With winter fast approaching, we delve into the alarming rise in pollution levels, the contributing factors, and the steps individuals and governments can take to combat this pressing issue. Learn how to protect yourself and your loved ones, the effectiveness of current policies, and what the future holds for our air quality.
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#DelhiPollution #AirQuality #CSE #EnvironmentalAwareness #CleanAir #AirPollution #WinterSmog #SustainableLiving #PublicHealth #BreatheEasy #ClimateAction #HealthFirst #OneIndia #OneIndiaNews
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to One India. I am your host Riya and today we are discussing a very
00:08critical issue that has once again gripped Delhi NCR and it is the rising air pollution.
00:16As winter approaches, the air quality starts worsening, raising health alarms across the
00:21region and with the AQI level skyrocketing and we just recorded 400, 400 number. What
00:28exactly is causing this hazardous pollution and what can be done to tackle it? To answer
00:35all these pressing questions, we are joined today by Shambhavi Shukla, who is the program
00:40manager for air pollution at the Centre for Science and Environment. Shambhavi, welcome
00:46to the show. Thank you so much for the invitation. Shambhavi, let's just dive right in. As the
00:52cold weather sets in, we often hear alarming reports about the rise in the air pollution
00:58level. So can you give us an overview of the current air quality situation in Delhi NCR?
01:05So see what is happening is right now the pollution is now going to the very poor and
01:11poor category and the pollution is increasing. This is the normal phenomena that we see every
01:16year that happens in Delhi and of course in other regions close to Delhi. So this is a
01:23common phenomena. But then what is like happening right now, especially in winters, what happens
01:27is with the onset of winter, as soon as the temperature starts to drop, there is like
01:34other metrological factors such as wind speed, which is very less in Delhi right now. And
01:41also the mixing height, the boundary layer, it also comes down. So then there is lesser
01:46space for pollutants to disperse. So then if pollutants are not getting dispersed, they're
01:51not moving outside Delhi. And also with festivals coming in, all the festivals are falling in
01:58October right now this year. So there is a congestion problem that happens like the traffic
02:05intensity is very high right now when we see it for Delhi. So that is how like the pollution
02:11is changing. The pollution has gone from moderately polluted category to very poor since last
02:16two days. Right. True. So my follow up question to you is the CAC, you know, it has been actively
02:24involved in raising awareness and advocating for the policy changes when it comes to air
02:28pollution. So what initiative your organization is currently working on to combat the air
02:34pollution, particularly in Delhi NCR? So what happens is right now, like as an organization,
02:39if I talk about, we are continuously doing public advocacy, as you said, rightly said,
02:45we are doing that. And of course, whenever required, we try to engage a lot of like we
02:51try to create a lot of public awareness through our press briefings and all through which
02:57we can make people aware in simple languages. What is happening right now with the current
03:03situation of air pollution and how this can be remediated. And also it gives out a clear
03:09message to the government as well that what actions can you take. So right now, we have
03:14already seen that the Graded Response Action Plan is in place right now. And yesterday,
03:20only I think the GRAP2 measures are in place right now. The CAQM has implemented GRAP2.
03:27But then when you look at the measures that are present under GRAP2, these are all enforcement
03:33measures. And this should be applicable throughout the year and not just especially during winters
03:39when the winters are setting in. So, if you're looking at it at an action level, so then
03:46these actions can be taken place throughout the year. If you want to check whether the
03:54construction activities are doing their work rightly, they're not creating dust, they're
03:58not creating chaos, there is control of traffic congestion on the road, then public transport
04:04should be planned in a way that people are given such connectivity at their end, so that
04:11automatically people shift from their private vehicles to public transport.
04:15Right, very rightly said, actually. So, now I would want to shift this focus to, you know,
04:22the people who are getting affected, right, which is us living in the Delhi NCR. And there
04:28is a group like the children, or we can even say the elderlies or especially with the pre-existing
04:34health conditions, right. These are the ones who are very much vulnerable groups. So, what
04:39are some of the long term health implications people should be aware of that is being caused
04:46due to the air pollution and how can they keep themselves protected, or the measure
04:51self precautionary measures that they can take?
