DISCUSSION

Economic & Political Weekly EPW may 9, 2015 vol l no 19 77

As Green Delhi Turns Grey

Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay, Kasturi Das

The joint study by economists from the University of Chicago, Harvard, and Yale (Michael Greenstone

et al, “Lower Pollution, Longer Lives: Life Expectancy Gains if India Reduced Particulate Matter Pollution,” EPW, 21 Feb-ruary 2015) has reignited the debate on the issue of unsustainable air pollution in Indian cities, particularly Delhi.

The debate had in a way been trig-gered by a May 2014 World Health Organization (WHO) report that ranked Delhi as the world’s worst city in terms of air quality. Perhaps it could not have been better timed as its publication coin-cided with certain signifi cant develop-ments that reinforced the importance of its core fi ndings. On 11 February 2015, the Delhi High Court, taking note of “alarming” levels of air pollution in the national capital, directed the Delhi gov-ernment’s geospatial authority to provide a detailed pollution map of the city since 2010 (Business Standard 2015). The high court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on the problem of poor ambient air quality in Delhi, an issue which it had taken up suo motu and for which it had appointed an amicus curi-ae. On 16 February, Greenpeace revealed that an air quality monitoring survey carried out in fi ve prominent schools in Delhi found the particulate matter (PM) 2.5 levels to be four times the Indian safety limit and 10 times the WHO limit (Greenpeace India 2015). On 27 Febru-ary 2015, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) came up with its fi nding that Delhi had the most polluted air among the 16 cities in the National Capital Region (NCR), though all the o ther 15 cities also exceeded the national permissible standards for PM (Economic Times 2015).

Notwithstanding these developments, mitigating air pollution was conspicuous by its near absence in the election mani-festos of all the political parties that

fought the Delhi election in the same month, February. With air pollution in Delhi never being an election issue, it is hardly surprising that little has been done by the state and central govern-ments to combat the problem. On the contrary, when the WHO report came last year, government agencies, includ-ing the CPCB, went into denial mode (Kalra 2014). They busily claimed Delhi fared better than Beijing, at least in summer and during the monsoon. Whether this is a valid comparison or not, Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar has acknowledged that “emer gency measures” have to be taken to tackle the problem in Delhi (Headlines Today 2015). Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal reportedly instructed his environment and forest department offi cials at their fi rst review meeting to come up with “offbeat” ideas to quickly get to work on the city’s air pollution (Roy 2015).

Recognising Multiple Benefi ts

Air quality is affected by multiple sources. These include vehicular combustion, burning of municipal solid waste, burn-ing of biomass and crop residues, and burning of coal in power plants or from combustion in manufacturing industry. These combustions in different forms are not fully delinked from each other. Hence, a way of addressing these chal-lenges could be through mainstreaming and internalising the multiple co-benefi ts that could arise from a single policy intervention to mitigate air pollution from a particular source (Guttikunda et al 2014). The co-benefi ts imply that the policy intervention would not only have an impact on its primary or intended objective, but also simultaneously have other secondary or unintended positive benefi ts. For instance, a programme of solid waste management may involve collection of wet waste to generate b iogas.

This biogas can also meet d omestic energy needs and reduce the load at the local power plant, which reduces emis-sions and air pollutants. Similarly, pro-grammes to improve fuel eco nomy by introducing fuel economy standards may lead to a systematic reduction of all pollutant emissions as a co-benefi t, which will have a reduced e ffect on cli-mate change because there is less use and combustion of fuels and a concomi-tant reduction in greenhouse gas emis-sions. Likewise, a programme incenti-vising a shift to cleaner fuels such as liquefi ed petroleum gas (LPG) for cook-ing or electricity for lighting will lower the use of conventional fuels such as coal, biomass, and kerosene, reducing all pollutant emissions.1

This article recommends moving away from the existing command-and-control mechanism to a market-based mechanism based on pollution trading, drawing on insights from the US Acid Rain program. The pollution-trading scheme allows the regulators—central and state pollution control boards—to set a cap on the aggregate level of pollu-tion permitted in an industrial area, and then allow industries to self-regulate to ensure that they do not exceed this cap. Industries that emit excess pollutants can buy permits from industries that control pollution in excess of their targets (Dufl o et al 2010). It needs to be men-tioned that a pollution-trading system in respiratory solid particulate matter (RSPM) has been initiated in the indus-trial clusters of three states, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, but the results are not yet available in the public domain.

There is, however, a catch in linking ambient air quality to a cap in that the former refers to the aggregate level of pollutants in an area, which is a func-tion not only of industrial sources but also of other local sources (such as transport, burning of solid waste and biomass, which could even play a more signifi cant role) and distant ones from where pollutants could be transmitted to the area for which the cap is set. Segregating o ther signifi cant sources from

DISCUSSION

may 9, 2015 vol l no 19 EPW Economic & Political Weekly78

industry while setting the cap could be a challenge, and could invite distortions and inaccuracies.

Further, as designing a pollution-based trading system requires adequate real-time monitoring of total emissions in a manner acceptable to the regulators, the participating industries, and the public, the role of a CEMS becomes crucial. This can ensure effective meas-urement, recording, and standardised reporting of specifi ed air emissions and other para meters, especially for indus-trial sources. However, installing a CEMS could be expensive, though it would be more accurate and fair than spot checks at long intervals. An important issue is that implementing a CEMS across differ-ent sources requires a common guide-line with specifi cations for calibration to eliminate disparities and ensure unifor-mity in results. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has begun developing and standardising a basic platform so that there are no disparities in the r esults (CPCB 2013). Once established, this could be used as a benchmark by other states to participate in air-pollution trading systems.

