94 Cities Haven't Met Air Quality Standards In 5 Years
There's something the hillside retreat of Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh has in common with the industrial town of Korba in Chhattisgarh--both have consistently recorded higher than acceptable particulate matter (PM) levels.
Since 2011, at least 94 Indian cities have not met national air quality standards. Many of these cities have been on the list from the 1990s, say officials of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).Neither the Centre nor the states have put in place a plan to ensure that cities get taken off this list.The World Health Organisation's recent urban air quality database lists 10 Indian cities among the world's 20 worst polluted. But that doesn't seem to worry the CPCB or administrators either.
For the past couple of years when air pollution in Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi touched dangerous levels, CPCB did nothing to ensure that its directions on meeting air quality standards were en forced. It also ignored its own studies, commissioned from Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in 2003, on the impact of air pollution on children over 15 years, which found serious physical and psychological impacts.
The Centre has made only one major decision this year to tackle air pollution--notifying BSVI emission standards for vehicles manufactured after April 2020, which will bring down particulate emissions from vehicles by 60%-80%. The National Air Quality Standard notification, 2009, says safe standards for air should be met 98% of the year, a criterion none of the cities monitored by CPCB meet.Dipankar Saha, additional director, air laboratory at CPCB said: “This is not relevant anymore since we have started real-time monitoring of cities. We alert the nonattaining cities every three years.“
But CPCB only monitors 29 cities real time and has just one continuous air quality monitor at most locations.The rest are manual monitoring machines which are “highly inefficient“ and at times “inaccurate“, say experts.
“Only when there is pressure from the people and the judiciary, cities start acting on pollution. There is no national policy. Even the government's smart city project only makes a passing reference to air quality but doesn't make it binding on cities to meet this criteria,“ says Anumita Roy Chowdhury, head of Centre for Science and Environment's clean air programme. CPCB's air quality bulletins routinely show Faridabad, Agra, Kanpur and Lucknow in “severe“ or “very poor“ categories.
This month for the first time CPCB used its statutory powers to direct municipalities in NCR to take steps to curb air pollution. “The air act gives us statutory powers to issue closure orders or cut electricity or water supply to industries that do not meet norms but it doesn't give us powers to penalize municipalities. So our directions are not binding on them,“ said Saha. In this situation, he is not sure how air quality standards will be met in cities.
“CPCB and state pollution boards have the power to take immediate action,“ insists Kanchi Kohli of Namati Environmental Justice Programme. “They can hold municipalities accountable if they want to.“
DELHI IS THE MOST POLLUTED, BUT OTHER METROS AREN'T GETTING BETTER
MUMBAI
Mumbai's a coastal city isn't always able to counter the pollutants in the air. On several days in the year, air quality drops into the poor category , and experts say more monitoring and data is needed to ensure it doesn't go the Delhi way. Not all existing monitoring stations are able to give us the right picture because they don't meet the required standards. Having access to data and using it to take precautionary measures is important,“ says Neha Parkhi of Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. Local governments claim to have recognized air pollution as a major problem. “Some of the major sources of pollution are smoke from bakeries and burning garbage,“ says Vinayak Karnik, deputy chief engineer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation environment department. The corporation issues an environment status report every August. In its recent report (2015-2016), BMC said the total number of vehicles in the city rose from 25 lakh in 2015 to 27 lakh in 2016, he says. --Vinamrata Borwankar
CHENNAI
In humid Chennai's `winter' months of No vember and December, doctors' clinics fill up with patients with respiratory illnesses.The numbers are far lower during in March to August, but those are the months when the PM10 count goes up to 200mcg per cubic metre. Winter may get people coughing, but it's in summer that the air is dirtier. Vehicular emissions, road dust and construction activity (including eight years of work on the Chennai Metro Rail) are major air pollutants. The ratio of people to vehicles is almost 1:1 in Chennai, says Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board lab director Dr K Rangana than. TNPCB works with the corporation and transport de partment to keep pollu tion in check. “Chennai's air is clean. Improving g reen cover could further bring down pollution levels,“ says Ranganathan. Air quality at Adyar, a busy residential and commercial locality within easy access of the beach, is the best in the city. It records PM10 count as low as 20mcg per cubic metre--but that could also be because the monitoring device is located at the green Periyar Science and Technology Centre, beside the lush IIT-M campus. --Abdullah Nurullah
BENGALURU
