News Highlight:
As per the world bank’s report, curbing air pollution in India needs efforts across South Asia. Significant reduction is possible only if South Asian countries implement coordinated policies.
Key Takeaway:
As per the report by the World Bank, expert calls for an “airshed approach”, similar to how the problem has been tackled in other regions like ASEAN, Nordic countries, and across China.
World bank report:
- Airsheds:
- India has six large airsheds, some of them shared with Pakistan, between which air pollutants move.
- While existing measures by the government can reduce particulate matter, significant reduction is possible only if the territories spanning the airsheds implement coordinated policies with South Asian countries.
- The six major airsheds in South Asia:
- West/Central IGP that included Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab (India), Haryana, part of Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.
- Central/Eastern IGP: Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bangladesh
- Middle India: Odisha/Chhattisgarh
- Middle India: Eastern Gujarat/Western Maharashtra
- Northern/Central Indus River Plain: Pakistan, part of Afghanistan
- Southern Indus Plain and further west: South Pakistan, Western Afghanistan extending into Eastern Iran.
- Particular matter:
- Currently, 60 per cent of South Asian are exposed to an average of 35 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5 annually.
- In some parts of the Indo Gangetic Plain (IGP), it spiked to as much as 100 micrograms per cubic meter, which is nearly 20 times the upper limit of 5 micrograms per cubic meter recommended by the World Health Organisation.
- Wind direction:
- The wind direction was predominantly northwest to the southeast; 30% of the air pollution in Indian Punjab came from the Punjab Province in Pakistan
- 30% of the air pollution in the largest cities of Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong, and Khulna) originated in India.
- Even if Delhi National Capital Territory were to fully implement all air pollution control measures by 2030 while other parts of South Asia continued to follow current policies, it wouldn’t keep pollution exposure below 35 µg/m3.
- Multiple Scenarios to reduce air pollution:
- By varying degrees of policy implementation and cooperation among countries in South Asia.
- Calls for complete coordination between airsheds in South Asia would cut the average exposure of PM 2.5 in South Asia to 30 µg/m³ for $278 million (₹2,400 crores) per µg/mᶾ of reduced exposure and save more than 7,50,000 lives annually.
- South Asian countries must establish a dialogue on air pollution to tackle it with an ‘airshed approach’.This is how the problem has been tackled in other regions, like ASEAN, Nordic regions, and across China.
India’s approach through National Clean Air Programme or NCAP:
- About:
- NCAP is a government programme launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2019.
- The programme is a pollution control initiative with a major goal of reducing the concentration of coarse and fine particulate matter in the atmosphere by at least 20% by 2024.
- Aim:
- To expand the national air quality monitoring network.
- To build capacity for air pollution management
- To raise public awareness about the hazards of air pollution
- To have a feasible plan for the prevention, management and control of air pollution.
- To reduce air pollution in 131 of India’s most polluted cities. The target was initially to cut pollution by 20%-30% by 2024 over 2017 levels but has now been revised to cutting it by 40% by 2025-26.
- Apex committee:
- At the national level, the programme’s implementation will be done by an apex committee at the Environment Ministry level.
- At the state level, committees at the Chief Secretary level will oversee the scheme’s implementation.
- NCAP Initiatives:
- The National Air Quality Monitoring Network will be augmented.
- Air Quality Management Plan for the cities chosen.
- Indoor Air Pollution Monitoring & Management
- National Emission Inventory – this is an inventory of the quantity of pollutants discharged into the air.
- Network of Technical Institutions
- Technology Assessment Cell
- International cooperation includes sharing best practices concerning the reduction of air pollution.
Pic Courtesy: Freepik
Content source: The Hindu