City-dwelling Indians are at higher risk for respiratory illnesses, heart disease, and lung cancer — because the concentration of fine particulate matter in the air is way above the guidelines of the World Health Organisation. The recently released WHO data related to Particulate Matter measuring 10 micrometres or less (PM10) for 33 Indian cities are staggeringly high. These particles enter the bloodstream through the lungs, with grave consequences for health; urban outdoor air pollution is thought to cause 1.3 million deaths a year worldwide. The cities with the worst air quality are Ludhiana, Kanpur, Delhi, Lucknow, Indore, and Agra, in that order. Significantly, the WHO pollution atlas has a lot in common with the map prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board for cities that do not meet ambient air quality standards. This is an issue of serious concern because PM10 levels in ambient air in 27 Indian cities range from 80 micrograms per cubic metre in Ahmedabad to 251 in Ludhiana, against the WHO guideline norm of 20. Sadly, the average citizen can do little to mitigate the pollution. Achieving good air quality requires intervention at the policy level in key areas — vehicular emissions, polluting small-scale manufacturing, and burning of biomass and coal.
The abysmal air quality in Indian cities calls for determined, speedy action. Thus far the response to the problem has been directed towards improving the quality of automotive fuels, mandating higher emission standards for automobiles, using CNG for commercial vehicles in Delhi and LPG in some other places, organising surprise checks on polluting industries, and so on. That these have not made a significant difference to air quality is clear proof of their inadequacy. Delhi experienced a perceptible improvement in air quality thanks to CNG, but it has begun to slide in the last few years. The WHO figures indicate that Amritsar and Kochi have lower PM10 levels than other cities, but even these are almost double the guideline figure. The answer lies in providing alternatives to fossil-fuel driven vehicles, taxing inefficient use of cars, and encouraging non-motorised transport such as cycling. No time should be lost in expanding and liberally subsidising public transport. Unfortunately, India is motorising at a rate much faster than the United States or countries in Europe did in the 20th century. The result is massive urban vehicular congestion. The imperatives of economic growth do demand better and faster mobility but this has to be achieved in smart ways that do not subject entire populations to terrible health risks.
Keywords: respiratory disease, air pollution, RSPM, pollution levels, WHO guidelines
Very good edit. I agree with Vyas K Susarla that effective pollution control lies with the local bodies. But the blame should definitely be shifted to the residents. Garbage control cannot be done only by the "authorities" as the scale is too much. It has to start at the small level and definitely with the residents. Proper segregation is the key here. And as always, less plastic will definitely help.
The rising of air pollution level in the cities is really a great cause of concern for both the people and the goverment.As it is clear that the main contributing factors are the excessive use of petrolium oils in any form. Eradication of problem requires a lot of attention by the people.People should use the non-motorised vehicle like bicycle as much as possible.The use of CNG auto in Delhi is an exciting step by the government. The other state goverment should learn something from it.
Thank you The Hindu! The editorial echos the grave concern of each and every urban living Indian. We need a lot to be done to control air pollution. Not to forget that noise pollution is no less in cities. We can hear honking noise 24/7. Noise pollution makes people restless and irritable - time to ban air horns altogether and encourage a sense of sobreity while driving.
The above editorial gives a thrill about the rising pollutants in
our environment at alarming rate .This appeals us to wake up now and
do something about the environmental issues to reduce our
vulnerability to deadly diseases and decreasing life expectancy.
There should be collective efforts made by both government as well
as the citizens . Government should make appropriate policies and we
should make efforts to be a responsible citizens. Liberalization and
industrialization are obviously necessary for the development and we
can't blame industrialization motorization and development as the
cause of the risen issue . Development has to be there in every
strata of life and these developments in some or the other way will
lead to some issues relating .But, above all if a problem exists
then its solution also exist .The need of the hour is to identify
the Problem and hunt for the solution .
Air poluion is the root cause of every disceases. There is “mutiny in the air" to spread discease to the man kind. The time is not far away even we have to buy good air by paying cost because of unruly cutting of trees in the name urbanisaation, city expansion, developmental activities etc.,. The greenery of India changed into concrete India.
Large number of vehicles is not necessarily the reason. Look at New
York City for example - lots of cars all the time on the streets,
however air quality is good. So the issue is not the cars, rather
polluting vehicles such as 3 wheel vehicles on kerosene/diesel,
trucks, buses - the vehicles that get most of the public stuff done,
and their operators bribe officials all the way to keep these
polluting monsters on the road. The govt. is afraid to take steps as
the guys who drive these vehicles are poor people, and hence the govt.
can't be seen as adversely affecting their livelihoods.
Congratulations to the editor for publishing a very important article.
As a person who spends much time abroad, I struggle with air quality
when I return home. I think there are more reasons for the air
pollution than vehicle emissions. For example, in Mumbai, you have bus
and trucks that drive on unpaved portion of road creating lots of dust
in air, trucks that carry earth uncovered and hence spill a lot of mud
over highways and turned into dust by other vehicles. And as if this
is not enough, municipality burns the trash creating further
pollution. And of course you have the cow dungs burnt in Arrey to
prevent mosquito for cows. What I find appalling is that everybody
seems OK with it and I get stares when I talk to someone about it as
if whats wrong with this guy. We definitely need coordinated action
otherwise our cities won't be fit to live anymore.
Soon major steps should be taken to reduce air pollution,otherwise it is going to be more worse..In past lot of steps have been taken,but none of them was followed..If govt and other agencies keep neglecting this ,the day will come when we will not get clean anywhere in India.
