Context:
- A recent report by the Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC) evaluates air pollution mitigation strategies across Brazil, China, Mexico, and the United States to draw lessons for India.
- The report flags a critical gap in India’s air quality approach — an overemphasis on PM10, while the more harmful PM2.5 remains insufficiently addressed.
Key Highlights:
Findings of the SFC Report
- Air pollution is not a top political priority in India, largely due to:
- Limited public awareness of health impacts.
- Poor understanding of economic and healthcare costs of polluted air.
- In contrast, countries such as China and Mexico achieved improvements through:
- Top-down political commitment
- Clearly defined pollution reduction targets
- Coordinated inter-agency action plans
India’s Current Strategy: NCAP
- India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) primarily targets PM10 reduction, unlike global best practices that prioritize PM2.5.
- Reason for PM10 focus:
- Existing monitoring infrastructure in many non-attainment cities measures PM10 more consistently.
- Leads to surface-level interventions such as road sweeping and dust suppression.
Institutional Constraints
Pollution Control Boards
- State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) are:
- Understaffed
- Underfunded
- Results in weak enforcement of industrial emission standards.
- Compliance monitoring is sometimes outsourced, raising concerns of conflict of interest.
Administrative Overload
- Environmental engineers oversee:
- Air and water pollution
- Solid, plastic, biomedical, and hazardous waste
- Expanding responsibilities dilute focus on air quality monitoring and enforcement.
Comparative International Experiences
China (Beijing):
- Adopted a top-down approach with strict targets.
- Relocated polluting industries outside the city’s airshed.
Mexico City:
- Established science-based air quality standards.
- Introduced unleaded petrol.
- Expanded public transport networks.
Poland:
- Air quality reforms driven by civil society movements demanding accountability.
India’s Reform Trajectory
- Initial air quality action driven by Public Interest Litigations (PILs) and Supreme Court interventions.
- Sustained, executive-led governance response remains limited.
Relevant Prelims Points:
- Issue: Rising health risks from PM2.5 despite focus on PM10.
- Causes: Monitoring limitations, weak institutions, policy misalignment.
- Government Initiative: National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
- Benefits of PM2.5 Focus: Reduced morbidity, lower healthcare burden.
- Challenges: Institutional capacity gaps, political prioritisation.
- Impact: Limits effectiveness of India’s air pollution mitigation efforts.
Relevant Mains Points:
- Conceptual Clarity:
- PM2.5: Fine particulate matter that penetrates deep into lungs and bloodstream, highly toxic.
- PM10: Coarser particles, less harmful than PM2.5.
- Non-attainment cities: Cities failing to meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
- Governance Analysis:
- India’s air governance remains reactive and litigation-driven.
- Way Forward:
- Shift NCAP targets decisively towards PM2.5 reduction.
- Expand and modernize air quality monitoring networks.
- Strengthen staffing, funding, and autonomy of SPCBs and PCCs.
- Adopt airshed-based planning and inter-state coordination.
- Build political and public consensus by highlighting health and economic costs.
UPSC Relevance (GS-wise):
- GS 3: Environment & Ecology, Air Pollution
- GS 2: Governance, Environmental Regulation
- Prelims: PM2.5, PM10, NCAP, Non-attainment cities