Roadmap for cutting pollution

Roadmap for cutting pollution

Here’s a big dream: by 2027, when India celebrates its 80th year of independence, let’s aim to reduce air pollution by 80% in 80 cities.
Air pollution is the great leveller. It affects us all, rich and poor, city dwellers and village folk, those inland and those on the coast. Researchers at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) found that one out of every two Indians breathes air that does not meet our air quality standards. In 2017, 1.24 million deaths in India were attributable to air pollution, more than caused by diarrhoea, tuberculosis, HIV or malaria. The health cost is as high as $80 billion.

Every morning when I drop my daughter to the school bus stop, I remind her to not take off her mask. We can run air purifiers at home, but for how long can we lock up our children at home? Our helplessness contributes to collective apathy towards air pollution. If we feel we cannot do anything about it, we ignore the issue or grasp at temporary reprieves when the wind changes direction or rain brings respite.

But what should a democratic demand for clean air look like? For active citizen engagement and to combat our helplessness, we must demand answers to five questions. First, will reported violations get a response? Most Indian cities and much of rural India has no air quality monitoring. We need to demand air pollution monitors in our constituencies. We also need active monitoring and emergency response. One immediate action would be to create pollution control rooms (PCRs) and rapid response teams (RRTs). Citizens can become fire alarms, report violations, say by industries or construction sites, to PCRs and expect that RRTs would respond in real time.

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