Breathing in disease

Take the right steps to fix urban air quality

Slowly, India is being forced to act on air quality. North India has supposedly just switched to cleaner Euro-IV fuel; and a national air quality index (AQI) has now been launched. However, these measures are piecemeal; and the problem that they are supposed to address is deep. Heavily polluted areas like Delhi are unlikely to get much better unless down-the-line mechanisms are put in place - which, sadly, isn't the case as yet. For example, the auto industry has already declared that it is simply unprepared to produce Euro-IV-compatible heavy duty vehicles (buses and trucks) in the next few months. This is in spite of the fact that there was more than enough warning of the regulatory change. Similarly, there is little clarity as to what action would be forthcoming when the AQI sounds the alert as to bad air quality. The situation in Delhi, in particular, has alarmed many, particularly after the World Health Organization declared it to be the world's most polluted city. The impact on tourism should cause some worry, even if these fears are being overstated.

A sizable part of Delhi's pollution is caused by neighbouring states, though there are many local factors as well that mar its air quality. The thousands of vehicles that enter the capital daily from other states can operate on Euro-III fuel, which has a high sulphur content of 350 parts per million (ppm), against 50 ppm in case of Euro-IV fuels. They also spew several folds more harmful particulate matter of more than 2.5 microns in size (PM2.5) that can get into the lungs and the bloodstream to cause various health problems. A 2012 study on schoolchildren found that over 40 per cent of them had "poor or restrictive" lungs and ran the risk of growing up into adults with irreversible lung damage. The National Green Tribunal has now ordered that police stop diesel vehicles that are older than 10 years from entering the state. Much will depend on whether this order can be enforced, and what the effect on traffic and waiting will be - hours of idling for checks may make the problem worse. The other notable factors responsible for the capital's perilously bad air quality include: coal-fired power plants and polluting factories within or close to the city; dirty roads and manual sweeping that disperses the dust into the air rather than collecting it; improper handling of construction debris; burning of garbage, fallen tree leaves and crop residues in Delhi and the adjoining states; and the continued use of open fire and traditional coal-fired stoves for cooking.

Addressing the pollution-related issues is not too difficult provided there is political will to do so. In the end, there are few alternatives to making it more difficult and expensive for private vehicles to operate and rapidly expanding the public transport fleet - which means that the Delhi state government should perhaps reconsider its decision regarding bus rapid transit corridors that, if better implemented, could serve as a public-transport backbone as they do in many cities. Other schemes, such as congestion charging, should also be examined.