Editorial: Dubious record

By now, there is a familiar air to the global reports on the state of air pollution. Year after year, ominous signals emanate from these surveys, bracketing Indian cities among the most polluted in the world, but it is again back to business as usual for the policymakers. The latest report is quite alarming because […]

By now, there is a familiar air to the global reports on the state of air pollution. Year after year, ominous signals emanate from these surveys, bracketing Indian cities among the most polluted in the world, but it is again back to business as usual for the policymakers. The latest report is quite alarming because India is now home to 35 of the 50 cities in the world with the worst air quality, most of them in north India. For the fourth consecutive year, New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the worst polluted capital city in the world as per the World Air Quality Report 2021, prepared by IQAir, a Switzerland-based climate group that is also a technology partner of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). The deteriorating air quality reflects the failure of the current set of anti-pollution strategies. What is more disturbing is that the country’s average PM2.5 (Particulate Matter of 2.5 micron diameter) levels have reached 58.1 microgram per cubic metre (µg/m3) in 2021, the highest in the world and more than 10 times the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality guidelines. None of the Indian cities met the prescribed WHO standard of 5 μg/m3. High pollution levels lead to a disastrous impact not just on public health but also on the country’s economy. Lung diseases caused by air pollution accounted for the highest share — 36.6%— in the total economic losses, according to a study conducted by the interdisciplinary journal ‘Lancet Planetary Health.’

If corrective steps are not taken, the deteriorating pollution could impede India’s ambitious goal to become a $5-trillion economy by 2024. Diseases attributable to air pollution adversely affect economic growth through reduced productivity, decreased labour supply, rise in healthcare expenditures and lost welfare. The economic cost of the crisis to India is estimated at over $150 billion annually. The anti-pollution measures being implemented by the Centre and State governments are not enough to tackle the seriousness of the problem at hand. There is an urgent need to step up investments in State-specific air pollution control strategies to improve population health. In sharp contrast to India’s performance, China has done quite well in controlling air pollution in its cities over the years. Its position improved to 22 in the PM2.5 rankings in 2021, down from 14th place a year earlier. Apart from vehicular emissions and power generation from fossil fuels, crop burning, brick kilns, and other industrial activities have contributed to rising particulates in the northern States. The world’s most polluted place is Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi, followed by Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad. An air quality life index, developed by the University of Chicago, shows that residents in Delhi and Lucknow, for instance, could add about a decade to their life expectancy if air quality levels met the WHO’s standards.

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