While unplanned development, lack of political will and public concern have led to Delhi achieving the ignominious distinction of being one of the most polluted capitals in the world, experts warned that the government’s focus on the recently launched air quality index (AQI) was not akin to air quality control.
Almost a hundred experts from across the country gathered in Delhi on Saturday for a daylong seminar organised by the Indian Association for Air Pollution Control (IAAPC) with the aim of creating a roadmap to combat rising air pollution. This will be submitted to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
While enumerating the measures that were discussed during the seminar, former member secretary of the CPCB, Dr B Sengupta said, “The data quality that we have needs rapid improvement and calibration is required. The PM 2.5 AQI in a city like Kolkata is supposed to be 10 times less than a city like Delhi. This can’t be because Kolkata is considerably polluted and something is wrong somewhere. With the MoEF planning multiple continuous monitoring stations for air pollution in India, calibration is required because otherwise there’s no use,” he said.
His concerns were echoed by ecologist C K Varshney, who said, “I am not sure if the AQI is a very effective way of dealing with air pollution. It’s a good measure but rather than feeling complacent about it, we need to remember that an air quality index is not the same thing as effective air quality control.” He added that while there is scope for improvement in data quality, changes in policy, coordinate work from different agencies and seasonal assessment of Delhi’s pollutants was also required.
Noting that Delhi was one of the most polluted cities in the world, which is seriously affecting the health of its citizens, secretary of IAAPC’s Delhi chapter, Shyam Gupta said there was an “urgent need to formulate short-term as well as long-term policies and solutions”.
While concluding the seminar, Sengupta listed steps that had come out of the discussion and would be formalised as a roadmap after further discussion by IAAPC members. These included specific targets for CPCB and Delhi Pollution Control Committee to set for themselves in a time-bound manner, improvements in data quality, more health impact data, achieving short-term gains such as the installation of particulate filters onto diesel vehicles, transiting to BS V diesel and the control of emissions from coal-based thermal plants in the NCR.
Mukesh Sharma of IIT Kanpur and the architect of the AQI said that while there was a need to improve mass transit, the multiplicity of authorities has led to paralysis of action to curb pollution in the capital.
“Various ministries are playing a role in tacking this problem and this makes it very difficult
