- Comparison between India's and China's air pollution management.
- The author shows how India is behind China's strategies to cope with air pollution.
- The author suggests that India should follow China's approach of combat air pollution by reducing coal consumption.
Rodolfo
25 September
2015
Gardiner Harris, previous South Asia Correspondent for the New York Times
-Pollution from Kanpur industry pollutes Ganges River
-Failed Ganga Action Plan to clean sacred river
-Politicians and engineers from Delhi helped form plan
-lack of funding stopped implementation of plan
-negative effect on crops, health (especially skin), and milk production
Rebecca Nguyen
10/16/15
Bushra Baseerat
"Metro Rail work adding to air pollution in Hyderabad, says Pollution Control Board"
-Particulate matter has gone up 45% from air quality standards in the city.
-An officer of the Preventrion control board says the Metro authorities were asked to take precautions wherever possible.
-The spokesperson for the Metro said that precautions had been taken, another official did not comment.
-Many preventions were not taken, and air quality, as well as traffic issues arose.
-Karnataka State Pollution Control Board monitors yearly increase in most of 15 monitors in Bangalore.
-Particulare matter increases in most.
-Vaman Acharya says it is because of mostly cars, and also bad roads.
-He wants to ban 2-stroke autorickshaws, and over 30,000 are in the city.
-He also wants to plant more lakh trees.
Rebecca Nguyen
10/17/15
J Sam Daniel Stalin
"Chennai's Air Pollution a Record High, Worse than Delhi"
-In some parts of the city pollution is 45% more than accepted.
-Air pollution surpasses Delhi.
-Weather factor "rains staying away", increases pollution.
-Industrial belt, Metro building, and lots of vehicles in slow traffic adding to the problem.
Rebecca Nguyen
10/17/15
Vivek Deshpande, Senior Editor of The Indian Express
-The National Green Tribunal sets new standard for power generation companies, prohibiting the use of coal having more than 34 pc ash content
-This new standard was enacted due to a petition by a social activist named Ratnadeep Rangari, who pointed to the health effects in the Mahadula village due to proximity to power units
Hayley Frank
10/17/2015
Author listed as "Express News Service"- as an Editorial, The Indian Express
-Supreme Court approved the imposition of a green tax on commercial vehicles entering Delhi
-Tax levied for four months as a pilot project that could be permanently instituted, meant to discourage traffic through Delhi to reduce emissions
-Editorial expresses opinion that this is a good action to reduce pollution, the raising of taxes by the judiciary is trespassing into the executive's area.
-Three fathers petitioned on behalf of their young children, age 6 to 14 months, to have the Supreme Court pass a ban on fireworks during Dusshera and Diwali (Indian holidays).
-Petition points out that "they are foremost prone to lung disease, asthma, coughing, bronchitis, retarded nervous system development and cognitive impairment."
-Parents also cited a study in Bangalore that a
widespread awareness campaign combined with enforcement mechanisms led to a 32% decrease in pollution in their city during Diwali.
-Greenpeace India has urged the Indian government to improve their dissemination of air quality information in India. -While India does have several air quality monitors in Delhi and then at least one in several other major cities, the information is nearly impossible to access. -Should work to make this information more available online or through other mediums. (Which opens up the social justice issue of not everyone having access to a computer.)
-Three fathers petitioned on behalf of their young children, age 6 to 14 months, to have the Supreme Court pass a ban on fireworks during Dusshera and Diwali (Indian holidays). -Petition points out that "they are foremost prone to lung disease, asthma, coughing, bronchitis, retarded nervous system development and cognitive impairment." -Parents also cited a study in Bangalore that a widespread awareness campaign combined with enforcement mechanisms led to a 32% decrease in pollution in their city during Diwali.
-Study by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) focused on respiratory systems of children.
-CPCB has also done a study on the effects of air pollution on adults.
-The findings from these studies included impairment of the lungs, immune system, and genes, which lead to respiratory and heart problems.
