India unable to meet WHO air quality standards; airshed approach, US-style EPA needed, says former WHO chief scientist

New Delhi: Dr Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist at the World Health Organization, says India should adopt an “airshed approach” to analyze its air pollution crisis and set up an environment protection agency to enforce government rules with strict action.

The remarks by Swaminathan, who is principal adviser for the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) at the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW), were made in an interview with Mint. They come as the air quality index (AQI) in Delhi spikes record levels, forcing the state government to issue emergency orders, including school closures.

Edited excerpts:

Every year during the onset of winters, an air pollution havoc starts. What lessons should we draw?

The air quality index (AQI) in India varies from place to place. In India, we have the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) and they have set up close to 1,000 monitoring stations nationwide. They provide real-time updates on the air quality. We also need to put such stations in rural areas. We also need to do airshed approach analysis because air is not something which is limited over Delhi or cities.

What is airshed analysis?

Airshed analysis studies air movement by seeing satellite technology. For example, if we look at satellite images, the entire Indo-Gangetic plan – starting from Pakistan to North Indian states like Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and going over Bihar, West Bengal, Nepal and spinning into Bangladesh – is covered in a thick blanket of smog. So, air pollution is a combination of meteorological factors which come into play at this time of the year when the air gets colder. Other factors which contribute to air pollution during this time are stubble burning, firecrackers at Diwali but it is not limited to these factors only. A Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) study showed stubble burning accounted for only 4% of the air pollution in Delhi — the rest of it was coming from transport, construction site, burning of waste, factories, industries, local cooking fuel, road dust etc. So, airshed is a way of looking at the whole issue rather than piece by piece, identifying from where and which direction the pollution is coming, root causes etc. So, countries need to work together in setting the standards and enforcements within their own national borders. Also, we are not meeting the WHO Air quality standards. There’s hardly any place in India which meets WHO Air quality standards.

What are the WHO standards for air pollution?

WHO standards states that PM2.5 should be less than 15 micrograms per cubic meter, while for PM10 it is less than 30. According to the NCAP, the annual cut off for PM2.5 is 40 µg/m3 and for PM10 it is 60 µg/m3. I also suggest that NCAP must re-look their strategies as at present their whole goal is to reduce PM10 by 2026. 

However, PM2.5 is more dangerous as it penetrates into lungs causing more severe health concerns like respiratory illness, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular diseases etc. Air pollution has a huge impact on economy as people cannot go out to work, fall sick, stay indoors and schools and offices are gets closed. It is estimated that India loses about 1.6% to 1.8% of GDP every year because of air pollution.

In your opinion, what steps should the government take?

We need to attack the sources of air pollution which vary across India. For example, for transport, we need to ensure that trucks which have not migrated to BS-4 fuel standards, should be off the roads. Similarly, every class of vehicle which is not meeting emission standards should be off the roads. We need to strengthen our public transport. See how London did it. In cities like Delhi, we have a good metro system, but we need more electric buses. Encourage walking and cycling. We should put strict control of emission coming from industries, and agencies much take strict action against non-compliance. Poor people should have access to clean fuel. We need to expand the Ujjwala scheme for the poor who want to get their LPG re-filled at a subsidized price. Monitoring PM2.5 also needs to be done. Enforcement of the rules in the right way is required and setting up of an Environment Protection Agency (EPA) in the US.

We already have Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)?

Yes, but they look at the small parts of the problems. They are not enforcing the rules. We need one agency which needs to put scientific inputs, and regulatory agencies have to be based on science from physical, medical, social fields.

Should India join hands with international agencies so that we are on the same page?

A couple of years ago, India had signed The Thimphu Declaration, where India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh came together to address air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic Plain together. Air pollution is a cross-border issue, and the goal is to bring down AQI to 35 by 2035. This was supported by the World Bank. So, these international banks are financing these programmes. We also have the support of technical agencies like WHO etc. Every country needs to set the target by how much they are going to reduce PM2.5 emission. I think, India can take the leadership as we have the potential to do it in terms of capacity, infrastructure, manpower to financing and political will.

Climate change is not confined to air pollution. How it is impacting our health and future generations?

We have data that air pollution is not only causing respiratory disease but it’s also causing cardiovascular diseases, stroke etc. Studies show that air pollution affects a pregnant mother and her baby. Pregnant women exposed to a combination of heat and air pollution, can give premature birth to a baby having low birthweight with compromised lungs. Currently, the AQI levels in Delhi are equivalent to smoking 20-25 cigarettes a day and now the imagine impact it is putting on a newborn baby’s lungs and brain. Air pollution is going to impact our future generations. So, we need to have a system in place where OPD and hospitalization data can be put in one place, what kind of treatment patients are needing, the number of deaths, how many patients in coming maximum in which month. I think, the National Digital Health Mission can do this and so that later this data can be analyzed by the researchers.