Air Pollution killing urban India

99% cities have critical level of air pollution

CPCB data shows 99 per cent of cities have critical level of particulate pollution

NEW DATA SHOWS THAT SMALLER CITIES HAVE FOLLOWED THE FOOTPRINTS OF BIGGER CITIES WHEN IT COMES TO AIR POLLUTION

NEW DELHI: 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 the latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The pollution regulator’s new data for 2010 shows that smaller cities such as Solapur in Maharashtra, Rajkot in Gujarat, Yamunanagar and Faridabad in Haryana, Ghaziabad and Meerut in UP, 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.

Air pollution in Urban India is alarming. Seen here is a thick blanket of smoke arising from illegal structures on CRZ 1 Mangroves in Mumbai

This time, Delhi is not 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 Delhi, within two years, has been replaced by Gwalior in case of particulate matter and Howrah for NO2. In 2008, Chandni Chowk in Delhi topped the chart.

This doesn’t mean that air in the national capital is getting cleaner. The rise of particulate matter pollution in smaller cities is faster than that in 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 particulate matter. In fact, 99% of 400 locations under scanner in 2010 reported high or critical levels of particulate matter. In 2008, the percentage was around 70.

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

The trend in India’s air pollution level has been reported in studies with the recent Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) report that stated 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 air pollution causes about 20% of deaths due to lung cancer and 6% deaths due to high blood pressure in India.

The report shows Delhi’s satellite towns — Ghaziabad, Noida and Faridabad — were following in the Capital’s footsteps with rising levels of particulate matter pollution 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.