According to WHO, of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, the top 14 are Indian cities. The problem of air pollution disrupts not only the NCR area but many other prominent urban areas like Allahabad and Ludhiana which figure above Delhi in the pollution ranking across the world. In India, air pollution is the third highest cause of death among all health risks, ranking just above smoking.

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Impact of air pollution on the economy:

• Beyond health costs, air pollution can also hurt the economy in other ways.
• According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP), India had the highest share of welfare costs (or a loss of income from labour), of about $220 billion (about ?1.4 trillion), in South and South-East Asia of a combined total of $380 billion from mortality due to air pollution.
• In addition to human lives lost, there’s an estimated global cost of $225 billion in lost labour, and trillions in medical costs, Greenpeace report says.
• Government is keen to ascend the World Bank’s “ease of doing business” chart, but images of people walking around Delhi in safety masks do little to attract investment.
• In a 2018 study, Jamie Hansen-Lewis of Brown University finds that air pollution hurts productivity in India’s labour-intensive industries.
• She estimates that bringing the country’s air to global standards would lead to a small increase in profits of 0.3% across manufacturing companies with more pronounced effects in labour-intensive firms. Similarly, pollution is also hurting agriculture by stifling crop productivity.
• A 2014 study estimated that air pollutants were responsible for 19% of the loss in yields in wheat production in India in 2010.

Government efforts in dealing with air pollution:

• The government acknowledged air pollution as a pan–India problem with the drafting of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which was intended to build and strengthen the institutional capacity to monitor air quality across India, carry out indigenous studies to understand the health impacts of air pollution and create a national emission inventory.
• Banning the use of private vehicles from November 1 onwards in Delhi, although drastic, will definitely not be enough to curb pollution.
• Odd-even schemes and, recently, the allowance by the Supreme Court (SC) for only green or zero-emission firecrackers, are the episodic measures that have been used, and still continue to be, to combat this methodical pollution.
• There have also been instances of ban on construction activities.
• States have got nearly Rs.650 crore to help farmers buy subsidised equipment such as Happy Seeder, Paddy Straw Choppers and Zero Till Drill.
• There is a 50% subsidy to farmers, and a 75% waiver to cooperative societies, agencies that rent out equipment, farmers’ interest groups or gram panchayats to buy such machines.

Way forward:

• Short term measures should be accompanied by measures that increase the forest cover of the land and provide farmers with an alternative to burning the remains of their crops.
• An innovative approach could be to use climate change funds to turn farm residues into a resource, using technological options such as converting them into biofuels and biofertilizers.
• Proactive engagements are necessary to persuade and reassure farmers.
• It is important to find other uses for stubble such as biomass, which may encourage farmers to look for alternative sources of income.
• India should at least now give high importance to the WHO warning about air pollution being the new tobacco. Sharply escalated, deterrent parking fees can be implemented.
• From an urban development perspective, large cities should reorient their investments to prioritise public transport, favouring electric mobility.
• Incentives for adoption of alternate mobility technologies should be promoted.
• The World Bank has said it is keen to enhance its lending portfolio to tackle air pollution, opening a new avenue for this.
• Governments should make the use of personal vehicles in cities less attractivethrough strict road pricing mechanismslike Congestion tax, Green-house Gas tax
• Need to speed up the journey towards LPG and solar-powered stoves.
• Addressing vehicular emissions is within India’s grasp but requires a multi-pronged approach. It needs to combine the already-proposed tighter emission norms (in form of BS VI), with a push for shared mobility and public transport and adoption of alternate mobility technologies.
• NCAP should take precedence from emerging practices in the country—pollution cess in Delhi on truck entry, big diesel cars, and diesel fuel sales and the coal cess—to generate dedicated funds to finance clean air action plan.
• Tackle road dust by mechanised sweeping and water-sprinkling but what would be more beneficial is if the sides of the roads could be paved or covered with grass that holds the soil together and stops the production of the dust in the first place.
• Attention to non-technological aspects such as urban planning, to reduce driving, and to increase cycling, walking, and use of public transport are needed.