[Some observers questioned the timing of the initiative: Delayed by a year because of bureaucratic hurdles, it arrives as the central government faces elections in May. It also comes alongside other crowd-pleasing measures such as a promise to reserve 10 percent of government jobs for those earning less than 800,000 rupees annually, or about $11,300.]
By
Maria Abi-Habib and Hari Kumar
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Washing laundry by the
Yamuna River in Agra, India. In autumn and winter, cities
across India are
blanketed by a toxic haze. Credit Xavier Galiana/
Agence France-Presse —
Getty Images
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NEW
DELHI — India has nine of
the world’s 10 most polluted cities, according to one World Health Organization
measure, with choking urban smog that researchers estimate killed 1.24 million
people in 2017.
But until this week, it did not have
nationally set targets for reducing hazardous air pollution.
That changed this week, when the government’s
National Clean Air Program unveiled a five-year plan that environmentalists
welcomed as long overdue but criticized as lacking clear mechanisms or robust
funding to achieve its aims, which include reducing air pollution in 102 cities
by up to 30 percent from 2017 levels.
Some observers questioned the timing of the
initiative: Delayed by a year because of bureaucratic hurdles, it arrives as
the central government faces elections in May. It also comes alongside other
crowd-pleasing measures such as a promise to reserve 10 percent of government
jobs for those earning less than 800,000 rupees annually, or about $11,300.
“This is an important step forward, setting a
reduction target,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, a director at the Center for
Science and Environment, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization in New
Delhi.
“This plan should also come up with a clear
fiscal strategy,” Ms. Roychowdhury added. “The plan requires more localized
actions at the city level and the regional level with a clear timeline and
action plan. That is the next critical step.”
The initiative aims to increase and improve
air pollution monitoring systems across India, a needed step, environmentalists
say, because data collection has been sparse, making it difficult to assess the
scope of the problem.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has focused on economic growth, with an objective of creating one million
jobs per month to accommodate India’s expanding working class. Urban air
pollution, however, has reached a point where it can present obstacles to that
aim.
Cities “are engines of growth and equity but
they have to be sustainable,” said Amitabh Kant, the chief executive of the
Indian central government’s think tank, the National Institution for
Transforming India, which released the plan with the environment minister,
Harsh Vardhan.
In autumn and winter, cities across India are
blanketed by a toxic haze, causing school students to vomit, giving employees
terrible migraines and filling hospitals with people struggling to breathe.
Some corporate executives have refused to transfer to major cities like New
Delhi, while several embassies have barred diplomatic families from relocating
to the capital, citing health concerns.
For many of the environmentalists who have
waged a five-year-long battle to get the government to start fighting air
pollution, the reduction targets of 20 to 30 percent are too little, too late.
The plan aims to cut industrial and vehicular
emissions, but does not set sector-specific targets or a way to enforce
implementation.
Environmentalists also say its funding —
about $91 million over two years — is a fraction of what is needed to tackle
the problem. Less-urgent initiatives have received more funding, such as the
$400 million statue of an Indian independence leader that was unveiled last
October, making India home to the world’s largest statue.
Late last year, as air pollution started
creeping up to hazardous levels, the government shut the last coal plant near
New Delhi and banned some particularly dirty fuel sources. But it also removed
environmental clearances for construction projects of up to 50,000 square
meters, or 540,000 square feet.
Construction sites are a significant
contributor to PM 2.5, the small particles that are absorbed in the bloodstream
and contribute to the seven million deaths across the world each year that
scientists attribute to air pollution.
The average PM 2.5 level in New Delhi last
year saw a marginal improvement, measuring about 172 compared with 174 the year
before. Any PM 2.5 measure above 50 is considered unhealthy.
Other cities in India are witnessing higher
measurements. Mumbai, India’s financial hub, recorded an average PM 2.5 level
of about 147 last year, up from 126 in 2017.
In New Delhi on Friday morning, the PM 2.5
measurement hovered above 350, considered to be “hazardous” by international
monitors.
Ayesha Venkataraman contributed reporting.