-The article proposes that changes are being made to fight air pollution, including Bharat stage III and stage IV norms and a National Air Quality Index and monitoring. The "norms" are something to look into.
Jessica Fox
10/19/15
Mat Mcdermott "Eighty Percent of India's Sewage Goes Untreated Into City Water Supplies"
-There isn't one city in India where an entire city has improved sewers
-Report done by the Indian Council of Medical Research, stating that the pollutants in the River Ganges (India's holy river) are causing records high levels of cancer in the population next to the banks of the river.
-There is also an extremely high rate of gall bladder cancer in the region (2nd highest in the world) and prostate cancer rate is the highest in all of India.
-By 2050, per capita water availability is expected to decrease by 44% due to India's groundwater supply being overdrawn because of the population levels.
Samrin Ali
10/18/15
No Author Cited, The Economics TImes
Ghaziabad (not one of the studied cities but an example of an India city tackling air pollution)
-The city is using greenspace to challenge the power of air pollution. Planting "2,60065 saplings" starting August 2, 2015. -The trees will be planted along a road within in the city, where exposure to air pollution is high. -People are encouraged to join in with the planting trees to honor the deceased.
-A 2006 study at Vallabbhai Patel Chest Institute Delhi found asthma and rhinitis in greater than 11% of the 5,900 people examined. This link was made between the air quality and respiratory problems in the Delhi community. This study with other studies done by the Central Pollution Control Board claim that long term effects from particulate matter can cause harm to the respiratory, immune, and cardiovascular systems. World Health Organization data showed that 2.24 million annual deaths in India can be attributed to air pollution, indoor and outdoor.
-World Health Organization data showed that in India has 1.3 million deaths per year from indoor air pollution and 940,000 deaths per year from outdoor air pollution
-India and China's annual deaths together account for nearly 2/3 of the worlds' deaths from indoor air pollution and over 2/3 of the world's deaths from outdoor air pollution.
10/22/2015: Today marked the start of India's initiative to reduce car emissions. By blocking off certain roads that are major sources of traffic on teh 22nd of each month, India plans to help reduce its air pollutant emissions. Chief minster of the state of Delhi kicked off the day by leading a group of cyclicst into the city to empahsize the need for reduction of cars in the city center, where some fo the highest levels of air pollutants are noted in the world. The city is encouraging people to go by public transportaiton. on top fo that the three wheeled cars are operated by natural gas which is already a positive start for India as it has shifted from the older, more polluted, style of using diesel. This event was volunteer oreinted only, they believe that by giving poeple options it will have a better overall effect on the poipulation.
May 20, 2014: The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board analyzed the air quality coming from major BMTC bus depots after receiving numerous complaints from nearby residents. They found that levels of Carbon Monoxide were four times higher than the permissible limit (8.3 mg/m^3 versus a national limit of 2 mg/m^3). This is peculiar, since the buses run on diesel engines, which produce far less carbon dioxide than standard gasoline engines. C.G. Anand, a chief engineer at the BTMC blamed the high levels of gas on private vehicles that pass through the depots. No other pollutants or noxious gases were found to be in excess of national limits according to this study, however.
-City's first car free day occurred on Thursday, Oct 22.
-Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reported that pollutants were 60% lower from Red Fort to India Gate (the area that allowed no cars) compared to the day before at the same time.
-Delhi Pollution Control Committee also saw reductions through the city-wide official ambient monitoring, reporting
an overall drop of 45 per cent in PM2.5 level.
-CSE Executive Director Anumita Roychowdhury
describes the car free day as a successful initiative by the Delhi Government to show the massive affect of cars on Delhi's air quality. While the event plans to continue with one stretch of roadway once a month, Roychowdhury comments that for real change there need to be action to reduce the use of vehicles on a daily basis.