04:54So there are any number of studies which have actually given proof that air pollution is
04:58actually impacting the health of not just elderly and children, but everyone right now,
05:04because like, the pollution levels that we see on the record, and there are boards displaying
05:10pollution levels, these are the ambient levels, but then what we are breathing is much higher,
05:16and the exposure is much higher. So immediately, the impact that happens on people is the breathing
05:22issues that they encounter. So they have asthma, bronchitis, then other COPD, like
05:27the heart diseases, it aggravates those things. And especially for kids and elderly, where
05:36they have a weaker immunity. And also with the kids, what happened is, they have a growing
05:42lungs. So they tend to inhale much more air than a normal adult. So they're inhaling much
05:48more pollutant than we are doing. So that is the reason they are continuously like,
05:55over the years, we have seen that the number of respiratory cases, particularly has increased
06:00a lot. And also when we talk about different kinds of pollutant, so especially during winters,
06:06so there are two kinds of particles. One is PM 2.5, and PM 10. PM 2.5 are the smaller
06:12particles and PM 10 are the bigger particles. So with the smaller particles, what happens
06:16is, as soon as you breathe in the air, the bigger particles, PM 10 tends to stay up to
06:23lungs only. But then what happens with PM 2.5 is, it goes into mixes with the bloodstream.
06:34So then, like the impact is very high on the health. And not just that, like even with
06:40the pregnant women, what we see is, the unborn baby, the placenta, it also gets impacted
06:47because of high levels of pollution. But then that needs to be accounted, like all the planning
06:53that we have, all the actions that we are taking, everything should be linked to health
06:58as well. Because health is the direct impact that we can see of the increasing air pollution.
07:03Right, right. See, we have talked about what is causing these air pollution, we have talked
07:08about, you know, your initiative, and of course, the government is, have also implemented
07:14CRAB 2. And in coming days, they'll be implementing further more campaigns or the rules to combat
07:20this. Then we've also talked about the people who are facing these problems primarily, or
07:26who are more exposed to these. Now, my last question to you is, Shambhavi, what can be
07:33done as of now? Because of course, it's a very long process, as you also mentioned earlier,
07:39that this has to be taken care of from the very beginning of the year, be it the construction,
07:43be it the controlling of, you know, the vehicle emission and everything, it has to be done
07:47from the very beginning, but since it is not being done, so what can be done now? Because
07:52of course, we are, we can see that we are living in gas chamber as of now. So what measures
07:58can be taken from the government or individual to help people of Delhi NCR in this adverse
08:06weather condition?
08:07So, see, I would like to bring this point up also, because Delhi has done a lot of actions,
08:13and there is definitely a 7% decrease that we see since 2019 in pollution levels. But
08:19then Delhi again needs 60% reduction in its particulate pollution level to reach the standard
08:26and standard is something which, like in which you can easily breathe. So, that is
08:32the amount of pollution that we need to reduce right now from our current levels. And in
08:38terms of action, when we talk about sectorally, so when we say waste burning, so there is
08:44a 25% area in Delhi itself, where the system of collection, segregation and management
08:52of waste is not happening, that doesn't lie under the purview of the municipal boundaries.
08:58So that is the kind of waste that is additionally being generated and not being monitored. So,
09:04when the waste is usually dumped on the roadside, what people does is usually they burn it off
09:10to get rid of it. So that is the major problem that we are facing. With the vehicles we have
09:15seen that, like Delhi was the first one to implement BS-6, coming with BS-6 fuel also,
09:22then there was a CNG program, the electric vehicles are coming in. But then what we are
09:27seeing right now is, there is a problem of congestion that is rising. Like the number
09:31of vehicles that are getting added on the road is very high. So, if you talk about like
09:37with a 20 million population of Delhi, we can see that there are 6.4 million of vehicles
09:44which are being registered in a year. So, that's a lot of number that is adding up to
09:50on the road. When we see on the road, so a bus usually, like a bus carries around 40,
09:5730 to 40 passengers. But then at the same time, a car is just carrying one to two people.
