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India's Air: Global Solutions for Delhi's Haze
10 Dec
Summary
- Report analyzes global strategies to improve India's air quality.
- Pollution focus shifts from PM10 to more toxic PM2.5.
- Indian pollution regulators are understaffed and underfunded.
A comprehensive report by the Sustainable Futures Collaborative has outlined strategies for India to improve its air quality, including in Delhi, by examining successful pollution control measures in countries like Brazil, China, and Germany. These nations were chosen for their economic relevance and past struggles with severe air pollution. The research emphasizes that India needs to prioritize tackling PM2.5, a finer and more toxic particulate matter, which is currently overlooked in favor of PM10 in national programs.
The report details how countries like Poland adopted civil society-led movements, while China implemented a top-down governmental 'war on pollution.' Mexico City utilized science-based standards and coordinated action plans to combat pollution exacerbated by its geography. These examples underscore the diverse approaches available, from grassroots activism to state-led mobilization, for enhancing air quality.
Critically, the analysis points to the under-resourced nature of India's pollution control boards. With significantly fewer staff compared to global counterparts and many sanctioned posts vacant, these bodies face immense workload challenges. This resource scarcity impedes thorough compliance monitoring, potentially leading to conflicts of interest and less effective pollution control on the ground.