-Greenpeace India conducted air quality monitoring between Red Fort and India Gate on Wednesday and Thursday to assess the impact. Pre-day data reported pollution in Delhi was 7 times higher than NAQQS and 16 times higher than WHO standards. On the day of the event, it was 3 times higher than NAQQS and 7 times higher than WHO standards.
-However, Greenpeace India stated, "the air quality monitoring station closest to the car-free zone was not even providing data on PM2.5 and PM10 making it difficult to understand the impact of such initiatives, thereby making it a symbolic initiative at best."
Hayley Frank
10/24/15
Press of India, NDTV
Delhi
AAP Government to Partner Chicago University to Work on Better Air Quality
-Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with University of Chicago on October 23, 2015.
-Together, they are conducting a two month challenge, inviting entries on ideas that could improve air and water quality in the capital
-The University of Chicago will fund the best idea, and has promised two crore (the equivalent to approximately 310,000 USD) for the pilot project.
-The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago will also provide technical and scientific assistance with projects.
-Individuals and Organizations can both submit ideas.
-California State Governor Jerry Brown met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sept 2015, and they agreed on a partnership in which California will help India reduce air pollution and combat climate change.
-Discusses the importance of the partnership, and says California will provide India with expertise, but doesn't outline the actual details of the partnership.
-Mentions Governor's Brown recent work with many world leaders, such as his meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping after co-chairing the Third US-China Governors Forum.
-Indian News Source covers European research linking exposure to particulate matter and NO2 pollution to risk of heart attack.
-These pollutants primarily originate from combustion of fossil fuels such as emissions from industrial plants or vehicles
-Research specifically looked at the effect of exposure on risk of STEMI- segment elevation myocardial infarction, a life threatening heart attack that results from a prolonged blockage of blood supply in the heart.
-Researchers such as
Jean-Francois Argacha, cardiologist at University Hospital Brussels in Belgium. used a statistical model to evaluate real-time exposure to air pollution in each part of Belgium, and then compared it to hospital records in Belgium for hospitlizations for STEMI between 2009 and 2013.
-Finding were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in 2015 in London.
-Indian News Source cover US Research in Texas
-Study focused on children's health by utilizing data for 1,895 fourth and fifth grade students who live in the El Paso Independent School District in Texas.
-The findings were that students who are exposed to air pollutants at home have lower GPA's.
-One proposed explanation for the association is development of illnesses, such as asthma. Another hypothesis is the pollution could negatively impact brain development.
-10/23/15
-The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reported a 60% decrease in pollutant emissions during the car prohibition period.
-Delhi PM2.5 concentration (which has extremely harmful effects on human health and the respiratory system) decreased from 689μg/m^3 (on a normal day) to 265 μg/m^3 (on a car free day). The Delhi Pollution Control Committee also measured a 45% decrease in PM2.5 concentration. -The government initiation of car-free days confirms the hazardous potential of abundant vehicular emissions. Controlled traffic can control air pollution. -Delhi Chief Minister: "Comfortable, reliable, accessible public transport system and better designed roads is the key" to solving this problem.
-10/9/15
-"The government said in a statement earlier this year that by April 1, 2017 cars sold in all Indian cities will need to meet the Bharat Stage IV norms."
-Currently there are higher standards in Delhi and Mumbai for automobile emissions (Bharat Stage IV, still not as strict as Euro Stage IV), and lighter regulations in the remaining 27 states of India (Bharat Stage III).
-This is a conflict for the automotive industry, because they are forced to make different cars for the different regions.The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers request a national standard, which would enable better enforcement of the emission standard laws, an environmental view, as well as increase order in Indian automobile manufacturing, an economic view.
-India is predicted to grow to the world's 3rd largest car source by 2020.
-11/4/14
-In a study by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a statistical model was formed from 30 years of air pollution and agricultural data found that high traffic/populated cities in India experienced 50% less wheat growth than possible in 2010, 90% of the decline was from smog, 10% from climate change.
