Anil Agarwal - Centre for Science and Environment

When will India be able to control pollution?
Not till the middle of the 21^st century. So be prepared to leave your children behind in a living hell. Unless you are prepared to browbeat your politicians into action.

By Anil Agarwal

Many journalists have been asking the question: What will India’s environment look like in the 21^st century? Since India is already one of the most polluted countries in the world, an important question is: Will India ever be able to control pollution and, if so, when?

Most of the Indian rivers, especially the smaller ones, are today toxic drains: Sabarmati, Bhadar, Yamuna, Damodar, Chaliyar, Betwa, Noyyal, Bhawani, to name just a few. Groundwater, too, is becoming polluted, which is a major source of drinking water – and most of it is drunk without any treatment. But lets talk in some detail about air pollution.

Air pollution in Indian cities is also growing by leaps and bounds. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has just relea

sed the air quality data for 1997 for 70 cities and what does it show? That Shillong is the only town in India where the air quality in terms of suspended particulates -- the most threatening air pollutant in Indian cities – was clean round the year and there was no single day either when the air became even moderately polluted.

In all the 69 other cities, the air quality was moderately, highly or critically polluted – terms used and defined by the CPCB -- round the year. In some, the air was moderately poor round the year but reached high or critical levels of pollution during certain days in the year. In 33 cities, that is, in about half of all the cities monitored, the air was critically polluted round the year and they had days when the air quality was nothing short of disastrous (see Table: Air Quality in Indian cities in 1997). Another 40 per cent of the cities had high or moderate levels of pollution round the year but had certain days when the pollution reached critical levels.

Table 1

Air Quality in Indian cities in 1997 (based on measurements of Total Suspended Particulate Matter)

Level of Air Quality	No. of towns Percentage of with air quality of towns where with air quality towns where air round the year air quality is on most polluted quality is monitored day monitored
Critical Pollution (above 1.5 times the standard)	33 (Vadodara, Mumbai, Pune, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Jaipur, Haldia, *Indore, Ahmedbad, Ghaziabad, Bhopal, Jodhpur, Gajraula, Chandigarh, Dehgradun, Anpara, Gobindgarh, Guwahati, Vapi, Howrah, Alwar, Delhi, Ankleshwar, Agra, Kanpur, Faridabad, Jharia, Patna, Surat)	47%	61 (Yamunanagar, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Thiruvanatha-puram, Talcher, Kota, Chittor, Korba, Rourkela, Bhilai, Raipur, Bangalore, Satna, Nasik, Paonta Sahib, Dhanbad, Jalandhar, Pondicherry, Sindri, Sholapur, Visakhapatnam, Udaipur, Vadodara, Mumbai, Pune, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Jaipur, Haldia, Indore, Ahmedbad, Ghaziabad, Bhopal, Jodhpur, Gajraula, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Anpara, Gobindgarh, Guwahati, Vapi, Howrah, Alwar, Delhi, Ankleshwar, Agra, Kanpur, Faridabad, Jharia, Patna, Surat, Kochi, Tuticorin, Vasco, Damtal, Angul, Chennai, Coimbatore, Parwanoo, Nagda, Dombivali)	87%
High Pollution (between 1 and 1.5 times the standard)	18 (Yamunanagar, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Thiruvanatha-puram, Talcher, Kota, Chittor, Korba, Rourkela, Bhilai, Raipur, Bangalore, Satna, Nasik, Paonta Sahib, Dhanbad, Jalandhar, Pondicherry, Sindri, Sholapur, Visakhapatnam, Udaipur)	26%	6 (Shimla, Rayagada, Mysore, Chanderpur, Jamshedpur, Ponda)	9%
Moderate Pollution (between 0.5 and 1 times the standard)	17 (Kozhikode, Jabalpur, Shimla, Kochi, Vasco, Rayagada, Damtal, Angul, Mysore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Chanderpur, Jamshedpur, Ponda, Parwanoo, Nagda, Dombivali)	24%	2 (Kozhikode, Jabalpur)	3%
Clean Air (below 0.5 times the standard)	2 (Shillong, Tuticorin)	3%	1 (Shillong)	1%
TOTAL	70	100%	70	100%

Source: 1997 Air quality data from the Central Pollution Control Board