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'Act now for improved air quality in 15-20 years'
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Alison Saldanha | 22 Nov, 2016
Delhi's smog made headlines in early November 2016 -- when air-quality
levels exceeded by 40 times safe limits set by the World Health
Organisation (WHO). Pallavi Aiyer, a journalist who's lived and reported
from some of the most polluted cities in the world, and author of
aChoked', a new book that investigates Delhi and India's air-pollution
crisis, argues that many countries have been in this situation, and we
must learn from their experiences.
Excerpts from the interview...
Recently, Delhi reported 24-hour average air pollution levels
nearly 40 times above the WHO's guidelines (25 Aug/mA). How hazardous
is this? Pallavi Aiyer: Fine particulate matter that is less than 2.5
micrometers in diameter has been linked to up to 16,200 premature deaths
(and a staggering six million asthma attacks) per year in Delhi alone.
There are reports that one of every four children in the Indian
capital suffers from a serious lung disorder. Other constituents of air
pollution such as Sulfur Dioxide, Ozone and Nitrogen Oxides are
associated with a range of short-term and long-term health effects from
reduced lung capacity, shortness of breath, to heart disease and even
cancer.
But Delhi's air pollution is not unique. India is a
large, industrialising, populous, developing country and all countries
in similar circumstances have undergone extensive episodes of polluted
air. Pollution is a multifaceted phenomenon that results from a
combination of vehicular, industrial and household sources. The burning
of fuels such as coal leads to noxious gases such as Sulfur Dioxide.
Diesel engines spout huge amounts of Nitrogen Oxides. Construction dust
contributes to coarse particulate matter. And all of these sources are
responsible for finer particulate matter, what we call PM 2.5.
In addition to all these, Delhi also suffers from its geography. The
Indian capital is landlocked, with few avenues for flushing toxic air
out of the city unlike, say, Mumbai. It is also located in a highly
polluted air-shed and badly affected by the industrial and agricultural
activity across the northern plains of India.
Beijing
no longer features in the WHO's list of 20 most polluted cities. What
are the lessons we can learn from their robust efforts to improve air
quality? Pallavi Aiyer: Although Beijing may still be a poster child for
what not to do on the issue of pollution in the international
imagination, China has actually undertaken far-reaching and difficult
measures to ensure that the worst is over. According to NASA satellite
data, the PM 2.5 levels across India got worse by 13 per cent between
2010 and 2015, while China's steadily improved. Last year was the worst
on record for India in terms of particulate pollution and the best in
China.
China has instituted a broad, regionally-coordinated
system of air pollution monitoring, installed high-tech
pollution-abatement equipment on a majority of its power plants, as
well as devised means to restrict car ownership in major cities. It has
also developed a network of 1,500 air quality-monitoring stations in
over 900 cities (India has only 39 such stations covering 23 cities).
Significantly, China has instituted regional air quality regulations to
ensure that air pollution is addressed jointly across city and state
boundaries.
When it comes to industrial pollution, China's
biggest success has been the installation of basic pollution abatement
equipment on a majority (95 per cent) of its thermal power plants. In
contrast, only 10 per cent of Indian power plants have similar
equipment. China's coal use is also down and coal-fired power plants
are increasingly efficient.
What are the systemic
problems in implementation that need immediate attention to help India
achieve better air quality nearly as soon as China has? Pallavi Aiyer: Setting deadlines for meeting national air quality standards, as well
as five-year interim targets for reducing pollution at state and city
levels is one measure. Regional action plans that cover entire
air-sheds/regions and address all major sources of pollution, rather
than focusing on just some, is another. More empowered and
better-staffed pollution control boards are needed. India's Central
Pollution Control Board has 550 employees. The Delhi pollution control
board has less than 200 staff. In contrast, the Environmental Protection
Bureau (EPB) of the city of Yantai in China's Shandong province alone
has 4,000 staff. We also need to develop more local-level environmental
institutions to regulate and implement anti-pollution policies. India
only has pollution control boards at the national and state levels.
China has EPBs at national, provincial, prefectural, city or county, and
district levels. It even has some EPBs at the multi-provincial level.
What are the notable international great smog events in history
that Delhi seems to have paralleled this year after Diwali? What made
these similar? And what makes Delhi different from those horror stories? Pallavi Aiyer: One example is the small industrial town of Donora, Pennsylvania,
in the United States, which was engulfed by a putrid fog on October 26,
1948. Unlike usual fogs, it did not dissipate, staying on the ground
for five days. Twenty people died in Donora and 7,000 were hospitalised
with respiratory problems. The cause was a weather anomaly that trapped
toxic waste emissions from the town's zinc smelting plant close to the
ground. The Donora disaster brought air pollution into focus in the
US, and paved the way for the Clean Air Act of 1963. Similarly, in
London, toxic smog trapped in a thermal inversion during a week in
December 1952 is thought to have killed 4,000 people prematurely. This
incident helped pave the way for England's Clean Air Act in 1956.
Much closer to home, was last winter's smog in Beijing, which forced
the city to trigger its first-ever Red Alert, the highest tier of the
four-colour smog warning system China set up in 2013. During this time,
PM 2.5 levels in the Chinese capital exceeded 900-1000 Aug/mA in some
parts of the city (the safe limit is about 50 Aug/mA).
What
makes Delhi's fight against pollution today different from historic
episodes is that research on the ill effects of dirty air is both more
advanced and more widely disseminated. There is no need for us to
reinvent the wheel. Technologies, including pollution abatement
equipment, renewable energy and better-grade fuel exist, that did not a
half-century ago.
In your book, you've talked about
pollution in the industrialisation phase in developed countries. How
did they improve their air quality to present standards and what
solutions can we in India take away from those experiences? Pallavi Aiyer: There was no magic wand. Air pollution is a man-made problem with
practical solutions available. In the wake of horrific pollution and
growing citizen disenchantment with dirty air, countries such as the US
and UK enacted environmental laws. The US Clean Air Act established a
national programme with allocated funding to research techniques for
monitoring and controlling air pollution, as well as to enforce
interstate air pollution regulations pertaining to vehicles and
industry. It paved the way to the setting up of the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), an institution that consolidates
pollution-related research, monitoring, standard-setting and
enforcement activities into one body. The EPA has about 18,000 full-time
employees.
What should India's to-do list be, when
should action begin and how long do you think it will be before we see
some improved air quality in the National Capital Region? Pallavi Aiyer: Concerted action should begin now for improved air quality to become a
sustainable reality in about 15-20 years. It's a long slog, but it will
allow our children and grandchildren to stop choking and start
breathing. The to-do list is long. Here are some essentials:
1) Expanding the scope and quality of public transport.
2) Stringent vehicular emissions norms and availability of high-grade fuel.
3) Congestion charges and higher parking fees are steps to consider.
4) Installing pollution abatement equipment on all power plants.
5) Reducing coal usage.
6) Development of a large network of monitoring stations in all major urban centers.
7) Make the power grid more reliable as wealthy residents, hospitals
and businesses use diesel-generators when there is no power.
8) Finally, given the high percentage of PM 10 that originates from road dust, paving more roads is a must.
What is the to-do list for citizens in this movement toward better air quality? Pallavi Aiyer: Carpooling, composting and consuming with care. Avoiding polluting
behaviours like trash burning or bursting firecrackers. Demanding
change from elected representatives.
(In arrangement with
IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism
platform, with whom Alison Saldanha is an assistant editor. The views
expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)
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