Solution
Sunabh answered on
Oct 31 2021
Running Head: AIR POLLUTION IN INDIA 1
AIR POLLUTION IN INDIA 12
AIR POLLUTION IN INDIA
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Background to the Environmental Health Issue. 3
Population Affected due to Air Pollution 6
Review of Cu
ent Status of Health Issue. 7
Challenges, Obstacles And Controversies Related To The Issue. 9
Conclusion 11
References 13
Introduction
Air pollution is one of the most commons as well as life threatening environmental issue persisting in on earth. It would be essential to consider that it has the ability to affect a huge number of population at once and in a very short time duration. Excessive quantities and accumulation of unwanted substances in the air leads to pollution. India has been facing a major threat from this environmental concern and 15 out of 20 most polluted cities belong to India. Air pollution has been held responsible for more than 2 million premature deaths every year in India and it ranks higher than other environmental health issues such as smoking, diabetes, child malnutrition and even hypertension.
A number of direct as well as indirect factors have been held responsible for the continuous deterioration of air quality across India such as burning of fossil fuels, agricultural wastes, cultural beliefs and festivals, vehicular and industrial emissions and list continuous. This literature review focuses upon some aspects of air pollution in India and major causes behind it. Likewise, health impact of this environmental concern will be discussed along with the challenges and controversies faced by the policy makers.
Background to the Environmental Health Issue
According to the report presented by Financial Times (2018), more than 4.2 billion people in Asia may be
eathing air dirtier than the limits presented by World Health Organisation’s safer limits. Earlier, China was considered as the most polluted country in the world. However, between 1998 and 2016, India has become the most polluted country and is now in worse state than its neighbouring countries. Air quality in India has not always been this polluted instead India had finest and purest air quality compared to all the western countries. It was the time during globalization, industrialization and British rule where industries, railways and vehicles were introduced and air quality started deteriorating.
According to the air quality comparison and population
eathing in air above safer limits India and China presented similar number of individuals
eathing in air above safer limits. However, India has far more number of individuals living in heavily polluted areas due to denser areas and high density of population in more polluted cities and states such as Delhi, Faridabad, Gurugram and much more. According to the study presented by Balakrishnan et al. (2019) reported that more than 1.24 million individuals were killed in India in 2017 and more than half of them were younger than 70 years of age.
Delhi and its neighbouring states have presented some of the shocking data of all times and they have been reported to have deadly air quality. There have been a rapid increase in the pollution levels of Delhi and the readings have crossed the WHO limits way farther than acceptable levels. Air quality is measured in form of Air Quality Index (AQI). AQI of Delhi is generally between 101 and 200 during January and September and then it takes a sharp rise to very poor and hazardous levels of 301-400 and 401-500 and even 500+ respectively. This sudden and sharp rise is observed during October to December and ay even stay until January.
This increase in thee particulate matter is generally observed as smog in Delhi and it is also observed in neighbouring cities such as Noida, Faridabad, Gurugram and other adjoining areas under National Capital Te
itory of India. Air pollution levels of 2017 in Delhi is by far recorded as the worst levels of air quality since 1996 on both PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels (Maji, Ahmed, Siddiqui & Ghosh, 2017).
There are a number of factors as well as reasons that contributes towards the higher level of pollution in Delhi. Some of these reasons are direct while some are indirect. Delhi is an overcrowded city with more than 18.6 million individuals living in the city according to 2016 surveys and is expected to have increased even more. Population density of city is also very high with around 40-45 thousands individuals living per square mile. Due to this, the greenhouse gas emission is very higher in Delhi and therefore, overpopulation is considered as one of the major reasons behind the air pollution.
Bhardawaj et al. (2016) suggested that this is majorly because increased population demand for more resources in form of vehicles, public transport, electricity and much more, all of this adds up to the increased air pollution in the city. Other than this, changing climatic conditions during October to December are also another major reason behind the increase in pollution levels. Colder weather as well as stagnant winds does not allow the air and particulate matter in it to move or distribute and as a result, the smoke from different sources as well as states is trapped. Air quality measured during this time will reflect the worsen air quality than Delhi will ever encounter throughout year.
Sources of smog majorly includes the crop leftover burnt in the states of Haryana and Punjab, where after the harvesting of wheat and rice, leftover straws and
ans are burnt and due to moving winds and western distu
ances, smoke move towards Delhi. After reaching Delhi, increased temperature compared to other states and high concentration of greenhouse gases creates a low pressure zone as a result of which stagnant winds are found and therefore, smoke get accumulated within city. After December and during January, winds again start to flow and smog is distributed away from the city (Singh & Grover, 2018).
Another major reason, behind the air pollution of Delhi is the fire crackers burnt during Diwali. Since it is a very large cultural festival in India, therefore, it is cele
ated throughout nation. Burning firecrackers is a tradition followed and firecrackers cause a lot of pollution. Further, pollution from firecrackers burnt in Delhi combines with the smoke of burning crops and cracker from other states and leads to thick and dense smog throughout city.
Population Affected due to Air Pollution
Air pollution has been an...