The Causes And Effects Of Pollution In Delhi

Air pollution is a growing problem in megacities and large urban areas throughout the globe. Transportation is the major source of air pollution in many cities, especially in developing countries like India. Contribution of automobiles is reported in the range of 40 to 80% of the total air pollution. The challenge faced by megacities such as Delhi is how to reduce the adverse effects of pollution without hampering the mobility of 19 million people. My paper focuses on presenting the causes and effects of pollution, raising questions, presenting analysis and solutions so that the people can realize and participate in the government’s endeavor for a cleaner city in an effective manner. Living in Delhi, I can feel the pollution. Yet it has not stopped citizens from maintaining their daily lives. People need to wake up and realize that this is a serious problem and questions need to be raised towards the government. The government hasn’t done any major change to curb pollution. Questions such as What major steps has the government taken to reduce crop-burning?, How many machines have been provided to the farmers for agriculture waste disposals?, Why no initiative has been taken to implement odd/even rule in an efficient way again?. There are more questions than answers available. We as citizens of India need to analyze the problem and not be one to abet the problem.

Delhi has earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the most polluted city on Earth. The air quality in Delhi has reached epically bad proportions. According to the WHO, air pollution is the fifth largest killer in India. Breathing the air in Delhi is close to smoking 50 cigarettes in itself. Strong winds from arid regions in the west are showering dust particles over the capital. Air pollution throttles in the capital city during the winter. There are a wide variety of factors that bring about air pollution in Delhi. The construction dust, industrial smog, and vehicle emissions are constant. But the air is also dramatically affected by wind speed and direction, temperature inversions, torrents of thick smoke from farmers burning fields because it’s the cheapest and fastest way to prepare the soil for planting, and fireworks unleashed to celebrate Diwali. According to the Ambient Air Pollution (AAP) report for the year 2014, Delhi had PM 2. 5 pollution levels, which is the highest in the world, followed by Beijing. This result was based on the monitoring of PM measurement of outdoor air pollution from almost 1, 600 cities in 91 countries. There has been highly haphazard and unplanned development of industries and factories. Studies have revealed that only about 20% of the industrial units are set up in the approved industrial areas whereas the rest of them are in residential and commercial areas. These are the major factors due to which Delhi’s air pollution Index has been increasing in an upward slope.

Politics is at the realm of rising air pollution problem in New Delhi. The failure of the government in dealing with the air pollution cirises has led to eruption of wide spread anger. Sadly, it takes a crisis to push the government to act. In the recent years air pollution index has noticeably reached a hazardous level. Even as there was some initiative to bring it in control, the government has failed to execute basic plans and schemes in the long run. Needless to say, there are growing pressure groups of young voters and the middle class who are increasingly forcing political parties to take a stronger stance in tacjling the whole problem. One major program failure is highlighted by the Delhi government’s odd-even car number plate scheme. In the first phase of this rule, 10, 058 vehicles were fined and in the second phase, 8, 988 vehicles were fined. This however led only to a marginal drop in PM levels. Mr Kejriwal (Chief Minister of Delhi) had also admitted that solution scheme did not lower pollution as much as expected, however, it significantly reduced traffic congestion. It is understood that stronger steps are needed to strengthen public transportation. Not limited to poor functioning of administration, corruption among officialsis is also an additional issue. General public gets away by disobeying laws and guidelines in the city due to corrupt officials.

To quickly revisit a major underlying factor causing tremendous pollution to Delhi’s air – the smog created due to wasteland burning, farmland clearing and industrial waste has of course created a big problem for the environment in and around Delhi. What is important here are recent data showing the on-set of smog coming not in the later months of the year such as October, but rather much earlier, in the summer months of June. Turning out to be a global issue, what are international organizations doing to control pollution levels? Are there any developments in proposing plans to tackle increasing health problems among people associated with poor air quality? The consequence of this developing environmental hazard in the city has pushed major international bodies to thankfully recognize such a large scale pollution menace. Veerabhadran Ramanathan is the professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. He is a respected name in the field of research done in atmospheric sciences, a major aspect related to environmental issues. In a unique take on rising air pollution levels in major cities, Ramanathan busts a much prevalent myth - tackling air pollution is expensive. In reality, preventing air pollution levels from rising is not as expensive a proposition as it has been made out to be. In an effort to tackle the city’s problem, Ramanathan partnered with Air Resources Board, an agency for clean air in California to initiate mitigation programs in Delhi to reduce pollution. But ultimately, who is responsible for making change? Why has there not been proper execution for reducing overpopulation? Despite tremendous economic growth, why is public infrastructure still weak?