Judicial Activism

Greenstone et al underscore the adverse effects of stringent legislation and regulation based on exorbitant penalties for the abatement of pollution. I ndian environmental regulation has tradi-tionally been based on a command-and-control model, but enforcement and compliance has been largely weak. This has often led to intervention by the judiciary through PILs. Noted among them in the context of pollution was M C Mehta vs Union of India where the S upreme Court held that air pollu-tion in Delhi caused by vehicular emis-sions violated the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution and directed all commercial vehicles operating in Delhi to switch to compressed natural gas (CNG).2 The Supreme Court also directed the state government under Chief Minister Sheila Dixit to move polluting industries out of Delhi. On 4 March, the Delhi High Court agreed to hear a fresh PIL seeking directions to the centre to take immediate steps to

control increasing air pollution in the national capital (IBN Live 2015).

Chinese Example

Last, but in no way the least, the impor-tance of wide public access to informa-tion and its dissemination can hardly be overemphasised. Real-time monitoring through technological enhancements is undoubtedly necessary for getting the right kind of information, but what is more crucial is how promptly the infor-mation is disseminated and whether it is capable of generating the desired impact. Social media in China has brought about a sea change in public access to real-time information on pollution. It all began in 2011 when information on PM 2.5 began to travel online in no time through Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter (Guardian 2012). Soon, air pollution became a public o bsession with a huge rise in sale of masks and fi lters. Increasing public outcry forced the government to implement the new National Ambient Air Quality Stand-ards (NAAQS), including PM 2.5 and ozone standards across 160 cities in China. National air quality data also began to be offi cially disclosed and routinely recorded on Weibo and through smartphone apps.

Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay (kaushik.ranjan@teriuniversity.ac.in) is with TERI University, New Delhi; Kasturi Das (kdas@imt.edu) is with the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad.

Notes

1 It also needs to be recognised that these poli-cies may not sometimes be able to achieve the desired outcome if the rebound effect is high. For instance, if improving fuel economy of ve-hicles leads to higher and more intensive usage of vehicles, the basic objective of reducing emissions or pollutants could get frustrated.

2 For more details on different PILs on pollution, see http://cpcb.nic.in/upload/Newsletters/Newsletters_17_2002.pdf

References

Business Standard (2015): “Air Pollution in Delhi Alarming, HC Calls for Pollution Map,” 11 Feb, http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/air-pollution-in-delhi-alarming-hc-calls-for-pollution-map-115021101336_1.html

CPCB (2013): “Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems and Pilot Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for Particulate Matter from Stationary Sources (Stack) in India (Market Friendly Emissions Trading Scheme),” Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, http://cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_202_CEMS_Specs_v21-11-13v_cpcb.pdf

Dufl o, Esther, Michael Greenstone, Rohini Pande and Nicholas Ryan (2010): “Towards an Emis-sions Trading Scheme for Air Pollutants in I ndia: A Concept Note,” Ministry of Environ-ment and Forests Discussion Paper, New Delhi, http://www.moef.nic.in/downloads/public-in-formation/towards-an-emissions-trading-scheme-for-air-pollutants.pdf.

Economic Times (2015): “Delhi Most Polluted among 16 NCR Cities: CPCB Study,” 27 Feb, http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/ 2015-02-27/news/59585195_1_carbon-monox-ide-cpcb-delhi-transport-corporation

Greenpeace India (2015): “Delhi Children Breathe Toxic Air, Reveals Greenpeace Air-Monitoring Survey in Schools,” press release, 16 Feb, http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/Press/-Delhi-children-breath-toxic-air-reveals-Green-peace-air-monitoring-survey-in-schools/

Guardian (2012): “How the Internet Is Powering the Fight against Beijing’s Dirty Air,” 10 April, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ 2012/apr/10/internet-beijing-dirty-air-pollution

Guttikunda, S K, R Goel and P Pant (2014): “Nature of Air Pollution, Emission Sources, and Man-agement in Indian Cities,” Atmospheric Envi-ronment, Vol 95, pp 501–10, http://pure-oai.bham.ac.uk/ws/fi les/17851233/Pant_Nature_air_pollution_Atmospheric_Environment_2014.pdf

Headlines Today (2015): “We Have to Take Emer-gency Measures to Check Air Pollution in Del-hi: Prakash Javadekar,” 18 Feb, http://indiato-day.intoday.in/story/delhi-air-most-polluted-greenpeace-survey-prakash-javadekar-rahul-kanwal/1/419520.html.

IBN Live (2015): “High Court to Hear Plea on Increasing Air Pollution in Delhi,” 4 March, http://ibnlive.in.com/news/high-court-to-hear-plea-on-increasing-air-pollution-in-del-hi/532055-3-244.html

Kalra, Aditya (2014): “India Rejects WHO Report Saying New Delhi Has Worst Air Pollution,” 8 May, http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/08/ us-india-pollution-idINKBN0DO12I20140508

Parivesh (2002): “News Letter,” Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, Dec, http://cpcb.nic.in/upload/Newsletters/Newsletters_17_ 2002.pdf.

Roy, Subir (2015): “Save Lives, Fight Air Pollution,” Business Standard, 24 Feb, http://www.busi-ness-standard.com/article/opinion/subir-roy-save-lives-fi ght-air-pollution-115022401426_1.html

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