Speech on deteriorating air quality in northern part of india
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The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released an updated list of most polluted cities globally. It turns out that if we rank cities on the basis of average annual PM 2.5 concentration for the year 2016, 14 of the 20 most polluted cities are in India. It is worth noting that all these cities, including Kanpur, Faridabad, Varanasi, Gaya, Patna, Delhi, Lucknow, Agra, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur are situated in the northern part of the country.
The question that ensues is, why is the northern part of our country becoming the pollution capital of the world. Does the answer lie in the explosive growth in vehicular population or the incessant use of dirty fossil fuels by industries or in the unrestrained constructions with heaps of uncovered dust marring the landscape of our cities? While these are the major pieces of the pollution puzzle, the inherent disadvantages of the Indo-Gangetic plain stemming from its geographical location and soil composition cannot be ruled out.
A 2011 report by the Health Effects Institute, Boston, assesses air pollution and mortality in Delhi and Chennai. The results are quite intriguing. While a 0.4 per cent increase in mortality risk per 10-µg/m3 increase in PM10 concentration was observed in Chennai, it was found to be 0.15 per cent per 10-µg/m3 increase in Delhi. This is indicative of the fact that while the pollutant concentrations are higher in Delhi than Chennai, but the toxicity of particulate matter in Chennai may be higher.
The WHO database or the Global burden of Disease, all point out that Indian cities, whether situated in the North or South, are going through a massive air pollution crisis. As indicated above, particulate matter originating from fossil fuel combustion is more hazardous than ambient particulates, which tend to have a higher proportion of dust. Hence, source-specific PM control measures need to be strategised and prioritised, targeting toxic PM emissions first. While local-level policy and technological interventions are certainly the call of the hour, a national-level integrated plan needs to be put in place. Cities in the same airshed, such as those in the Indo-Gangetic basin, cannot be looked at in isolation. Outside and regional contributions need to be taken into account prior to introduction of policy measures to combat pollution.
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