Just two of 190 cities had low level of air pollution in 2010

India’s high economic growth has given its cities a major health concern --- rising air pollution. It is no more a concern for big cities alone.

Updated on: Mar 7, 2013, 02:31:02 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan

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India’s high economic growth has given its cities a major health concern --- rising air pollution. It is no more a concern for big cities alone. Smaller towns are getting affected by the malaise at a much faster pace, says latest report of Central Pollution Control Board.

A new pollution regulator’s data for 2010 shows that smaller cities such as Solapur in Maharashtra, Rajkot in Gujarat, Yamunanagar and Faridabad in Haryana, Ghaziabad and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Paonta Sahib in Himachal, Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh and Nagaon in Assam have followed the footprints of bigger cities when it comes to air pollution.

No more Delhi is ranked most polluted city in any of the three parameters of pollutants --- sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM) --- measured. Delhi within two years has been replaced by Gwalior in case of PM and Howrah for NO2. In 2008, Chandni Chowk in Delhi was top ranked for them.

The Capital losing its crown was not because of its air getting cleaner. The rise of particulate matter pollution in smaller cities was faster than Delhi.

Only two cities --- Malapuram in Kerala and Madurai in Tamil Nadu --- of the 190 cities monitored for air pollution across India could claim to have clean air in 2010, the report said. All other cities have either high or critical level of one of these pollutants, mostly PM. In fact, 99 % of 400 locations under scanner in 2010 reported high or critical levels of PM. In 2008, the percentage was around 70%.

Anumita Roy Chaudhary of Centre for Science and Environment pointed out that in majority of the cities air pollution had increased at a rapid pace. “The cities earlier with low level now have moderate levels and those with moderate have high or critical levels of particulate matter,” she told HT.

The trends in India’s air pollution has been reported in studies with recent Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) report stating that air pollution was the fifth biggest reason for deaths in India.

Aaron Cohen, who headed the GBD expert group on air pollution, described the situation in India as “grave” and said that that air pollution causes about 20 % of lung cancer and six percent of high blood pressure deaths in India.

The CPCB report shows Delhi’s satellite towns --- Ghaziabad, Noida and Faridabad --- was following the Capital’s footsteps with particulate matter pollution sky-rocketing in the last four years. In fact, Ghaziabad has more particulate pollution than Delhi, the feat it achieved between 2008 and 2010. Noida and Faridabad are behind Delhi but are fast catching up.

Chaudhary said most Indian cities have failed to invest in its infrastructure and public transport leading to vehicular congestion causing higher air pollution, a view concurred in the CPCB report.

Air pollution
Monitoring of pollutants at 450 locations in 190 cities by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) indicate at the deteriorating quality of air pollution. Not even a single city has low levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter (PM) --- the three pollutants measured. High air pollution can cause breathing problems leading to cardiac attacks and even gene mutation in children.

More than half of the cities have critical levels of PM and another 49 % between moderate to high. Nitrogen oxide --- derivative of vehicle and industrial emissions --- is rising with half of the cities recording critical levels, from about 20 % a decade ago.

Here is how major states and cities fare on national pollution chart

Particulate Matter
Highest concentration states --- Delhi, Jharkhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Haryana.

Top five polluted locations --- Dindayal Nagar (Gwalior), Town Hall (Delhi), Sarora (Raipur), Janakpuri (Delhi) and West Singhbhum, Jharkhand.

Top five polluted cities --- Gwalior, West Singhbhum, Ghaziabad, Raipur and Delhi.

Critical level in around 90% of metro cities
Trend --- The latter half of 2001 to 2010 saw a spurt in PM pollution rising to critical and high levels. Rising PM across cities has resulted in Delhi losing its top position in 2008. Among metros, Delhi still has highest PM levels.

Reason: Rising vehicles and industries without adequate pollution abatement programme. National Standard: 60 micro grams in cubic meter of air (ug/m3)

Nitrogen Oxide
Highest concentration states --- West Bengal and Delhi, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar and Gujarat.

Top five locations --- Howrah Municipality School (Howrah), Khardah Municipality (Barrackpore), Howrah MC building, Town Hall, Chandhi Chowk (Delhi) and DumDum (Howrah)

Top five cities --- Howrah, Barrackpore, Badlapur (Maharashtra), Ulhasnagar (Maharashtra) and Durgapur (West Bengal).

Trend: The nitrogen oxide (NOX) levels in most cities rising but slower than PM. It is at pre-CNG levels in Delhi and seen steady rise in high vehicle concentration cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, Ludhiana and Chandigarh. Even in upcoming cities NOX is rising above national standard.

Reason: Flux of diesel vehicles and use in agriculture because of fuel price advantage over petrol and electricity.

National standard: 40 ug/m3

Sulphur Dioxide
Highest concentration states --- Jharkhand and Maharashtra

Top five polluted locations --- Bhosari (Pune), Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Bistupur (Jamshedpur), Golmuri (Jamshedpur) and Saraikela Kharsawan (Jharkhand)

Top five polluted cities --- Jamshedpur, Saraikela Kharsawan, Badlapur (Maharashtra), Marmagao (Goa) and Ulhasnagar (Maharashtra)

Trend: In the last decade the levels of SO2 has moderated or reduced at most places. In most cities including metros it is at low and moderate level. Around 50% cities have levels slightly higher than the national standard.

Reason: Low sulpur diesel and government effort to reduce in other fuels biggest reason for the low level.
National Standard: 50 ug/m3

Emerging Pollutants: Limited study on PM 2.5 and ammonia shows its high concentration in most places. However, Ozone was observed to be within limits in Delhi.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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