India's Struggle to Comply with WHO Air Quality Guidelines
India is grappling with significant challenges in meeting the World Health Organization's (WHO) air quality guidelines, particularly with regards to PM2.5 levels. The key obstacles include a multitude of pollution sources, rapid urbanization, insufficient enforcement, and the health and economic burden of air pollution.
Air pollution in India is primarily driven by heavy industries, vehicular emissions, residential combustion, and agricultural waste burning. These diverse sources make it difficult to implement uniform mitigation strategies. Urbanization and population growth, particularly in densely populated cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, further exacerbate the issue. Despite regulations, enforcement remains a challenge, particularly in managing seasonal pollution spikes from activities like stubble burning.
The health and economic impacts of air pollution are profound, resulting in shortened life expectancies, increased healthcare costs, and significant economic losses.
An airshed-based approach could offer a solution to these challenges. This strategy involves managing air pollution based on the natural boundaries of air basins rather than political or administrative boundaries. By understanding the specific pollution sources and transport patterns within an airshed, targeted mitigation strategies can be developed to effectively reduce pollution levels.
Airsheds often span multiple administrative regions, encouraging cross-boundary cooperation and coordination among different government agencies, states, and local authorities to implement consistent policies. This approach allows for tailored solutions that are locally relevant, addressing specific pollution challenges unique to each region.
Implementing advanced monitoring and modeling techniques within airsheds can improve the understanding of pollution dynamics, enabling more effective forecasting and management of air quality. By adopting an airshed-based strategy, India can map out effective regional air quality management plans, which align with the WHO's guidelines and address the diverse challenges faced across different regions.
The proposed airshed-based approach is not just a scientific question, but equally a matter of governance and policy commitment. Expanding regulatory efforts to include precursor gases, which play a critical role in the formation of secondary PM2.5, is necessary for effective air quality management.
Primary emissions account for approximately 38% of PM2.5, while secondary formation, driven by chemical reactions in the atmosphere, contributes about 62%. Developing integrated air quality monitoring systems capable of tracking both primary emissions and the complex chemistry behind secondary pollutant formation is crucial.
The current approach of managing air quality in India, based on individual city targets, is ineffective due to transboundary pollution. Rethinking the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to prioritize airshed-level planning is necessary for a science-driven path toward cleaner air in India. Tackling air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic Plain demands integrated, regional strategies based on the idea of "airsheds".
Annual average PM2.5 concentrations in the Indo-Gangetic Plain consistently exceed 80 μg/m3, far above safe limits. Studies suggest that without bold, transformative action, India is unlikely to ever meet the air quality guidelines of the WHO.
Experts such as Suresh Ramasubramanya Iyer, Senior Fellow and Area Convenor at the Centre for Air Quality Research, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, and Shivang Agarwal, Technical Fellow at the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD), Washington DC, advocate for this shift to an airshed-based approach, dividing the country into regions based on unique meteorological and topographical characteristics, to enhance existing policy and pave the way for cleaner air in India.
- Science and governance collaboration is essential to implement an airshed-based approach in India, as suggested by experts like Suresh Ramasubramanya Iyer and Shivang Agarwal, to effectively manage the high levels of PM2.5 caused by diverse pollution sources, particularly in the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
- To address the health-and-wellness, economic, and climate-change impacts of air pollution and achieve the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines, it's necessary to rethink the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and prioritize airshed-level planning, focusing on integrated, regional strategies instead of individual city targets.
- Advanced monitoring and modeling techniques in the context of airsheds are crucial for understanding pollution dynamics, enabling effective forecasting and management of air quality, and reducing the carbon footprint associated with air pollution in India.
