delhi's airpocalypse
Air pollution is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and is associated with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, stroke and various cancers. Globally, 1 in 10 deaths is attributed to air pollution exposure (World Bank), and air pollution is now the fourth highest risk factor for premature death. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to associated adverse impacts. In India, 1.5 million people in India died from the effects of air pollution in 2012. The adverse impact of air pollution does not stop at health. The economic burden of air pollution is monumental, costing $225 billion in foregone labour income every year.
According to the World Bank, the economic burden of pollution associated with premature mortality and morbidity is equivalent to 5 to 14% of countries' GDPs. The economic cost of air pollution has been calculated for cities in China. One estimate places the cost of PM10 pollution across 111 Chinese cities in 2004 to be US$ 29,178.7 million. Another study in Shanghai estimated the cost of adverse health due to air pollution in 2001 to be US$625.40 million, which accounted for 1% of the GDP of the city. With a booming economy, increasing urbanization and population size, New Delhi needs to prioritizes air pollution immediately. Clear air is a fundamental human right and India cannot afford to ignore this crisis any longer.
New Delhi has been the face of India’s air pollution crisis. In November 2017, the Indian Medical Association declared an air pollution emergency in New Delhi, the capital, and urged all schools to remain shut and encouraged the residents of New Delhi to remain indoors. The 8th day of the same month recorded an Air Quality Index of 999, the maximum recording possible, and equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes in a day. The government has taken several measures to curb air pollution and its impacts. However, recent policy responses to the air pollution crises such as the Supreme Court’s decision to ban the sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) and the odd-even scheme have proved insufficient to achieve sustainable clean air.
There is an immediate need to implement innovative, evidence-based and technology-driven policy solutions. Continuing business as usual is not an option. Current estimates place vehicular exhaust (30%), biomass burning (20%) and industries (20%) as the top three sources for air pollution in New Delhi. Other sources include soil and road dust (15%), diesel generators (15%), open waste burning (15%) and power plants (5%).
Namratha Roa, a public health researcher and a dear friend, and I wrote a policy memo for the government which recommends focusing the efforts on the two major sources - biomass burning, and industries, and provides short and long term recommendations for each source. Given the specific sources outlines above, we recommend a combination of some of the options listed below for a comprehensive approach to tackling pollution.
Follow this link for the complete research paper.
This paper was submitted to Jay Panda’s “Clean Air Policy Challenge,” where it also received the first prize. All content and recommendations are the intellectual property of the authors, myself and Namratha Rao.
(Image Credit - Ravi Choudhary, AP, Press Trust of India 2018)