The Bombay High Court has been hearing suo motu cases on air pollution for the last several years. Recent hearings highlight the real problems at the root of our AQI crisis. We do not have the data needed to meaningfully identify the sources of pollution and the measures currently in place are not being implemented effectively.
Recently, the answer given by the Government of India in the Parliament was much discussed that there is no data directly showing the relationship between high AQI and lung diseases, but almost no one raised any question on this because there does not seem to be any concrete initiative to collect such data. It is ironical that in the same reply of the government, ‘…development of materials targeting diseases related to air pollution…’ is also mentioned. From this it is clear that the relationship is being accepted at some level. Be it co-relational or casual.
This lack of data is pervasive in every aspect related to air pollution in India. In the hearing held this week, the Bombay High Court also noted that the pollution sensors installed at many places are not working. In such a situation, it is also very worrying that the Bombay High Court itself had to underline the delta of the common experience of non-implementation of pollution control guidelines at construction sites at the ground level on the one hand and the paper claim of BMC to implement them on the other.
In fact, the BMC’s paper records, i.e. the data, show that it has taken all the right actions, but urban life tells a different story and a pollution sensor network, which does not reflect the density and local variations of our megacities, forces us and the courts to work in the dark.
Lack of focus on big problems
However, it is also surprising that despite being the biggest health crisis after the pandemic (COVID-19), so little attention is being paid to air pollution. As I always say that we are all connected by one breath, we breathe the same air and today every breath contains pollutants which are clearly harmful to health. Many times, such reports appear in the media that breathing in a day in Mumbai or Delhi is equal to the number of cigarettes smoked, but still we all continue with our daily routine without changing anything.
We are even ignoring all the current and future economic costs we are facing right now. In simple words, health care is extremely expensive these days and as we all know to a limited extent, the impact of the AQI crisis on health is quite scary. There are many factors that have led us to where we are today, including fragmented regulation, aspirational policies with non-existent real-world applications and consequences, and the need to balance clean air goals with the demands of a growing economy. This problem cannot be solved as long as the lack of data and the absence of direct financial incentives and punishments persist.
Why is data important?
Data is very important. We have to understand the air quality and sources of pollution in our local areas. For example, the air quality sensor network in Mumbai has improved over the years, but its coverage in every ward is incomplete, whereas the coverage of sensors should be in every ward and every area. We need to move towards well-calibrated, low-cost and locally dense sensor networks that are also connected to existing information systems. We desperately need a fully functioning data spine to monitor pollution and determine its source.
Determining the source exposes another data flaw
We may consider ourselves a Maximum City and Urbs Prima, but we are part of an airshed in the MMR and need to understand pollution by looking at everyday land and sea breezes. Does the pollution from a large MMR really affect the city? Experience and common logic agree with this, but the truth is that we know that we do not know.
These issues need to be addressed if we are to make any progress in understanding the air we breathe and its effects. Sharing data transparently will also help raise awareness and reduce the health impact of our AQI crisis. It is important to mention that these points were outlined in the Air Quality Monitoring, Emission Inventory and Source Apportionment Study conducted by MPCB, CSIR-NEERI and IIT Bombay in 2023, but little progress has been made in the implementation of these recommendations.
On the other hand, we have to encourage enforcement. Financial incentives and penalties implemented through taxation and budgetary allocations can replace the apparent indifference of our regulatory mechanisms. India has many successful examples of such mechanisms in recent years, we should deal with our respiratory crisis on the basis of the same experience.
Undoubtedly, this will require a stronger policy initiative and a stronger legislative will, but we must start moving in this direction. Otherwise, we will be looking at the air we breathe and the problem will be that we will not even know what we are actually seeing.
(The author is Justin N Bharucha, Managing Partner, Bharucha & Partners)
[नोट- उपरोक्त दिए गए विचार लेखक के व्यक्तिगत विचार हैं. यह जरूरी नहीं है कि एबीपी न्यूज ग्रुप इससे सहमत हो. इस लेख से जुड़े सभी दावे या आपत्ति के लिए सिर्फ लेखक ही जिम्मेदार है.]