An unusual combination of a long weekend a dispute over sharing water keeping out fireworks from Tamil Nadu, and activism meant Bengaluru had slightly cleaner air this Di wali compared to previous years. But that's no indication of overall air quality in the city . The annual average increase in levels of respirable suspended particulate matter in the last five years is 5%, according to the Karnataka State Pollu tion Control Board The increasing pollution is in step with the rising number of vehicles: 8% every year. While vehicle emissions are the main source, road and construc tion dust and burning of garbage also contribute “In fact, the air we breathe in Bengaluru is clean only during bandh days,“ says Lakshman, chair man, KSPCB. The problem is the lack of coordinated efforts by various civic agencies.While KSPCB monitors air quality and churns out data, its power stops at issuing notices to various agencies. State governments have failed to set out an action plan to tackle air pollution. Transport department officials said they try to detect pollut ing vehicles. “We have random checks to fine those without pollution under control certificates. It isn't easy as we are short staffed,“ said an official. --Rohith BR & Aditi Sequeira
KOLKATA
Last week, after Diwali the PM 10 count in Kolkata was 10 times the permissible limit, and though it dropped, it remained at 3.5 times above normal for the next four nights. Every year, pollution peaks after the festival, though the worst months are December and January . The administration has been taking sporadic steps to check pollution. For instance, use of adulterated fuel by autorickshaws, a major source of pollution, was banned. Automatic pollution recording stations have been set up, but monitoring and implementation of norms remain lax.Automatic recording stations often do not work. The three major causes of pollution are vehicle emission, construction dust and industrial emission. Over the last five years, a number of industrial units have been forced to move out of Kolkata or adopt less-polluting methods. Many have switched from coal to LPG. Pollution from construction dust remains a threat since Kolkata is expanding fast and construction activity is on the rise. --Prithvijit Mitra
HOW CHINA TACKLES AIR POLLUTION
In 2013, China started a `war against pollution' with the govt introducing 10 measures. Some of these are policies India can adopt
RED ALERTS
In December 2015, Beijing issued its first pollution `red alert', closing schools, factories and construction sites, and hundreds of private cars were ordered off the road in odd-even bans until the air quality dropped below hazardous levels. People were urged to wear masks and take protective measures
CUTTING COAL USE
By 2017, Beijing region aims to reduce use of coal by replacing it with electricity from natural gas and non-fossil fuels and closing all excess iron, steel, cement and heavy industries that burn coal.Beijing aims to be completely coal-free by 2020. Across the country, coal use will be brought down to 65% by 2017
LAWS
On 1 January 2015, China's Environmental Protection Law came into force. There is no cap on fines for polluting companies, non-profits can file public interest lawsuits against polluters. Local environmental protection bureaus can levy fines on a cumulative basis, leading to far higher penalties compared to earlier systems where polluters profited. Local governments will be held accountable for implementing environmental policies. Their country appointed an environmental scientist as its environment minister in 2015
REAL-TIME MONITORING
After shrouding air quality information in secrecy till 2008, China has created an online air reporting system with hourly air pollution data from over 1,500 sites, including details of airborne particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone. The government regularly releases air quality rankings for cities
OFF THE ROAD
High-polluting heavy vehicles manufactured before the end of 2005 will be taken off the roads by 2017.
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other large Chinese cities are slowly restricting the number of vehicles to curb pollution.
Breathe Clean And Protect Your Lungs With These Simple Strategies
Monitor your commute time
If at all possible avoid peak hours and public transport at least for some time if you have acute breathing problem. Also drive with your windows rolled up or simply cover your mouth and nostrils with a N95 respirator which almost filters out at least 95% of fine airborne particles.
Reduce outdoor activities
It is advisable to not exercise, walk or play outdoors especially when pollution levels are high which is usually in the morning. But in the most polluted cities such as Delhi/Gurgaon spend least time outdoors.
Have food that can help to beat pollution
There are foods that can help fight inflammation and boost immunity especially during this time when you tend to inhale more toxic air. Include more garlic in your food because it contains medicinal compounds such as allicin and sulfhydryl, which gives garlic its pungent smell and also makes it a powerful immune booster and antimicrobial that helps fight infections. Air pollution tends to lower the body’s reserves of vitamin E, a fat-soluble antioxidant found in vegetable oils, nuts, and green leafy vegetables that protect cells against the effects of free radicals, this is the best time to increase the intake of nuts and green leafy vegetables.
Where do you think is India lagging behind? How can you as a citizen make a difference in your city? Share with us your suggestions in the comments below.