-Describes agriculture as a topic in the government discussion of India's (and the world's) poor air quality. Better air pollution control (less diesel or more diesel filters/control, biomass burning, cleaner fuel) would lead to less world hunger.
-5/8/14
-"Thirteen of the dirtiest 20 cities were in India, the WHO said, with New Delhi, Patna, Gwalior and Raipur taking the top four spots."
-Indian government claims that the WHO study "overestimated" the pollution in Delhi.
-Central Pollution Control Board simply disagrees, Centre for Science and Environment thinks India should react by strictly reducing traffic pollution.
-The head of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Gufran Beig, claimed that Beijing has worse air pollution, during summer and the monsoons and that "he analysed air pollution levels in Beijing using data available on the U.S. Embassy's website. He found the Chinese city's average to be around 100, nearly double the WHO's estimates." He also calculated from Delhi monitor data a lower PM2.5 yearly average (he found 110 micrograms, WHO found 153 micrograms).
-4/17/15
-3 billion people around the world cook with coal or charcoal. Emit carbon based pollutants into the home.
-Using wood is not popular. People will only buy alternative stoves if they are visually different and produce less smoke.
-Swami Samarth Electronics set up tea shops/sellers with free wood stoves and the opportunity to sell the cleaner stoves to the people who buy their tea. The owners get a commission on the sale of a stove, driving their desire to spread its use (they get 1/5 of the cost, which is 1000 rupees)
-"12 tea stall owners in Nashik have been marketing the stoves since 2010 and have helped sell over 7,000 units - with one operator selling over 1,000." -Public awareness of the impact a stove can have on the health of the people within a home is low. Yet, "[t]he Indian government plans to start a public awareness campaign on the issue and will buy and distribute 2.4 million biomass stoves from manufacturers like Swami Samarth to poor families for free or at cut rates."
world/2014/may/08/india-admits-delhi-matches-beijing-air-polllution-world-health-organisation-cities
- Controversy about the data provided by Beijing for the study.
news/datablog/2015/jun/24/
air-pollution-delhi-is-dirty-
but-how-do-other-cities-fare
- Most of the world's highly polluted cities are in developing countries.
Volumes/109/06/1013.pdf
- The author shows how India is behind China's strategies to cope with air pollution.
- The author suggests that India should follow China's approach of combat air pollution by reducing coal consumption.
2015
NPR
Pollution, Indifference Taint India's Sacred River
story/story.php?storyId=16709008
-Failed Ganga Action Plan to clean sacred river
-Politicians and engineers from Delhi helped form plan
-lack of funding stopped implementation of plan
-negative effect on crops, health (especially skin), and milk production
"Metro Rail work adding to air pollution in Hyderabad, says Pollution Control Board"
.com/city/hyderabad/Metro-Rail
-work-adding-to-air-pollution-in-
Hyderabad-says-Pollution-Control-Board/articleshow/38511449.cms
-An officer of the Preventrion control board says the Metro authorities were asked to take precautions wherever possible.
-The spokesperson for the Metro said that precautions had been taken, another official did not comment.
-Many preventions were not taken, and air quality, as well as traffic issues arose.
com/cities/bengaluru/City-Gasps
-for-Breath-as-Air-Quality-Worsens/
2014/09/11/article2425463.ece
-Particulare matter increases in most.
-Vaman Acharya says it is because of mostly cars, and also bad roads.
-He wants to ban 2-stroke autorickshaws, and over 30,000 are in the city.
-He also wants to plant more lakh trees.
"Chennai's Air Pollution a Record High, Worse than Delhi"
-news/chennais-air-pollution-at
-record-high-worse-than-delhi-781904
-Air pollution surpasses Delhi.
-Weather factor "rains staying away", increases pollution.
-Industrial belt, Metro building, and lots of vehicles in slow traffic adding to the problem.
