After topping the list of cities with the most polluted air, Delhi’s ranking has improved in the latest air quality assessment published by the World Health Organization. India’s car-dominated national capital is no longer in the top ten cities choked by particulate matter. The top spot is now taken by Zabol, a city in Iran crippled by a vast disappeared wetland, dust storms, deforestation and desertification. The WHO’s upgrading of Delhi may appear a positive, but it is cold comfort to India because the problem of small particulate matter (PM) measuring 10 and 2.5 micrometres is still deep-rooted, and its health impact has been under official scrutiny only in recent years. Also, while Delhi has come to the 11th place for fine particulate matter pollution, many other cities in north India with a history of poor air quality are still high on the WHO list. This is unsurprising, as scientific studies point to distinct causative factors and atmospheric conditions in this part of the country that lead to very poor air quality. It is becoming clearer, for instance, that there is a higher risk of premature death from respiratory and cardiac conditions in several districts of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar, where living conditions are already difficult, and there is a large population suffering long-term exposure to PM and PM from a variety of sources, including household cooking. It is strongly quantified through research that air pollution increases the risk of death from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart problems, lung cancer and other chronic ailments. This should prompt the Centre, which frames environmental law, to act speedily.
It has been known for long that the States along the Indo-Gangetic basin register higher levels of particulate matter pollution due to specific factors. Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh contribute a large part of the air pollution suffered by populations in the east too. A policy of mitigation should therefore aim to reduce the burning of solid cooking fuels and agricultural biomass, which takes place in the post-monsoon and winter seasons. This requires a coordinated approach involving the Centre and the States, and enlightened welfare policies relating to improved cooking stoves, solar stoves and cooking gas, low-cost heating facilities and affordable shelter. These measures would contribute to a reduction in the general burden of disease, and reduce the number of premature deaths linked to pollution. In fact, one government-funded study by IIT Delhi suggests that if India could meet its target for PM levels of 40 micrograms per cubic metre — which is not at all ambitious since the national average is about 37.3 — over 44,000 premature deaths could be prevented annually. It is important to curb the use of automotive fossil fuels, and promote public transport and non-motorised alternatives such as cycling and electric vehicles. Urbanisation also needs to become green, with eco-sensitive administrations providing paved surfaces, wetlands, parks and trees.
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