Improving Air Quality
Recently, the analysis of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has provided that the monitoring trends in air pollution from 2016-2019 is irregular in most of the States in which the 102 cities that have been targeted for improving air quality.
Status of India’s Air Quality
- Only 15 States have PM (Particulate Matter) 2.5 monitoring systems for any year and only West Bengal has an above average number of readings available at 110 each for five monitors.
- Delhi ranks as the most polluted in PM2.5 average across all three years, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
- Out of the 23 States listed in the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) only three States/Union Territories (Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab) accounted for above-average readings for all three years for PM10 monitoring.
- Jharkhand was at the bottom of the chart with only 64 average readings per monitor, with three monitors accounted for in the State.
- The NCAP envisages reducing air pollution levels by 20%-30% in 102 cities by 2024, based on 2017 levels of PM2.5 and PM10.
Reasons for deteriorating condition of India’s Air
- Burning of Fossil Fuels: Most of the air pollution takes place due to the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline to produce energy for electricity or transportation.
- The release of carbon monoxide in high level indicates how much fossil fuel is burned which also emits other toxic pollutants in the air.
- The inhaling air induced with pollutants due to the burning of natural gas and fossil fuel reduces heart’s ability to pump enough oxygen causing one to suffer respiratory illness.
- Industrial Emission: The particulate matter 2.5 and 10, Nitrogen dioxide, Sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide are key pollutants that are emitted from industries that use coal and wood as their primary energy source for production of their goods.
- The industrial pollution effects associated with your health can range from irritation in your eyes and throat to breathing issues, at times can even lead to chronic illness.
- Indoor Air Pollution: The use of toxic products also called as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), inadequate ventilation, uneven temperature, and humidity level can cause indoor air pollution, whether you are in office, school or at your comfortable home.
- Wildfires: The climate change is not just increasing wildfire but also spiking air pollution.
- The burning of stubble and farm residue is also a major contribution to wildfirewhich causes increased PM 2.5 in the air which collides with other harmful substances like chemical gas and pollen creating smog.
- Microbial Decaying Process: The manufacturing, chemical, and textiles industries release a large number of carbon monoxides, hydrocarbons, chemicals and organic compounds which contaminate our environment.
- Open Burning of Garbage Waste: The exposure to open burning of garbage waste can pose serious health risk including cancer, liver issues, impairment of immune system, reproductive functions and can also affect the developing nervous system.
Challenges posed by Bad Air Quality
- Health related concerns: The long-term exposure to outdoor and household air pollution contributed to over 1.67 million annual deaths from stroke, heart attack, diabetes, lung cancer, chronic lung diseases and neonatal diseases in India in 2019.
- The outdoor and household particulate matter pollution also contributed to the deaths of more than 1,16,000 Indian infants in their first month of life last year.
- India faced the highest per capita pollution exposure in the world, followed by Nepal and Niger.
- Climate change impacts public health and welfare: The scientists warn that carbon pollution and resulting climate change are expected to lead to more intense hurricanes and storms, heavier and more frequent flooding, increased drought, and more severe wildfires.
- Increase in common particulate pollutants: The levels of particle pollution and ground-level ozone pollution are substantially lower than in the past but the levels are unhealthy in numerous areas of the country.
- Numerous toxic pollutants from diverse sources: The EPA’s most recent national assessment of inhalation risks from air toxics estimated that the whole nation experiences lifetime cancer risks above ten in a million.
Measures adopted to tackle Air Pollution
- Implementation of ambient air quality monitoring system: There are more than 250 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations and more than 800 ambient air quality monitoring stations operating across the country.
- The system helps us to understand the magnitude of the challenge of air pollution.
- Positive response from public policy for air quality: The budget allocation for air pollution increased substantially in 2020-21 from what it was in 2018-19 to ensure cleaner air in cities having populations above one million.
- The establishment of the Commission for Air Quality Management with penal provisions against polluters in the NCR and adjoining areas is a welcome move.
- India has an increased focus on e-mobility and it also jumped from BSIV to BSVI vehicles.
- PUSA Bio Decomposer: The Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s PUSA Bio Decomposer, which turns crop residue into manure in 15-20 days, could become a cost-effective alternative to tackle stubble burning.
- Nature-based solution to amplify air purification: UNDP is also promoting startup-led innovations such as a filter-less retrofit device for cutting particulate matter at source in industries and vehicles.
- GeoAI platform for brick kilns: It is developed by UNDP in partnership with the University of Nottingham, is supporting environment regulators to identify non-complaint brick kilns from space.
- The platform has already mapped over 37,000 brick manufacturing units across the Indo-Gangetic plains.
- Revolution from Pollution: The Delhi-based Chakr Innovation curbs air pollution with the world’s first retro-fit emission control device for diesel generators.
- It captures 90% of particulate matter emissions from the exhaust air without reducing energy efficiency.
- Solar Ferry: ADITYA, India’s first solar ferry, built by NavAlt Solar & Electric Boats, brings together innovation in naval design and engineering, solar power and advanced controls.
- It is India’s first commercially viable solar-powered ferry.
- CleanTech for Health and Clean Air: Cellzyme Biotech from Coimbatore uses an engineered enzyme to make antibiotics at room temperature without using solvents (a main contributor to air quality).
- Cooking with Radiant Heat: Inspired by the traditional Indian method of cooking on charcoal, the Agnisumukh manufactures commercial kitchen equipment driven by innovative, energy efficient radiant heat gas burners.
- Biomedical Waste Management: There are microwaves now available in the Indian market to treat infectious waste and eliminate air emissions, including toxic POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants), toxic chemicals that adversely affect human health and the environment around the world.
- System of air pollution monitoring and forecasting: The SAFAR project of the Ministry of Earth Sciences forecasts weather in now-cast and short-range scales over different parts of metropolitan cities and gives weather warnings.
Innovative steps required for a Cleaner Air
- Mobilization of private sector participation: Businesses and enterprises need to innovate their operations and functioning, building in emission and pollution controls and reducing institutional carbon footprint to the lowest possible levels.
- The private sector has strong potential to develop commercially viable products to combat air pollution and boost the innovation ecosystem.
- The impact of interventions that reduce air pollution with healthcare cost, disability-adjusted life years, or economic cost could lead to diversification of funding sources for that intervention.
- Check the Air Quality Index (AQI): The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regularly measures and reports air quality in cities and rural areas.
- Avoid burning garbage: It has been witnessed that many people out of their laziness prefer burning the waste instead of throwing it in municipal bodies' garbage dumping sites.
- The government needs to take strict action against the violators with both fine and jail term.
- All new buses zero-emission from 2025: From 2025 all new public transport buses must be zero-emission.
- The buses will run on either electricity or hydrogen fuel, both generated from renewable sources like solar and wind, and cause significantly less air pollution.
- Air quality around sensitive receivers: The buildings, like schools, that are designated as sensitive receivers may not be built near provincial roads and motorways.
- Programme to meet air quality standards: The National Air Quality Cooperation Programme (NSL) aims to ensure that the Netherlands meets the European limit values on air quality.
Road ahead
- India needs context-specific innovations not only in the technological but also in the economic, social, legal, educational, political and institutional domains given the complexity and magnitude of air pollution.
- It is important for it to develop a single window online platform for showcasing innovations with the potential to mitigate the challenges of air pollution.
- The need of the hour is provide an enabling ecosystem for innovations to address context-specific air pollution challenges.
- It is also required to have a significant government support for enterprises to come up with scalable pollution abatement technologies.
- The resources need to be allocated to support testing, certifying and scaling of innovative solutions and also to extend support for intellectual property rights protection.
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