India racing ahead of China when it comes to pollution

THE TIMES OF INDIA

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(THETIMESOFINDIA)AnevaluationoftheNationalAirQualityIndex(NAQI)datamaintainedbytheCentralPollutionControlBoard(CPCB)releasedonTuesdayhasrevealedthatasmanyas15outofthe17citiesthatarebeingmonitoredfailtomeettheambientairqualitystandardbyaconsiderablemargin.Theevaluation,donebyGreenpeaceIndia,alsofoundthatinfrastructuretomonitorairpollutionisabysmalinIndiadespitesuchseverelevelsofpollution.

Forinstance,comparedtoanaverageoffourreal-timeairqualitymonitoringstationsinallbigcitiesintheUS,around5stationsinthemajorcitiesacrossEuropeand8stationsinmajorChinesecities,Indiahasanaverageofjust2.5stationsacrosstheonly17citiesthatarebeingmonitored.

TheevaluationalsofoundLucknow,Ahmedabad,JaipurandFaridabadamongmanyotherstobeextremelypolluted—betweenJulyandNovemberforinstance,Jaipurwasbelowthedesiredairqualitystandardson100%ofdays,Delhion93%days,Faridabadon69%Patnaon98%ofdays.

TheAQIisanindexforreportingdailyairquality—itsayshowunhealthytheairisthroughnumbersandcolourcodes.IndiastartedissuingAQIfromMarchlastyear.SeveralpollutantslikePM2.5,CO,Ozone,NO2andSO2aremonitoredaspartoftheAQI.

"Asthepoliticalcapital-andindeed,themostpollutedofallcities-thebadairinDelhigetsthemostattention.But,scratchbelowthemurkysurface,andyouwillfindconcentrationsofPM2.5inseveralothercities-Lucknow,Ahmedabad,MuzaffarpurandFaridabad,amongothers-thatwouldjustifythetriggeringofa'redalert',likeBeijingdoes.Eventhegovernment'sownlargelyinadequateNAQIdatarevealsthat23ofthe32stationsacrossIndiaareshowingmorethan70%exceedanceofthenationalstandards,"saidGreenpeaceIndiacampaignerSunilDahiya.

Beijinghasafour-levelalarmsystemthatimposesrestrictionsonoutdooractivities,usageofpersonalvehicles,emissionsfromfactoriesandpowerplantsdependingonhowpoortheairqualityis.

Dahiyaadded,"TheNAQI,initspresentform,failstoacknowledgethescaleoftheproblem.Dataisonlyavailablein17cities,whichisashockinglylownumberconsideringthesizeofourcountry.ThereisanimmediateneedtodiversifyandupgradethemanualstationstoambientairqualitymonitoringstationsfeedingdatatotheonlineNAQIportal.Theexistingsystemneedstoincludeshort-andlong-termsolutionsandadvisories."

Theevaluation,thatalsocomparesPM2.5concentrationsbetweenJulytoNovember2015amongsomeChinesecitieslikeJinan,Beijing,Shanghai,GuangzhouandIndiancitiesmonitoredbyAQI,showedmostIndiancitiestohaveexceededChina'slevels.

GreenpeaceiscallingforanambitiousandsystematicCleanAiractionplanwithfocusedtargets,cleartimelinesanddemonstrableaccountabilitytowardspublichealth.

CPCBofficialssaidtheyhaven'tseentheevaluationbyGreenpeaceIndiayetbutclaimedthatairpollutioninDelhiisstronglyinfluencedbymeteorology."Forabout50daysinayearDelhihasgoodairqualityandabout27%ofthetimeinayeartheconditionsareverycalmandwindless,thusaccentuatingpollution.ThisistrueforentirenorthernIndia,"hesaid.

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