Air quality: India at its worst

People are not fully aware of the dangers of polluted air, and governments and other authorities are lax in taking measures to prevent or to control it

The State of Global Air Report 2022, which was released last week, may be the worst-ever such report for India as it shows three of the country’s largest cities among the most affected by air pollution in the world. No other country has more than one of its cities among the top 20 most polluted cities. The report shows Delhi as the most polluted, Kolkata taking the second position and Mumbai standing14th on the levels of particulate matter, which is the main measure of air pollution. The World Air Quality Index 2022 had also included the three cities, and a number of smaller cities like Kanpur and Rohtak, among the world’s most polluted places. As many as 12 of the 15 cities in Central and South Asia with the worst air in 2021 are in India. It is not just the big cities that are polluted. The report says that more than 76% of India’s population lives in places where the ambient air quality limits are consistently exceeded.

Air pollution hardly receives any attention in India. People are not fully aware of the dangers of inhaling polluted air, and governments and other authorities are lax in taking measures to prevent or to control it. There are various sources of air pollution, like the use of fossil fuels, industries, factories, vehicular emissions, fires, dust from construction sites, etc., and they are all active in the country. The limits set by the Central Pollution Control Board are much more lax than the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which aimed to reduce levels of particulate matter in 132 cities by 20-30% by 2024 was launched in 2019. The government has said that it has released Rs 472 crore for the scheme and that states have utilised less than half of it.

The efforts to counter air pollution should be as varied as the sources of pollution and they call for fundamental changes in the way we live, work and move. The solutions have to be at the collective and government levels and will involve individuals, too. One particular city or region will not be able to successfully fight pollution because it travels across borders. Air pollution has serious health and economic consequences. WHO says it is “the world’s largest single environmental health risk,” which accounts for one in eight deaths worldwide. The economic costs are also very high, especially in developing countries. India is worst placed in this respect. While the performance of many countries has improved over the years, the situation in India has steadily worsened. It calls for urgent action by the government, communities and individuals.