10:03So then like the 90% of the road space is actually occupied by the private vehicles,
10:09and just the, which is carrying just the 10% of the population actually. So that needs
10:13to be changed, our roads have to be designed well. And also when we see industry sector,
10:19so of course Delhi has brought in the clean fuel policy and all the regulated industries,
10:25the registered industries that are present, that has already converted to clean fuel.
10:30But then there is also some unregulated industries in the neighbours of Delhi, which have actually
10:37not converted to clean fuel. So that is also causing a problem. And especially like for
10:43this year, when we see, like we put usually the blame on this stubble burning. But then
10:48till last day, like till yesterday, the contribution of stubble burning for last 10 days was less
10:55than one person. So this is all the like, whatever is being generated is mostly the
11:00local sources. So we need to curb pollution at our own like, at our own city level. And
11:07also when, so there was this IITM and Suffolk study that has come, like that publishes data
11:14on the legal time monitoring. And among the local sources, it has been pointed out that
11:18more than 50% of the pollution is coming from the transport sector, the Delhi transport
11:22sector. So that like that should be the focus on and like, that is how the action should
11:28be done. Like, like the government should be very aggressive in taking down actions,
11:34not just pinpointing like, like I mentioned in GRAB 2, like, these are just the enforcement
11:39measures. And this should be like a year round thing and not just a winter thing. So like,
11:44we need to be very aggressive in our enforcement system. So this is the problem where we are
11:50lacking right now. And also it's just not about Delhi problem because pollution doesn't
11:53follow any specific boundary or something. So it's the whole endogangetic problem where
11:59different states also have to work together to curb down the pollution because like, even
12:07for Delhi, there are other sources around Delhi from other cities and states which is
12:12coming to Delhi. But then at the same time, Delhi is also contributing to their sources.
12:17So we need to work also at a regional level so that this pollution problem and the gas
12:22chamber problem can be resolved. I'll be taking your last two cents on the
12:26same topic, Shambhavi. Can we say that as of now, self precautionary measures and awareness
12:34is the only hope of Delhi people and the people living in the Delhi NCR region to combat this
12:41situation that we are all in? Because of course, bigger the problem, the bigger the time it
12:47takes to, you know, eliminate that problem. So can we say this, that as of now, the people,
12:54all they can do is take precautionary measures and just spread awareness and take their own
13:01ownership in helping and cleaning the environment? Yeah. So one is, of course, the precautionary
13:06measure that you are saying. But then the other thing at an individual level, what we
13:10can do is, if like around our area and only if we can look up to like whatever waste burning
13:16is happening or whatever illegal activities that is happening, if we can keep a tap on
13:21that and we can make, actually we have a portal that exists where we can put a complaint
13:27and that complaint goes to the Central Pollution Control Board or the other respective department,
13:32government departments. So that can be resolved. So we have to be vigilant enough to see what
13:37is happening around us. And also on the other side, what as people can do is, if they can
13:45switch from their own private transport to public transport, if they stop bringing their
13:49own cars and two wheelers and they can just use the buses or the metro system, so then
13:54it would definitely reduce the congestion and the vehicular pollution that is happening.
13:59And also there are small, small tips that people can, of course, do at home is not use
14:03unnecessary electricity and all. So that is, of course, that's best.
14:07Well, Shambhavi, I think this is a very huge topic and very debatable topic and it can
14:13keep going on for hours and hours because the matter is so huge and every year we are
14:18facing this. But we are very delighted that you took some time out and, you know, had
14:25a conversation with us on this very important topic that is the need of the hour also. Thank
14:31you for joining us on One India and thank you for sharing your insights. Thank you so
14:36very much. Thank you so much.