AIR POLLUTION

1. Background

• Pollution is defined as ‘an addition or excessive addition of certain materials to the physical environment (water, air and lands), making it less fit or unfit for life’. 
• Air pollution is aggravated because of four developments: increasing traffic, growing cities, rapid economic development, and industrialization. 
• ‘The presence in the atmosphere of one or more contaminants in such quality and for such duration as it is injurious, or tends to be injurious, to human health or welfare, animal or plant life.’ 
• It is the contamination of air by the discharge of harmful substances. 
• Air pollution can cause health problems, damage the environment, property and climate change.

2. Major air pollutants and their source 

2.1 Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 

• It is a gas produced from burning coal, mainly in thermal power plants. 
• Some industrial processes, such as the production of paper and the smelting of metals, produce sulphur dioxide. 
• It is a major contributor to smog and acid rain. Sulphur dioxide can lead to disease estimated states of antibiotic consumption in global agriculture vary, due to poor surveillance and data collection in many countries, ranging from around 63,000 tonnes/year to over 240,000 tonnes/yr. 

2.2 Suspended particulate matter (SPM) 

• It consists of solids in the air in the form of smoke, dust, and vapour that can remain suspended for extended periods and is also the main source of haze which reduces visibility. 
• The finer of these particles, when breathed in, can lodge in our lungs and cause lung damage and respiratory problems. 

2.3 Carbon Di-Oxide 

• It is principally greenhouse gas emitted as a result of human activities such as the burning of coal, oil, and natural gases. 

2.4 Carbon monoxide (CO) 

• It is a colourless, odourless gas that is produced by the incomplete burning of carbon-based fuels including petrol, diesel, and wood. 
• It is also produced from the combustion of natural and synthetic products such as cigarettes. 
• It lowers the amount of oxygen that enters our blood. 
• It can slow our reflexes and make us confused and sleepy. 

2.5 Lead 

• It is present in petrol, diesel, lead batteries, paints, hair dye products, etc. Lead affects children in particular. 
• It can cause nervous system damage and digestive problems and, in some cases, cause cancer. 

2.6 Ozone 

• It occurs naturally in the upper layers of the atmosphere. 
• This important gas shields the earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. 
• However, at the ground level, it is a pollutant with highly toxic effects. 
• Vehicles and industries are the masourcesurce of ground-level ozone emissions. 
• Ozone makes our eyes itch, burn, and water. It lowers our resistancecoldscold and pneumonia. 

2.7 Nitrogen oxide (Nox) 

• It causes smog and acid rain. 
• It is produced from burning fuels including petrol, diesel, and coal. 
• Nitrogen oxide can make children susceptible to respiratory diseases in winters 

3.WHO Standards on air quality 

• Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its first-ever update since 2has tightened global air pollution standards. 
• New WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) provide clear evidence of the damage air pollution inflicts on human health, at even lower concentrations than previously understood. 
• The guidelines recommend new air quality levels to protect the health of populations, by reducing levels of key air pollutants, some of which also contribute to climate change.
• 6 classical pollutants include particulate matter (PM 2.5 and 10), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO).

4.Status of pollution in India

• India continues to remain one of the most polluted areas in the world, with pollutant levels several times higher than recommended levels. 
• For example, a Greenpeace study found the average concentration of PM2.5 in New Delhi in 2020 to be nearly 17 times higher than the recommended levels. 
• In Mumbai, pollution levels were eight times higher; in Kolkata, over nine times higher; and in Chennai, over five times higher. 
• According to the expense of the Global Burden of Disease study, over 95% of India’s population already lived in areas where pollution levels were higher than WHO’s 2005 norms. 
• India’s own national air quality standards are much more lenient, even compared to WHO’s 2005 norms. 
• For example, the recommended PM2.5 concentration for o24 hoursriod is 60 micrograms per cubic metre, compared to 25 micrograms advised by WHO’s 2005 guidelines. 
• But even these lower standards are hardly met

5. Stwere taken  by Government to combat air pollution 

• SAMEER app has been launched wherein air quality information is available to the public along with provision for registering complaints against air polluting activities. 
• Air quality information collection and dissemination are done from a centralised location. It proviral-time time air quality status to all stakeholders. 
• A dedicated media corner, Twitter and Facebook accounts have been created for access to quality-relatedated information and to provide a platform for lodging complaints by the general population. Crowdsourcing
• Crowd sourcing of innovative ideas/ suggestions/proposals from the public is done through throthe ugh CPCB website to strengthen efforts for improving air quality in Delhi-NCR. 
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is implementing Environment Education, Awareness and Training Schtoe to promote environmental awareness among all sections of the society and to mobilise people’s participation in the conservation of the environment. Under the National Green Corps (NGC) programme of the Ministry, about one lakh schools have been identified as Eco-clubs, wherein, nearly thirty lakh students are actively participating in varienvironmentalment protection and conservation activities, including the issues related to air pollution. 
• The Ministry is promoting people's participation and awareness building among citizens for environmental conservation that focuses on the promotion of cycling, saving water and electricity, growing trees, proper maintenance of vehicles, following lane discipline and reducing congestion on roadscarpoolingling etc. 
• For field feedback on air polluting activities in Delhi and major NCR towns, 46 teams of the Central Pollution Control Board have been deployed. 
• The initiative was taken by the Government for the abatement and control of air pollution in Delhi and NCR since 2016 hbornebore good results. 

6.Way forward

• Ambient air pollution poses grave, multi-faceted risks to India’s prospects for achieving its development goals: it leads to a rapid increase in public health expenditure, diminished labour productivity, and reduced agricultural yields. Estimates peg the economic cost of air pollution to the Indian economy at more than US$150 billion a year. 
• The air pollution crisis will require innovative, collaborative solutions from public, private, and civil society stakeholders. Institutions, governments, philanthropies, and members of the academe have been fighting the battle for clean air for decades; it is time to tap into the power of a multi-stakeholder framework to hurdle this challenge.