India dominates the list of world’s top polluted cities, new data from the World Health Organisation reveals. According to the report and the database released on 12 May, the global air pollution levels rose as much as 5% in the five years between 2008 and 2013. Fast growing cities in poorer regions are suffering the most with 300 plus cities in the middle-low income countries reported the rise, often beyond the safety limits. And it goes without saying that the most Indian cities which have made it to the coveted list (read: sarcasm) have some of the highest concentration of particulate pollution. China, who is often sailing in the same boat as ours with an alarming population has improved its air quality since 2011,with only 5 cities making it to the list, vis-a-vis 14 of ours. So, we have some learning to do from our neighbour China, while the other neighbours are hand in gloves marching with us. (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran). The health hazards of air pollution are many—-resulting in the death of more than 3 million pre mature deaths worldwide every year, heart diseases, lung cancer and chronic and acute respiratory diseases including asthma are some of the many.
Many policy makers have opined that the air quality in our major cities show a worrisome level, and it is time that we treat this as an emergency and make appropriate policies keeping that in mind. The odd-even policy should be in place whenever the emergency calls for it. Just three days back, Mumbai was declared as the fifth most polluted megacity in the world in terms of PM (coarse pollution particles). The city ranks 39 (in terms of PM 2.5) on the list of the most polluted among 122 indian cities monitored by the WHO. We are used to such alarming reports reflective of the poor health of the air that we breathe. Mumbai and Delhi have been close competitors as far as poor air quality is concerned, sometimes Delhi gives way to Mumbai and vice versa. The tale in Delhi was similar, the air quality reached to alarming levels, which forced the administration to take a drastic step in the name of odd-even. The first of it’s kind experiment in any Indian city, this was carried out in the month of January, and was supported and lauded by the citizens. According to government mouth pieces, it was a success. But the happiness didn’t last for long, as the air quality dipped again, forcing the odd-even to come back in April.
An euphoric Delhi’s Transport Minister, Gopal Rai, said, “Odd-even has been tried out partially or wholly in at least 14 countries across the world but India is the first one that has executed it successfully in the second phase too. The phase two was a tougher test than the phase one. This time a total of 8,988 vehicles were fined and going by this figure, it shows that the compliance rate during this odd-even was 99.6%.”
Reports suggest that the Delhi air quality has improved since 2014. The capital was ranked 11th this year. The annual average PM2.5 levels in Delhi have fallen by 20% since 2013. But as we celebrate the ousting of Delhi from the number one spot in India, we must understand that it is a temporary celebration. Although the pollution had declined for the first ten days, it has gone up thereafter, because of a number of other factors, such as forest fires and crop burning in neighbouring states. So, to take a note of the other factors that contribute to the air quality should be a priority. Car pollution is a just a part of the reason, it isn’t the reason. For this, cities will have to focus on short term and long term measures including clean fuels, stricter parking policies, and better public transport infrastructure to curb air pollution in the long run.
*Your valuable comments and suggestions are welcome.
by Dr. Arvind Kumar President India Water Foundation
