¡¯s guideline value for PM10 pollution of fewer than 20 micrograms per cubic meter.

Only 52 out of 280 Indian cities pass Indian government¡¯s own standards of air pollution that say PM10 shouldn¡¯t exceed 60 micrograms per cubic meter.

According to the Greenpeace study, Uttar Pradesh has highest number of people, 64 million or 6.4 crore, living in areas where the level of pollution is twice the stipulated standard, followed by Rajasthan (20 million or 2 crore), Maharashtra (19 million or 1.9 crore), Delhi (17 million or 1.7 crore) and Bihar (15 million or 1.5 crore).

580 million Indians live in districts with no air quality data available, including 59 million children under 5 years of age.

Government acknowledges the disaster in making

In January this year, pollution, particularly air pollution, has finally been acknowledged as a major crisis by the government. Minister of State for Environment and Forests Mahesh Sharma informed Lok Sabha said that the government has formulated a "National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)" as medium-term strategy to tackle the problem of increasing air pollution.

BCCL

Under the NCAP, a separate 'Technology Assessment Cell' has been envisioned to evaluate technologies for "prevention, control and abatement of air pollution".

What needs to be done

To counter air pollution, the first step in this direction is to have a robust monitoring of air quality through a mechanism installed across the country. This is necessary to bring information about pollution levels in real time and through use of data resulting into collected strategies evolved to reduce pollution levels and protect public health.

People participation is paramount in reducing air pollution. The choice of electricity and transportation could play a key role in managing pollution in levels in many parts of the country.

Moving towards rooftop solar and other forms of the decentralised renewable energy solution, using energy efficient appliances and reducing household energy usage, increasing use of public transport, cycling and walking, strengthening public transport infrastructure, waste minimisation, segregation and recycling, which will reduce the burning of waste in streets as well as the landfills along with energy reductions and saving in transporting huge quantities of waste, are some of the ways lower pollution levels can be achieved across the country.

While the plans are in place, the constant foot-dragging by the government over such plans and their mediocre implementation still remains a key obstacle towards achieving clear air and water.