When will India’s war on air pollution finally begin?

Mains Paper 4: Environment
Prelims level: Air pollution
Mains level: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
Disaster and disaster management

Context

•  It is frightening to discover that 28% of pollution deaths worldwide are of Indian citizens and 75% of these victims stay in rural India.
•  In 2013,China evolved a national working strategy to fight pollution. Under this, they placed a number of restrictions on the use of coal.
•  Thermal power stations were shut down and people were not allowed to burn coal even for household consumption.
•  Also, apart from creating norms for vehicular emissions, a number of precautionary measures that could keep air pollution in check were put in place.
•  For the record, 137,000 people in China lost their lives because of PM 2.5 vehicular emissions just this year.
•  The Chinese government has acknowledged that pollution has not reduced to the extent that it was targeting in as many as 231 out of 338 Chinese cities.
•  To overcome this, another three-year working strategy has been prepared.
• If China can launch a fierce war on pollution, why can’t India?
•  Until when will we keep lamenting that the form of governance in China is very different from India.
•  To get approval for its projects, our government requires no-objection-certificates from its own departments.
•  This leads to development plans getting entangled in red tape and facing legal bottlenecks.

Key highlights about the air pollution report

•  A recent report by The Lancet Commission on pollution and health reveals that the scourge of pollution claimed the lives of 2.51 million Indians in 2015 alone.
•  It is frightening to discover that 28% of pollution deaths worldwide are of Indian citizens and 75% of these victims stay in rural India.
•  India may not be topping the charts in any other sphere, but we are miles ahead of others on this dubious front.
•  The numbers made public by the Central Pollution Control Board last week affirm as much.
•  After examining the air quality of 65 cities, they discovered that the quality of 60 of these was poor.

Way forward

•  Delhi and the areas adjoining it are in the grip of a serious pollution crisis.
•  Isn’t it a matter of shame that just 65 cities in such a large country as ours have government facilities to measure pollution?
•  If the pollution levels of every city in the county were to be evaluated, the statistic will be enough to make every citizen anxious.
•  It isn’t surprising that even migratory birds from distant countries such as Siberia have begun to give India a skip?
•  The number of migratory birds at Delhi’s Yamuna Biodiversity Park has been reducing over the last three years.
•  If the pollution continues, even birds will turn their back on us.
•  It is birds that initiate the process of migration and the process often ends with human beings.
•  This could be the reason why a recent study discovered that 35% of its residents want to migrate from Delhi. Clearly, the capital has lost some of its sheen.

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General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Prelims Questions:

Q.1) A mobile App called ‘Hawabadlo’ has been launched in Delhi to check air pollution. Which of the following statements are correct about the App?
1. It has been launched by EPCA, a Supreme Court appointed pollution watchdog.
2. The app provides a public platform to report the incidents causing air pollution.
3. The complaints will be forwarded by EPCA to the concerned officials.

Select the code from below:
a) 1 and 2
b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 3
d) All of the above

Answer: D

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Can these hollow arguments by India’s politicians compensate for the loss of lives and money caused by pollution?