Case study - Pollution in India

• The population of India is 1.4 billion
• Out of the 20 most polluted cities, 13 were in India
• Air pollution causes 1.2 million deaths in India
• 99% of India's population breathe in polluted air
• Causes of air pollution in India

  • Motor vehicles
  • Industries and factories
  • Biomass burnt in rural areas
• What burns in the air in India

  • Particulates
  • Nitrogen Dioxide
  • Sulphur dioxide
  • Ozone
• Why do people in rural areas burn biomass

  For cooking and energy
• Burning biomass causes 1 million premature deaths a year
• Why are particulate pollution a big risk to health

  • They are tiny particles that penetrate deep into people's lungs, causing serious respiratory problems (asthma, bronchitis) as well as lung and heart disease and cancer
• Delhi's residents' risk of lung cancer has increased by 70%
• Safe PM levels


  • WHO: 10 micrograms/m3
  • India: 40 micrograms/m3
• 100 new cars are registered each week in India
• Legislation about rice farming

  Has caused more pollution in Delhi as rice farmers have started to burn their crops as they are not allowed to water their crops before the monsoon season, so the land is ready for the season in Punjab - the Himalayas and winds pushes the smoke towards Delhi
• Impacts of air pollution in India

  • The smog causes car crashes
  • Respiratory symptoms and diseases such as asthma are x1.7 higher in Delhi
  • 50% of kids have asthma in Bangalore
  • Lung function in Delhi's inhabitants is an average 40% reduced compared to 21% in rural places
  • There has been a rise in pollution related cancers such as lung cancer
• One in five lung cancer cases are with non-smokers
• Life expectancy was reduced by 2.5 years in 1998 and decreased by 8.6 years in the 2010s
• In Delhi, life expectancy has decreased by 10 years
• The Indian government is prioritising economic growth over the environment and refusing to deal with air pollution
• The poorest part of society bears the brunt of the Indian air pollution problem
• The Indian government has launched the National Clean Air programme (NCAP) in 2019 due to pressures from the courts
• The Indian government has set a target to reduce emissions by 20-30% (PM matter), but this is not legally binding
• Local solutions used in India

  • In Bihar, chimneys of brick kilns have been retrofitted to reduce smoke emissions
  • Subsidies for petrol and diesel will be scrapped
  • One third of all electricity is produced by noxious generators
• Global solutions

  • The EU has been an active member in combatting air pollution, allocating 1.8 billion euros to support air quality measures such as public transport improvements, cleaner fuels (gas), moving factories outside the city
  • Trading permits - In Gujarat, there are permits for industries that limit their emissions; if the limit is broken they cannot operate unless they buy permits off other industries
  • Brick Kilns - these are cheap and affordable ways to direct heat transfer to make it faster and more effective, lowering emissions since less coal is burnt but it doesn't solve anything
  • International agreements - the Paris agreement in 2015 was to reduce emissions by 60% (of 2010 standards) by 2050 - this is a slow process for mainly industrial areas