The answer to such agonizing questions might be found in works of a reputed Austrian based policy and environment think tank - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). In research conducted by this institute, a possible solution that came about was concerned with a multiple-source tackling approach. This involved addressing not only one source of problem (such as transportation issues due to unstructured roads), but multiple sources of problems (cleaner cooking fuels, proper waste management, complete and better enhanced agricultural management and so on). Doubtless, recent data paints a horrific picture of the air quality in Delhi. Delhi’s air pollution has crossed the safe limits proposed by WHO, by almost 30 times. What should be the possible solution to tackle the problem? To begin with - approaching the damage already caused. A sheer demonstration of stricter action by health organizations and international bodies such as UN, either in form of sanctions or fines. At least this will awaken the callousness among concerned authorities. Next, a possible immediate assistance can be provided by neighbouring states and possibly advanced nations (China and Japan). Truly, international organizations can effect a solid change to curbing the growing pollution levels in Delhi. After analyzing Delhi’s pollution dilemma I have realized that implementation of programs, schemes, laws have been lackadaisical by the Delhi authorities. There has also been a complete disregard by the general public in adhering to rules being put in place.

Public has come up with solutions such as providing face masks and installing automatic sprinklers along roads. I feel these are knee-jerk reactions and a more scientific approach is needed to tackle pollution. An alternative to stubble burning is in need of the hour. Delhi's air quality could improve by 90% if crop burning is eliminated, according to a 2016 study by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Crop residue can be diverted to create wood equivalents such as straw-panel boards for the construction and furniture industry but is a time consuming solution. Machines that segregate crop residue need to be given to farmers on a subsidy. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra divert crop waste to biomass power plants and thus tackle pollution as well as earn clean energy. Restrictions need to be put in place on industries and brick-kiln operations. Car free days need to be implemented after increasing public transportation. There need to be incentives to use public transportation which will enable the public in shifting from private transport. An increase in cost of automobiles will push for more use of public transit as well. Delhi’s recent pollution spikes recall the “Great Smog, ” which is believed to have killed as many as twelve thousand people when it smothered London, in 1952. A foundational change is required otherwise a spiralled out situation will lead to a major climatic change and severe health problems for the public. The public needs to realize that by adhering to policies put in place by the government they are the ones benefiting from the outcome which would be cleaner air and lesser health problems. But this isn’t the case today and the mindset of the people needs to change. The government needs to be more aggressive in implementing policies and curbing pollution.

Another aspect is looking at the role of international bodies in suggesting possible solutions. So what are such international organizations doing to control pollution levels? Are there any developments in proposing plans to tackle increasing health problems among people associated with poor air quality? The consequence of this developing environmental hazard in the city has pushed major international bodies to thankfully recognize such a large scale pollution menace. Veerabhadran Ramanathan is the professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. He is a respected name in the field of research done in atmospheric sciences, a major aspect related to environmental issues. In a unique take on rising air pollution levels in major cities, Ramanathan busts a much prevalent myth - tackling air pollution is expensive. In reality, preventing air pollution levels from rising is not as expensive a proposition as it has been made out to be. In an effort to tackle the city’s problem, Ramanathan partnered with Air Resources Board, an agency for clean air in California to initiate mitigation programs in Delhi to reduce pollution. But ultimately, who is responsible for making change? Why has there not been proper execution for reducing overpopulation? Despite tremendous economic growth, why is public infrastructure still weak?

There need to be incentives to use public transportation which will enable the public in shifting from private transport. An increase in cost of automobiles will push for more use of public transit as well. Delhi’s recent pollution spikes recall the “Great Smog, ” which is believed to have killed as many as twelve thousand people when it smothered London, in 1952. A foundational change is required otherwise situation will lead to a major climatic change and severe health problems for the public. The citizens need to be more responsible and the government needs to be more aggressive in implementing policies and curbing pollution.