Context: India topped air pollution death toll in 2019, according to a recent report on pollution and health published in The Lancet Planetary Health.

Key highlights of the Report

Global Scenario

• According to the report, Air pollution alone contributes to 66.7 lakh deaths globally. Comparative to the previous analysis from 2015.
• Overall, pollution was responsible for an estimated 90 lakh deaths in 2019 (equivalent to one in six deaths worldwide), a number that has remained unchanged since the 2015 analysis. 
• Ambient air pollution was responsible for 45 lakh deaths
• Hazardous chemical pollutants for 17 lakh
• Lead pollution is responsible for 9 lakh deaths

In India

• Air pollution was responsible for 16.7 lakh deaths in 2019, or 17.8% of all deaths in the country that year.  This is the largest number of air pollution-related deaths in any country.
• The majority of the air pollution-related deaths in India (9.8 lakh out of 16.7 lakh) were caused by PM2.5 pollution, and another 6.1 lakh by household air pollution. 
• Although the number of deaths from pollution sources associated with extreme poverty (such as indoor air pollution and water pollution) has decreased, these reductions are offset by increased deaths attributable to industrial pollution (such as ambient air pollution and chemical pollution).
• Air pollution is most severe in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This area contains New Delhi and many of the most polluted cities.
• Burning of biomass in households is the single largest cause of air pollution deaths in India, followed by coal combustion and crop burning.
• India does not have a strong centralised administrative system to drive its air pollution control efforts and consequently improvements in overall air quality have been limited and uneven, the report has said.

Government efforts to control air pollution

National Mission on use of biomass in thermal power plants

• It was set up by the Ministry of Power.
• Aim: To tackle the issue of air pollution due to farm stubble-burning and to reduce carbon footprints of thermal power generation.

Objectives

• To increase the level of co-firing from present 5% to higher levels to have a larger share of carbon-neutral power generation from the thermal power plants.
• To take up R&D activity in boiler design to handle the higher amount of silica, alkalis in the biomass pellets.
• To facilitate overcoming the constraints in the supply chain of biomass pellets and agro- residue and its transport up to the power plants.
• To consider regulatory issues in biomass co-firing.

National Clean Air Programme

• It is a central sector scheme.
• Target: To achieve a 20 % to 30 % reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year.
• 102 non-attainment cities mostly in Indo-Gangetic Plains have been identified based on ambient air quality data for the period 2011 – 2015 and WHO report 2014/2018.

Graded Response Action Plan

• It aims to prevent, control, and abatement of air pollution in Delhi and NCR.
• It identifies graded measures and implementing agencies for response to four AQI categories, namely, Moderate to Poor, Very Poor, Severe and Severe + or Emergency.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

• It aims to safeguard the health of women & children by providing them with a clean cooking fuel – LPG.
• It will help to prevent indoor air pollution.

Additional Information
The Lancet Planetary Health

• It is an open access journal that seeks to be the pre-eminent journal for enquiry into sustainable human civilizations in the Anthropocene.
• The journal publishes on subjects broadly encompassing sustainable development (the SDGs) and global environmental change.

By: Shubham Tiwari