Air pollution in most Indian cities rising
|
COMMENTS 
Crowded cities across the country struggle to clear the air as pollution levels rise alarmingly due to vehicular congestion. Perhaps the more worrying factor is the growing rate of air pollution in smaller towns
New data on Indian cities presented to Parliament by the Central Pollution Control Board and National Environment Engineering Research Institute says Ludhiana had the highest level of air pollution among the cities, in 2009, overtaking the previous year’s topper Delhi.
“Ludhiana has got the top ranking because air pollution there has risen at a faster rate than in Delhi,” said a senior environment ministry official. Average particulate matter (PM 10) recorded for Ludhiana was 254 ug/m3, compared to 243 ug/m3 for Delhi.
The worrying factor is the rate of increase in air pollution in smaller towns. Among the 12 most polluted cities in India, at least seven are smaller towns such as Kanpur, Amritsar and Jamshedpur. Among major cities, Kolkata ranks sixth on the list, Bangalore 11th, and Mumbai 12th.
“The smaller cities have witnessed a huge increase in personal vehicles since 2005, leading to greater congestion,” Anumita Roy Choudhury, associate director with the Centre for Science and Environment, said. “The problem with Indian cities has been a sudden increase in the number of vehicles, without adequate increase in road space.”
According to road transport ministry data, road space in India has increased at an annual rate of 2.5%, compared to an over 10% increase in vehicular population. Another set of data released by the ministry shows that nitrogen oxide emissions too are on the rise; the probable cause is higher diesel vehicle sales.
Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh, in his reply to Parliament, said that the government had taken several measures to check air pollution but the failure of many cities to provide an alternative and viable public transport system had caused a huge jump in the number of private vehicles on the roads.
The capital
Delhi’s plight has been graphically portrayed by the Centre for Science and Environment in ‘Mobility Crisis: Agenda for Action, 2010’, edited by Souparno Banerjee. The situation is worse than one thought. The big battle a decade ago was for buses, taxis and three-wheelers to convert to CNG as part of the ‘clean air campaign’. The pollution graph went down, but is rising again. Now the battle is for space and time. Though the road network in the capital has increased 3.7 times over the past 33 years, the number of vehicles (excluding light commercial vehicles and trucks) has increased 21 times, given a doubling of private vehicles (two- and four-wheelers) over the past decade, with 1,021 new vehicles being added every day (2007-08).
Source: The Hindustan Times, July 29, 2010
The Indian Express, July 28, 2010