-This new standard was enacted due to a petition by a social activist named Ratnadeep Rangari, who pointed to the health effects in the Mahadula village due to proximity to power units
-Tax levied for four months as a pilot project that could be permanently instituted, meant to discourage traffic through Delhi to reduce emissions
-Editorial expresses opinion that this is a good action to reduce pollution, the raising of taxes by the judiciary is trespassing into the executive's area.
-Petition points out that "they are foremost prone to lung disease, asthma, coughing, bronchitis, retarded nervous system development and cognitive impairment."
-Parents also cited a study in Bangalore that a
widespread awareness campaign combined with enforcement mechanisms led to a 32% decrease in pollution in their city during Diwali.
-Should work to make this information more available online or through other mediums. (Which opens up the social justice issue of not everyone having access to a computer.)
-Parents also cited a study in Bangalore that a
widespread awareness campaign combined with enforcement mechanisms led to a 32% decrease in pollution in their city during Diwali.
-CPCB has also done a study on the effects of air pollution on adults.
-The findings from these studies included impairment of the lungs, immune system, and genes, which lead to respiratory and heart problems.
-The article proposes that changes are being made to fight air pollution, including Bharat stage III and stage IV norms and a National Air Quality Index and monitoring. The "norms" are something to look into.
-Report done by the Indian Council of Medical Research, stating that the pollutants in the River Ganges (India's holy river) are causing records high levels of cancer in the population next to the banks of the river.
-There is also an extremely high rate of gall bladder cancer in the region (2nd highest in the world) and prostate cancer rate is the highest in all of India.
-By 2050, per capita water availability is expected to decrease by 44% due to India's groundwater supply being overdrawn because of the population levels.
-The trees will be planted along a road within in the city, where exposure to air pollution is high.
-People are encouraged to join in with the planting trees to honor the deceased.
-World Health Organization data showed that in India has 1.3 million deaths per year from indoor air pollution and 940,000 deaths per year from outdoor air pollution
-India and China's annual deaths together account for nearly 2/3 of the worlds' deaths from indoor air pollution and over 2/3 of the world's deaths from outdoor air pollution.
delhi-car-free-day/
-Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reported that pollutants were 60% lower from Red Fort to India Gate (the area that allowed no cars) compared to the day before at the same time.
-Delhi Pollution Control Committee also saw reductions through the city-wide official ambient monitoring, reporting
an overall drop of 45 per cent in PM2.5 level.
-CSE Executive Director Anumita Roychowdhury
describes the car free day as a successful initiative by the Delhi Government to show the massive affect of cars on Delhi's air quality. While the event plans to continue with one stretch of roadway once a month, Roychowdhury comments that for real change there need to be action to reduce the use of vehicles on a daily basis.
-Greenpeace India conducted air quality monitoring between Red Fort and India Gate on Wednesday and Thursday to assess the impact. Pre-day data reported pollution in Delhi was 7 times higher than NAQQS and 16 times higher than WHO standards. On the day of the event, it was 3 times higher than NAQQS and 7 times higher than WHO standards.
-However, Greenpeace India stated, "the air quality monitoring station closest to the car-free zone was not even providing data on PM2.5 and PM10 making it difficult to understand the impact of such initiatives, thereby making it a symbolic initiative at best."
-Together, they are conducting a two month challenge, inviting entries on ideas that could improve air and water quality in the capital
-The University of Chicago will fund the best idea, and has promised two crore (the equivalent to approximately 310,000 USD) for the pilot project.
-The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago will also provide technical and scientific assistance with projects.
-Individuals and Organizations can both submit ideas.
-Discusses the importance of the partnership, and says California will provide India with expertise, but doesn't outline the actual details of the partnership.
-Mentions Governor's Brown recent work with many world leaders, such as his meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping after co-chairing the Third US-China Governors Forum.
-These pollutants primarily originate from combustion of fossil fuels such as emissions from industrial plants or vehicles
-Research specifically looked at the effect of exposure on risk of STEMI- segment elevation myocardial infarction, a life threatening heart attack that results from a prolonged blockage of blood supply in the heart.
-Researchers such as
Jean-Francois Argacha, cardiologist at University Hospital Brussels in Belgium. used a statistical model to evaluate real-time exposure to air pollution in each part of Belgium, and then compared it to hospital records in Belgium for hospitlizations for STEMI between 2009 and 2013.
-Finding were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in 2015 in London.
-Study focused on children's health by utilizing data for 1,895 fourth and fifth grade students who live in the El Paso Independent School District in Texas.
-The findings were that students who are exposed to air pollutants at home have lower GPA's.
-One proposed explanation for the association is development of illnesses, such as asthma. Another hypothesis is the pollution could negatively impact brain development.
-The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reported a 60% decrease in pollutant emissions during the car prohibition period.
-Delhi PM2.5 concentration (which has extremely harmful effects on human health and the respiratory system) decreased from 689μg/m^3 (on a normal day) to 265 μg/m^3 (on a car free day). The Delhi Pollution Control Committee also measured a 45% decrease in PM2.5 concentration.
-The government initiation of car-free days confirms the hazardous potential of abundant vehicular emissions. Controlled traffic can control air pollution.
-Delhi Chief Minister: "Comfortable, reliable, accessible public transport system and better designed roads is the key" to solving this problem.
-"The government said in a statement earlier this year that by April 1, 2017 cars sold in all Indian cities will need to meet the Bharat Stage IV norms."
-Currently there are higher standards in Delhi and Mumbai for automobile emissions (Bharat Stage IV, still not as strict as Euro Stage IV), and lighter regulations in the remaining 27 states of India (Bharat Stage III).
-This is a conflict for the automotive industry, because they are forced to make different cars for the different regions.The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers request a national standard, which would enable better enforcement of the emission standard laws, an environmental view, as well as increase order in Indian automobile manufacturing, an economic view.
-India is predicted to grow to the world's 3rd largest car source by 2020.
-In a study by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a statistical model was formed from 30 years of air pollution and agricultural data found that high traffic/populated cities in India experienced 50% less wheat growth than possible in 2010, 90% of the decline was from smog, 10% from climate change.
-Describes agriculture as a topic in the government discussion of India's (and the world's) poor air quality. Better air pollution control (less diesel or more diesel filters/control, biomass burning, cleaner fuel) would lead to less world hunger.
-"Thirteen of the dirtiest 20 cities were in India, the WHO said, with New Delhi, Patna, Gwalior and Raipur taking the top four spots."
-Indian government claims that the WHO study "overestimated" the pollution in Delhi.
-Central Pollution Control Board simply disagrees, Centre for Science and Environment thinks India should react by strictly reducing traffic pollution.
-The head of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Gufran Beig, claimed that Beijing has worse air pollution, during summer and the monsoons and that "he analysed air pollution levels in Beijing using data available on the U.S. Embassy's website. He found the Chinese city's average to be around 100, nearly double the WHO's estimates." He also calculated from Delhi monitor data a lower PM2.5 yearly average (he found 110 micrograms, WHO found 153 micrograms).
-3 billion people around the world cook with coal or charcoal. Emit carbon based pollutants into the home.
-Using wood is not popular. People will only buy alternative stoves if they are visually different and produce less smoke.
-Swami Samarth Electronics set up tea shops/sellers with free wood stoves and the opportunity to sell the cleaner stoves to the people who buy their tea. The owners get a commission on the sale of a stove, driving their desire to spread its use (they get 1/5 of the cost, which is 1000 rupees)
-"12 tea stall owners in Nashik have been marketing the stoves since 2010 and have helped sell over 7,000 units - with one operator selling over 1,000."
-Public awareness of the impact a stove can have on the health of the people within a home is low. Yet, "[t]he Indian government plans to start a public awareness campaign on the issue and will buy and distribute 2.4 million biomass stoves from manufacturers like Swami Samarth to poor families for free or at cut rates."