00:00Hello and welcome to One India. I am your host Riya and today we are discussing a very
00:08critical issue that has once again gripped Delhi NCR and it is the rising air pollution.
00:16As winter approaches, the air quality starts worsening, raising health alarms across the
00:21region and with the AQI level skyrocketing and we just recorded 400, 400 number. What
00:28exactly is causing this hazardous pollution and what can be done to tackle it? To answer
00:35all these pressing questions, we are joined today by Shambhavi Shukla, who is the program
00:40manager for air pollution at the Centre for Science and Environment. Shambhavi, welcome
00:46to the show. Thank you so much for the invitation. Shambhavi, let's just dive right in. As the
00:52cold weather sets in, we often hear alarming reports about the rise in the air pollution
00:58level. So can you give us an overview of the current air quality situation in Delhi NCR?
01:05So see what is happening is right now the pollution is now going to the very poor and
01:11poor category and the pollution is increasing. This is the normal phenomena that we see every
01:16year that happens in Delhi and of course in other regions close to Delhi. So this is a
01:23common phenomena. But then what is like happening right now, especially in winters, what happens
01:27is with the onset of winter, as soon as the temperature starts to drop, there is like
01:34other metrological factors such as wind speed, which is very less in Delhi right now. And
01:41also the mixing height, the boundary layer, it also comes down. So then there is lesser
01:46space for pollutants to disperse. So then if pollutants are not getting dispersed, they're
01:51not moving outside Delhi. And also with festivals coming in, all the festivals are falling in
01:58October right now this year. So there is a congestion problem that happens like the traffic
02:05intensity is very high right now when we see it for Delhi. So that is how like the pollution
02:11is changing. The pollution has gone from moderately polluted category to very poor since last
02:16two days. Right. True. So my follow up question to you is the CAC, you know, it has been actively
02:24involved in raising awareness and advocating for the policy changes when it comes to air
02:28pollution. So what initiative your organization is currently working on to combat the air
02:34pollution, particularly in Delhi NCR? So what happens is right now, like as an organization,
02:39if I talk about, we are continuously doing public advocacy, as you said, rightly said,
02:45we are doing that. And of course, whenever required, we try to engage a lot of like we
02:51try to create a lot of public awareness through our press briefings and all through which
02:57we can make people aware in simple languages. What is happening right now with the current
03:03situation of air pollution and how this can be remediated. And also it gives out a clear
03:09message to the government as well that what actions can you take. So right now, we have
03:14already seen that the Graded Response Action Plan is in place right now. And yesterday,
03:20only I think the GRAP2 measures are in place right now. The CAQM has implemented GRAP2.
03:27But then when you look at the measures that are present under GRAP2, these are all enforcement
03:33measures. And this should be applicable throughout the year and not just especially during winters
03:39when the winters are setting in. So, if you're looking at it at an action level, so then
03:46these actions can be taken place throughout the year. If you want to check whether the
03:54construction activities are doing their work rightly, they're not creating dust, they're
03:58not creating chaos, there is control of traffic congestion on the road, then public transport
04:04should be planned in a way that people are given such connectivity at their end, so that
04:11automatically people shift from their private vehicles to public transport.
04:15Right, very rightly said, actually. So, now I would want to shift this focus to, you know,
04:22the people who are getting affected, right, which is us living in the Delhi NCR. And there
04:28is a group like the children, or we can even say the elderlies or especially with the pre-existing
04:34health conditions, right. These are the ones who are very much vulnerable groups. So, what
04:39are some of the long term health implications people should be aware of that is being caused
04:46due to the air pollution and how can they keep themselves protected, or the measure
04:51self precautionary measures that they can take?
04:54So there are any number of studies which have actually given proof that air pollution is
04:58actually impacting the health of not just elderly and children, but everyone right now,
05:04because like, the pollution levels that we see on the record, and there are boards displaying
05:10pollution levels, these are the ambient levels, but then what we are breathing is much higher,
05:16and the exposure is much higher. So immediately, the impact that happens on people is the breathing
05:22issues that they encounter. So they have asthma, bronchitis, then other COPD, like
05:27the heart diseases, it aggravates those things. And especially for kids and elderly, where
05:36they have a weaker immunity. And also with the kids, what happened is, they have a growing
05:42lungs. So they tend to inhale much more air than a normal adult. So they're inhaling much
05:48more pollutant than we are doing. So that is the reason they are continuously like,
05:55over the years, we have seen that the number of respiratory cases, particularly has increased
06:00a lot. And also when we talk about different kinds of pollutant, so especially during winters,
06:06so there are two kinds of particles. One is PM 2.5, and PM 10. PM 2.5 are the smaller
06:12particles and PM 10 are the bigger particles. So with the smaller particles, what happens
06:16is, as soon as you breathe in the air, the bigger particles, PM 10 tends to stay up to
06:23lungs only. But then what happens with PM 2.5 is, it goes into mixes with the bloodstream.
06:34So then, like the impact is very high on the health. And not just that, like even with
06:40the pregnant women, what we see is, the unborn baby, the placenta, it also gets impacted
06:47because of high levels of pollution. But then that needs to be accounted, like all the planning
06:53that we have, all the actions that we are taking, everything should be linked to health
06:58as well. Because health is the direct impact that we can see of the increasing air pollution.
