An eight-point urban agenda for pollution control in India

Urban pollution has a multiplier effect on quality of life, productivity and human health with overwhelming share of 7 mn lives lost globally per annum

Urban areas generate 70 percent of carbon emission leading to pollution (caused by displacement of oxygen in the air) and associated impact on breathing, increase in the air pollutants, preventing earth from night time cooling (greenhouse effects - warming of ocean  waters and drop in  its ability to absorb carbon emission). Urban pollution has a multiplier effect on quality of life, productivity and human health with overwhelming share of seven million lives lost globally per annum. In the rapidly urbanizing world  (4.5 billion currently to 6.25 billion in 2050), the carbon emission, accompanied by pollution from transport, construction, energy and waste management sectors is likely to increase further unless drastic actions  are taken by multiple stakeholders in a well-designed manner.

WHO also has recently revised norms for ambient air quality (AAQ) guidelines of PM2.5 (5 mg per cubic metre from 10 pcm ) and annual mean of PM 2.10 (15 mg pcm from 20) just before 26th session of UN  Conference of Parties (COP 26) to be held in November 2021 which will certainly deliberate on new standards and global agenda towards Race to Zero (RTZ) Carbon 2050.  

India is also undergoing a transition from semi-urban (25%+) to urban majority society as part of structural transformation with surplus labour from agriculture sector with only 14% GDP for nearly half of workforce and 65 percent population. Pollution and associated impact in urban areas with 60-70 % carbon emission and high levels of PM2.5 and 10 is already alarming. 14 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India. (Delhi’s PM2.5 is 17 times the safe limit along with Kolkata 9.4, Hyderabad 7 and Chennai 5.4 etc.). A large part of loss of lives due to pollution being 1.7(ICMR etc.2019) to 2.5 (Harward 2021) million per annum in India is occurring in urban areas. Delhi, Mumbai along with a large number of people suffering from respiratory diseases. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow lost nearly 120000 lives due to air pollution in 2020.  Further , Delhi recorded highest per capita economic  loss (2019) being 13% of city GDP accompanied by  14% for Lucknow, 9% for Mumbai, 8% for Hyderabad and 6.8% each for Bengaluru and Chennai.

Last couple of years in urban India has witnessed a particular attention towards AAQ with a multipronged strategy on dedicated allocation, focus of national level schemes and state/city level actions. 
 

Dedicated allocation covers Rs 38,196 crore for 2021-26 under XV Finance Commission (FC) given to 44 Urban Agglomerations (covering 1115 towns) for AAQ and water and solid waste management (SWM) in a ratio of 32 and 68 % respectively. These are linked to each other. Further, nearly Rs 50,000 crore (for remaining 3000 + towns) is also dedicated to water and SWM in a ratio of 50% each. In addition a sum of Rs 24,000 crore is also allocated for urban health and wellness centres. Further Rs 8000 crores are allocated for Incubation of eight towns in a competitive manner among states. It will give push to pollution control. Swachh Bharat Mission 02 and Amrut 02 with allocation of Rs 4.3 trillion (two point five time more than phase 1) were launched on October 1, 2021 to give focus on water availability to all and treatment of sewage to create water plus cities.

The specific programmes/scheme include (a) National Clean Air Programme (2019) covering  132 cities  ,(b) Climate Smart City Assessment Framework (CSCAF) to award cities on 28 indicators under five areas (i) urban planning, (ii)green cover/biodiversity, (iii)energy efficient green buildings; (iv)mobility and air quality and (v) water and waste management (126 cities were assessed as part of smart cities mission(SCM) under  CSCAF out of which Ahmedabad ,Pune, Indore, etc. were adjudged top performers) and (c))Streets  for People Challenge  under SCM (reimaging clean environment friendly public spaces for economic regeneration, safety and mobility) among 113 cities participating cities States/ city level initiatives cover   (i) application of UN led  RTZ  campaign (2050) in 43 major towns in Maharashtra,(ii) Gujarat and Bihar are also planning RTZ, (iii) Drive to eliminate End of Use Life Vehicles (ELVs) in Delhi (which has four million ELVs) for scrapping (25 September 2021) with identification of seven partners, (iv) Scientific processing of construction and demolition (c&d) waste (Ahmedabad, Delhi ,Bengaluru etc.), (v) Commission for AQM in NCR(National Capital Region) has issued specific guidelines to strictly follow c&d waste management rules and upload the compliance on a portal being created in NCR(October 2021), (vi) Creation of SPV for SWM (Bengaluru) to expedite decentralised waste management (vii) specific sites for parking commercial vehicles to make space  on roads(MCD-South), (viii) Innovation officer to adapt lake revival, water harvesting (Chennai) and (ix) Blue green policy for  mobility and waste management (Delhi master plan 2041).  

These initiatives alone are not enough without a national urban agenda on pollution control to cover (i) Preparation of state urban transport policy to eliminate ELVs, promotion of fuel free transport, walking and cycling space, rationalise and restrict parking, promotion of  Bharat stage 6 vehicles/ better energy (as NCTD and  Maharashtra) (ii) develop and rejuvenate water bodies, (iii) make environment friendly process  for building construction and C&D waste (iv) minimise garbage going to dumping sites through reduce, recycling and reuse with a circular economy, (v) enforce plantation drive  and census of trees, (vi) wider application of water harvesting (vi) prepare or revise master Plans for blue -green  development (vii) Initiate awards on best practices on RTZ 2050 and (viii) Take up capacity building of ULBs on above actions through training (virtual, Hybrid, face to face), technical assistance and field visits.  

The author is Professor, urban management, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi