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Source: The post is based on an article “Delhi, Mumbai … Poor air quality is a problem that’s countrywide. Solutions cannot be state specific” published in The Times of India on 12th December 2022.
Syllabus: GS 3 – Environment
Relevance: concerns associated with air pollution and measures required to be adopted.
News: Air pollution in India is often seen as a challenge confined to the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) airshed. However, this is not always true. Coastal cities such as Mumbai and Chennai have also recorded air quality index readings worse than Delhi.
What are the key findings of the various reports?
The World Air Quality Report this year showed that out of 50 global cities with toxic air, 35 are located in India.
The Global Burden of Disease Study in 2019 estimated that 18% of deaths in 2019 in India were due to air pollution.
Moreover, within India, it’s the poorer states across IGP which experienced the largest increase in pollution. This means that vulnerable sections of the population are more prone to health hazards caused due to pollution.
Further, low air quality also decelerates economic growth. World Bank’s cross-country data for 25 years (1990-2015) shows that China and Vietnam recorded a higher average GDP per capita growth with a smaller change in mean annual PM 2. 5.
What are the concerns with the current policies?
The major pollutant amongst all air pollutants is PM 2. 5. It is the most damaging and arises from many sources such as dust. Therefore, tackling air pollution in India can no longer be seen as a localised solution.
India’s current policy approach to improve air quality has been city-centric. It won’t work because the source of the problem is an airshed which represents a common geographic area of pollutants.
What is the way ahead?
India needs to change its focus to geographical airshed. It will help in changing the nature of incentives offered by public policy.
Therefore, looking at the impact of pollution on health and on the economy, the government should come up with a solution that provides a robust solution.