It is a timely & thought provoking edit. The Dept of Health & the CPB must start educating the public about the hazards of pollution. Besides the pollution caused by automobiles & manufacturing units, the public's callous indifference to hygiene is a major factor in the spread of respiratory illness. The authorities must impose heavy fine/penalty on erring commercial/private vehicles and factories & repeated offences must be treated as cognizable with harsh punishments including prison sentences. Inspite of laws against smoking in public places, many continue to pollute the air & they go scot free. It is a fact that NRIs & their family who visit our country get affected due to various allergies once they land in the country. Many are stunned to see the soot & pollution in the atmosphere while landing The same is not case when Indians go abroad. Inspite of this, the Govt/civic agencies do not take any concrete steps to control pollution & also to create public opinion in this direction.
The editorial is very important in the prevalent Indian context. Vijayawada town has switched over to CNG autorixas thereby easing the situation. But surely, the most effective solution lies in the hands of Panchayats and Municipalities in making the villages and towns trash-free with proper and efficient garbage disposal systems which alone will improve the health standards of general public. India needs to clean its rivers, roads and rail before talking of anything inorder to save the country.
i agree with DR. G. BALAKRISHNAN that the government should make an environmental law that restricts a family to have no more than one vehicle and if they do, then the fuel used by them should be given to them in limited amounts. By doing this, we will atleast make sure that the pollution is not rising anymore. Also, it becomes more imperative for a moral citizen of the country to utilize the public transport judiciously.
If the statistics at transport offices across the country where new vehicles are registered are any guide, even small cities will join the list of the cities with the worst air quality. While registration of new vehicles is going on unchecked, old obsolete vehicles are not deregistered and demolished. In some countries, this problem has been effectively addressed by controlling manufacture and regulating sale of new vehicles. There, unless the administration allows purchase, no one is permitted to own a vehicle. A new vehicle is allowed on road only after scrapping certain number of outdated vehicles are deregistered and dumped to scrap garages. In the absence of respect for law and in a situation where rule of law is dilapidated and corruption is rampant, this kind of regulation is hard to be implemented even if it is notified.
in this openion one thing mention correctoly that government must subsidise the public transport.Along with this make it more convenient for every group of society so that everyone can use public transport. In order to control air polution we have to target the middle and higer class of the socity.
The government can look at introducing a monthly or yearly tax based on the pollution level of each vehicle. The interest on car loans can also be increased through an RBI directive. While this can slightly deter the purchase of new vehicles, it can also generate funds to improve public transport facilities and cycle lanes. However, the main hurdle is the attitude of us towards using environment-friendly options. Many of my peers simply refuse to use cycles as they consider it a “prestige issue” as they are well educated professionals. Only by changing this attitude, we would be able to see some significant change in this matter.
Your edit is indeed good. It can be better if hindu as a newspaper files pil under environmental laws, as you have the necessary data from central pollution board. Please ensure the government forthwith look for alternate fuel to petrol. Also ask court to reduce the number of vehicles by rationing of vehicles to one per family, as also not more than 5 to very big corporate and 2 to small corporate. If they have more vehicles starve them of petrol intake. Like this court similarly instruct government to reduced usage of vehicles, by proper authorizations like if the vehicle is asked they should justify, else they all can use normal cycles in its place. Cycles mean not motor driven. And so on. Then only your edit will have some meaning else it will be like a payal talk of old Tamilnadu!
Unplanned and haphazard urbanisation is the root cause for all the pollution related problems of the indian cities and it is the bounden duty of the state to provide for efficient and affordable mass public transport to mitigate the sufferings of the common man because of air,water and noise pollution in our cities!
hey....Mr s narayana I would just like to guide you on one thing..Try to
give solutions rather than telling the problems it is because you too
are a part of the system at last...
I live in chennai and I develop runny nose due to pollution. The problem gets worse at nights and early mornings. My family, friends, colleagues don't understand my condition and they are unaware of long term effects of pollution. Such an absymal level of awareness.
Alas ! India forgets that health is wealth! Thank you Hindu for writing an editorial about it
One great instant possibility to keep the air clean depends on the conduct and approach of the concerned authorities who are empowered to make surprise checks on polluting industries and vehicular emissions. Treating the pollution hazards as a national stigma,if only they act with all honesty and clean hands in their actions,without considering the power vested on them as a boon to fill their coffers,much could be achieved to contain this malady.
Your editorial hits the nail on the head in saying that the suspended particulate matter in all the Indian cities is beyond permissible limts and is responsible for respiratory lung deseases, heart attacks and cancer.I would blame the uncontrolled expansion of the automobiles on the roads mainly running on polluting Diesel subsidised at the taxpayers cost. The Government does not care to be concerned of the matter in its enthusism to generate more and more employment and and GDP. A time will come when the number of automobiles in India will exceed the humans and there will be no space anywhere on the roads. The classic examples are Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai that have multiple vehicle ownerships with liberal and cheap financing by banks. I know of four member families owning four NANO cars at an investment of Rs.6 lacs - all of them going around seperately with three empty seats. What a waste!
Today's editorial published by The Hindu is a wonderful piece which shows....in the name of development that the urbanization and industrialization is taking place hastily..... is a problem than solution for human misery.
Air pollution has become a curse for all of us.It is the cause of all
respiratory diseases like Asthma,Bronchitis etc.Also,Prevention is
better than cure and stitch in time saves nine.Keeping all these
quotations in mind,we must strictly adhere to policies like Each one
Plant one and Chipko Aandolan all over India.After all,we have borrowed
this planet from our children and not inherited it from our forefathers.
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