How To Clean Air: 

How To Clean Air: 

Context:

Air pollution affects all stages of life, starting from preconception to old age.

Introduction:

• A combination of festivals, post-harvest crop burning, firing of bricks kilns and reduced wind speed will soon increase the level of particulate air pollution in India.
• According to the Global Burden of Disease study estimates, in India, ambient air pollution is responsible for premature deaths every day.

Pollution in  India:

• Half of the top 20 polluted cities in the world are in India.
• India has seen the steepest increase in air pollution since 2010.
• Although China achieved global notoriety some years ago, it is India that has experienced a nearly 150 per cent increase in ozone-attributable deaths over the past 25 years.
• In comparison, the number of people who died due to diseases caused by pollution in China did not increase much in the same period.

The Lancet Commission on pollution and health.

• Recent Reports of the Lancet Commission on pollution and health concluded that deaths in India occur mostly because of pollution
• With 2.51 million deaths in 2015, India has been ranked No. 1 in pollution related deaths, according to a report by
• India accounted for about 28 per cent of an estimated nine million pollution linked deaths worldwide in 2015.
• In the case of air pollution, the number of deaths in India from ambient air  pollution is at the first place i.e. 1.09 million.
• The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health is a two-year project that has involved more than 40 international health and environmental authors.

Functions:

• The Lancet Commission on pollution and health addresses the health and economic costs of air, water, and soil pollution.
• Through analyses of existing and emerging data, the Commission reveals pollution’s severe and underreported contribution to the Global Burden of Disease.
• It uncovers the economic costs of pollution to low-income and middle-income countries.
• The Commission informs key decision makers around the world about the burden that pollution places on health and economic development, and about available cost-effective pollution control solutions and strategies.

Effects of air pollution:

On Human health:

• Almost all air pollution-related deaths were thought to be due to lung diseases.
• It causes diseases like heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cancer.
• The studies have shown that ultrafine particulate matter, which accounts for over 90 per cent of the particles emitted by road traffic, rapidly enters the bloodstream after being inhaled.
• These particles then interfere with the normal reactivity of blood vessels, and are distributed to many organs including the kidneys.
• The air pollution reduces the number of years lived in full health by aggravating asthma attacks, eye and skin disorders, and increasing the risk of development of high blood pressure, obesity, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, psychiatric disorder and frailty.
• Exposure of a mother while pregnant causes abnormalities that increase the lifetime risk of chronic diseases in the baby.
• Deaths from air pollution were a result of diseases such as heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Pollution has been responsible for the most non-communicable disease deaths.

Positive side:

• On the positive side, remedial measures have shown reduction in the number of individuals with adverse outcomes, including improved life expectancy in several parts of the world.
• Policy interventions before the Beijing Olympics in China led to significant reduction in pollution. This is reflected in significant improvement in people’s physiology.

What are the recent steps taken by government to reduce pollution in India?

• The National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
• Namami Gange Project: Under the project, the Government is planning to make the areas around the river Open Defecation Free and to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge into the river.
• Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT project: Under these, the Government is planning to achieve 100 per cent sewage collection and its treatment before being discharged in river.
• Promotion of renewable energy, enforcement of Renewable Purchase Obligations and Renewable Generation Obligations to increase the share of renewable energy in total generation capacity.
• The Government has decided to enforce Bharat Stage VI norms from 2020.
• Furthermore, the Ministry of Roadways has undertaken the project to plant trees along the all major highways.

What are measures to be taken?

• This Lancet Commission should inform policy makers and serve as a timely call to action.
• The country must prioritize pollution as an issue that affects all.
• Integrating pollution into health planning, and increasing funding to allow more research into pollution, such as monitoring pollution and its effects, and developing are some of the other ways to control pollution.
• Human activities, including industrialisation, urbanisation, and globalisation, are all drivers of pollution. Thus, strict legal initiatives actions are to be taken.
• There is also need for better urban planning starting with proper land-use assessment, reducing major transport activity close to communities, relocating traffic sources from crowded areas, avoiding the mixing of industrial and residential areas, making better roads, reducing uncovered areas  in cities by planting more grass and plants, improving transport technologies, and increasing awareness of the societal burden imposed by air pollution.
• Interdisciplinary academic groups like experts in toxicology, environmental health, analytical chemistry, applied physics, healthcare researchers, economist and social scientists should evaluate the full range of impacts of air pollution on human health.