Sameer Unhale
According to the press release by UNICEF, Air pollution was reported responsible for around 80 lakh deaths globally in 2021. That’s 10 times or 1000 percent more than what World War 2 did in the gas Chamber every year!!
Every winter, we have a media ritual of sporadic news on air pollution, then to be forgotten till next winter. Despite average city activities remaining the same the entire year, the ability of the local air circulation system gets overburdened, due to weather conditions and is not able to cleanse the air. It’s like,” India, Teri Hawa bighadi” to put in a Raj Kapuresque movie title.
Yet air pollution is like a pandemic, an invisible silent crisis, more urgent health concern than pure fuzzy remote environmental issue. The scale of the urban poly crisis, including air pollution, could rapidly grow beyond the municipal administrative limits, statutory powers, financial resources and administrative and managerial capacities.
In covid lock down, with most city activities halted, we have seen dramatic improvements in air qualities, clearly indicating the causes: vehicular pollution, building and construction activities, industrial pollution, stubble burning for the north Indian cities. The contribution of open dumpsites and Untreated municipal waste, though remains underrated in the popular discourse of air pollution.
To take a brief review of modern history of Municipalities in India, 1st January 1850, with the implementation of Act No. 24 of 1850, Indian cities entered the Municipal Phase, the dominant form of city governance, administration, management and service delivery. Post 1890s health crisis of bubonic plague/cholera epidemics saw Town planning by Improvement trust.
Around independence , 1950, Parastatals, for water supply/ sewerage and electricity distribution, municipal/parastatal run City buses as state monopoly for bus transport.
The metropolitan phase entered in the 1970s with DDA, MMRDA, etc established with the role of Regional Land Use planning and road / bridge construction infrastructure.
The early 1990s introduced the 74th constitutional amendment Act , though indicative , giving environmental responsibilities in the suggestive 12th schedule.
Post 2000, The Central -State public sector Metro Companies started with mass rapid mobility . The Smart City SPVs were introduced from 2015. The Private Sector catering to Data needs in the cities now. This could briefly describe the institutional quagmire of the Urban System. However, can these institutions cater specifically to emerging challenges like air/water pollution, carbon net zero and climate change and the urban polycrisis.
The relevance of municipal government, as an agency responsible for containing air pollution, needs fundamental rethinking. Though Construction /development activity, street sweeping, garbage fires, earlier open dumping of garbage and landfill sites lead to air pollution, other more contributing sources of industrial , vehicular activities fall beyond municipal domain.
Institutional matrix viz Air pollution requires rethinking. Presence of only the punishment mechanism (Tribunal, the pollution control boards etc) yet we need to strengthen the dedicated execution/ implementing agency. The sectoral framework will have to be fundamentally reworked.
An Ecosystem/network approach towards Academic Institutions, Research organizations, regulatory bodies, Industry, start ups, media, CBOs needs to be synchronized for concrete actions. Though media coverage of activist, advocacy and think tanks in litigant roles occupies disproportionate attention.
Assessing the real extent of the crisis, without fear of punishment for genuine efforts, could be the first step facilitated by the sectoral regulatory matrix. Being aware of the real situation on ground , supporting data driven governance and evidence based policy making, including in environmental and climate sectors , especially in rapidly urbanizing Global South, is essential.
AQI, or the Air quality Index, is primarily an environment messaging strategy for simple understanding of the public, rather than accurate measurements of air pollution. It’s a progressive scale. Countries like the US, Canada, European Block, China, Japan , India have their own air quality measurement framework depending upon the frequency of monitoring, benchmark pollution levels, and number of pollutants ranging from 3 to 8 measured and the combination in which severity is communicated. The different norms and reporting base changes from web site to web site and commonality, especially when sourced from Digiverse, is not assured.
Under the EPA of USA, AQI, the most commonly resourced system on US based environment websites, is measured as separate sub indices of 6 indicator, of dust or particulate matter(PM) 2.5,10, carbon monoxide, ozone, Nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide. AQI is not a simple or weighted average , but the highest single indices, amongst the 6, is conveyed, as the entirety of air quality. The specific formula using numbers derived from truncated concentrations and breakpoint of pollutants. Indian NAQI uses different formulations.
Index, a number, that too derived through the formula, one needs to be aware of the Limitations of any simplistic reduction and number games. The “ontification” of the number , almost vicariously imitating the entirety of air quality, creates a paradoxical disconnect with status and actions, or the real and the image.
Media Sensationalization on WHO standards and AQI criteria tend to evoke and feed upon negative emotions of ” fear, self flagellation , accusatory helplessness, guilt and blame game ” . Environmental Journalism going through predictable template reporting.
Despite the availability of convenient, cheap, indigenous emerging technologies and real-time data sensors, cities seem lethargic to adopt due to lack of precedence and audit fears of price discovery . The wider and more localised reporting of air quality, would at least prepare an informed citizenry, instead of sporadic resorting. Use of emerging technologies of low cost real time IOT based sensors, Earth observations, use of Digital twinings for modeling, use of AI for predicting analysis, Advanced photonic need immediately adopted. Further air pollution issues affect aged and sensitive people severely. a personalised adversarial system is possible using Integrated data systems and digital citizen apps.
One might be amazed at the emerging data economy where Indian Data gets acquired globally , and sold back to Indian business!! Developing a data economy by global south around environmental data could also help increase local expertise , awareness and actions. Like most challenges thrown by the urban popy crisis, air pollution will require a whole of society approach, emerging technologies and most importantly, individual behavioural changes.
Sameer Unhale, Joint Commissioner, Department of Municipal Administration, Government of Maharashtra; Urban Practitioner & Visiting Senior Fellow, IMPRI.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.
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Acknowledgment: This article was posted by Bhaktiba Jadeja, a research intern at IMPRI.