07:03Right, right. See, we have talked about what is causing these air pollution, we have talked
07:08about, you know, your initiative, and of course, the government is, have also implemented
07:14CRAB 2. And in coming days, they'll be implementing further more campaigns or the rules to combat
07:20this. Then we've also talked about the people who are facing these problems primarily, or
07:26who are more exposed to these. Now, my last question to you is, Shambhavi, what can be
07:33done as of now? Because of course, it's a very long process, as you also mentioned earlier,
07:39that this has to be taken care of from the very beginning of the year, be it the construction,
07:43be it the controlling of, you know, the vehicle emission and everything, it has to be done
07:47from the very beginning, but since it is not being done, so what can be done now? Because
07:52of course, we are, we can see that we are living in gas chamber as of now. So what measures
07:58can be taken from the government or individual to help people of Delhi NCR in this adverse
08:06weather condition?
08:07So, see, I would like to bring this point up also, because Delhi has done a lot of actions,
08:13and there is definitely a 7% decrease that we see since 2019 in pollution levels. But
08:19then Delhi again needs 60% reduction in its particulate pollution level to reach the standard
08:26and standard is something which, like in which you can easily breathe. So, that is
08:32the amount of pollution that we need to reduce right now from our current levels. And in
08:38terms of action, when we talk about sectorally, so when we say waste burning, so there is
08:44a 25% area in Delhi itself, where the system of collection, segregation and management
08:52of waste is not happening, that doesn't lie under the purview of the municipal boundaries.
08:58So that is the kind of waste that is additionally being generated and not being monitored. So,
09:04when the waste is usually dumped on the roadside, what people does is usually they burn it off
09:10to get rid of it. So that is the major problem that we are facing. With the vehicles we have
09:15seen that, like Delhi was the first one to implement BS-6, coming with BS-6 fuel also,
09:22then there was a CNG program, the electric vehicles are coming in. But then what we are
09:27seeing right now is, there is a problem of congestion that is rising. Like the number
09:31of vehicles that are getting added on the road is very high. So, if you talk about like
09:37with a 20 million population of Delhi, we can see that there are 6.4 million of vehicles
09:44which are being registered in a year. So, that's a lot of number that is adding up to
09:50on the road. When we see on the road, so a bus usually, like a bus carries around 40,
09:5730 to 40 passengers. But then at the same time, a car is just carrying one to two people.
10:03So then like the 90% of the road space is actually occupied by the private vehicles,
10:09and just the, which is carrying just the 10% of the population actually. So that needs
10:13to be changed, our roads have to be designed well. And also when we see industry sector,
10:19so of course Delhi has brought in the clean fuel policy and all the regulated industries,
10:25the registered industries that are present, that has already converted to clean fuel.
10:30But then there is also some unregulated industries in the neighbours of Delhi, which have actually
10:37not converted to clean fuel. So that is also causing a problem. And especially like for
10:43this year, when we see, like we put usually the blame on this stubble burning. But then
10:48till last day, like till yesterday, the contribution of stubble burning for last 10 days was less
10:55than one person. So this is all the like, whatever is being generated is mostly the
11:00local sources. So we need to curb pollution at our own like, at our own city level. And
11:07also when, so there was this IITM and Suffolk study that has come, like that publishes data
11:14on the legal time monitoring. And among the local sources, it has been pointed out that
11:18more than 50% of the pollution is coming from the transport sector, the Delhi transport
11:22sector. So that like that should be the focus on and like, that is how the action should
11:28be done. Like, like the government should be very aggressive in taking down actions,
11:34not just pinpointing like, like I mentioned in GRAB 2, like, these are just the enforcement
11:39measures. And this should be like a year round thing and not just a winter thing. So like,
11:44we need to be very aggressive in our enforcement system. So this is the problem where we are
11:50lacking right now. And also it's just not about Delhi problem because pollution doesn't
11:53follow any specific boundary or something. So it's the whole endogangetic problem where
11:59different states also have to work together to curb down the pollution because like, even
12:07for Delhi, there are other sources around Delhi from other cities and states which is
12:12coming to Delhi. But then at the same time, Delhi is also contributing to their sources.
12:17So we need to work also at a regional level so that this pollution problem and the gas
12:22chamber problem can be resolved. I'll be taking your last two cents on the
12:26same topic, Shambhavi. Can we say that as of now, self precautionary measures and awareness
12:34is the only hope of Delhi people and the people living in the Delhi NCR region to combat this
12:41situation that we are all in? Because of course, bigger the problem, the bigger the time it
12:47takes to, you know, eliminate that problem. So can we say this, that as of now, the people,
12:54all they can do is take precautionary measures and just spread awareness and take their own
13:01ownership in helping and cleaning the environment? Yeah. So one is, of course, the precautionary
13:06measure that you are saying. But then the other thing at an individual level, what we
13:10can do is, if like around our area and only if we can look up to like whatever waste burning
13:16is happening or whatever illegal activities that is happening, if we can keep a tap on
13:21that and we can make, actually we have a portal that exists where we can put a complaint
13:27and that complaint goes to the Central Pollution Control Board or the other respective department,
13:32government departments. So that can be resolved. So we have to be vigilant enough to see what
13:37is happening around us. And also on the other side, what as people can do is, if they can
13:45switch from their own private transport to public transport, if they stop bringing their
13:49own cars and two wheelers and they can just use the buses or the metro system, so then
13:54it would definitely reduce the congestion and the vehicular pollution that is happening.
13:59And also there are small, small tips that people can, of course, do at home is not use
14:03unnecessary electricity and all. So that is, of course, that's best.
14:07Well, Shambhavi, I think this is a very huge topic and very debatable topic and it can
14:13keep going on for hours and hours because the matter is so huge and every year we are
14:18facing this. But we are very delighted that you took some time out and, you know, had
14:25a conversation with us on this very important topic that is the need of the hour also. Thank
14:31you for joining us on One India and thank you for sharing your insights. Thank you so
14:36very much. Thank you so much.
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