Mumbai, May 18: ON Friday, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) will launch its latest book—The Leapfrog Factor: Clearing the Air in Asian Cities—in Mumbai.
And it carries good news for the city. Mumbai has scored ‘‘somewhat better’’ on pollution levels than most other cities—including sister-city Pune.
‘‘Congestion and pollution have begun to choke Pune, which is already in the midst of a massive urban boom,’’ said CSE Associate Director Anumita Roychowdhury. ‘‘But they are on a downward trend in Mumbai. However, despite having a great transport system, they are high at traffic intersections.’’
Pointing to a World Bank study, Roychowdhury said cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad—where pollution levels have come down—have also seen 13,000 less premature deaths per year due to pollution-related diseases. ‘‘Of these, 5,308 premature deaths have been avoided in Mumbai alone,’’ she said.
In fact, the book says that 57 per cent of the cities that were studied have critical Particulate Matter (less than 10 microns) 10 levels and smaller cities are more polluted than even the metros.
‘‘Pune is among the few cities in the country where nitrogen dioxide levels have risen significantly and exceeded standards in recent years. And even Solapur has high pollution levels,’’ she said.
Meanwhile, besides pointing out the factors for rising pollution levels in the country, the book also shows a way forward.
‘‘Cities need clean vehicle technologies, clean fuels, fiscal measures to combat pollution where properly designed taxes (road, congestion taxes etc) can not only augment government revenue and generate funds for transport management, but also go a long way in reducing congestion,’’ Roychowdhury adds.
That could give us all another breath of fresh air.
10 years earlier
The CSE published its first book on air pollution—Slow Murder: The Deadly Story of Vehicular Pollution in India—10 years ago. ‘‘The most compelling motivation was to understand the public health challenge of air pollution and how to address it. Our ‘Right to Clean Air’ campaign was launched immediately after the first book in 1996. After 10 years, this book captures the new challenge,’’ said Anumita Roychowdhury.
