Dealing With Pollution: What Is Really Up?

The meek improvement in the air quality may have resulted in authorities rolling back some of the hurried moves taken to deal with the toxic haze that engulfed the national capital region beginning at the outset of the winter, but, it would be a mistake to think the danger has been averted.

According to American atmospheric organisation National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), smog-filled cities in north India and Pakistan will continue to experience dangerous level of air quality over the next several months. The NOAA also warned that these cities could turn into dangerously unhealthy "snow globes".

Releasing satellite pictures, the agency said that widespread smog caused by the combustion of fuels, and the burning of crops and fires made it dangerous to be outside in cities in northern India and Pakistan.

At the US Embassy in New Delhi, hourly Air Quality Index (AQI) values for PM2.5 taken on November 7 through November 10 exceeded 500, with an astounding recording of 1,010 at 4PM local time on November 8.

A study published in The Lancet journal recently also revealed that the disease burden due to air pollution remained high in India between 1990 and 2016, as it caused non-communicable and infectious diseases such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and infections.

Outdoor air pollution was responsible for six per cent of the total disease burden in India in 2016, the study, titled India State-level Disease Burden, said.

Amid all these negative revelations, what are authorities doing – apart from the usual (ban on construction & entry of trucks, sprinkling of water and working towards the re-launch of odd-even scheme) – to make sure we see better days ahead?

Here is a look.

Govt advances BS-VI fuel roll out in Delhi

To ensure that pollution caused by automobiles is tamed, the Centre has preponed the launch of ultra-clean Euro-VI grade petrol and diesel in the national capital by two years — the deadline for the rest of the country stands as it is. In 2015, the country had decided to adopt Euro-VI emission-norm-complaint petrol and diesel from April 2020 from the current Euro-IV grade. With the transition, Sulphur specification for petrol and diesel will be reduced 50 times for a level of 500 ppm for BS-II fuel to 10 ppm in BS-VI.

However, this is easier said.

The national capital consumed 906,000 tonnes of petrol and 1.26 million tonnes of diesel in 2016-17. Meeting that kind of demand from April next year may be challenging. Oil refineries will need to invest Rs 28,000 crore in upgrading petrol and diesel quality to meet cleaner fuel specifications by 2020.

Some new refineries are already capable of producing Euro-VI grade fuel, which contain 10 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur, as against 50 ppm in Euro-IV fuels.

Fuel retailers have also been asked by the oil ministry to examine the possibility of introduction of BS-VI auto fuels in the whole of the national capital region, including Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad, from April 1, 2019.

Delhi to go on e-bus shopping spree

Lack of buses was among the many reasons that led to the Delhi government revoking its plan to re-launch the odd-even formula this smog. Now, the state is going to buy 500 electric buses (e-buses). Apart from keeping the air clean, these buses also will give a boost to Delhi's public transport services. Money from the Environmental Compensation Charge (ECC) and Environmental Ambient Air Fund would be used to make the purchase.

Punjab ties up with Chennai-based firm to take care of stubble

In Punjab, around 20 million tonnes of stubble is generated in a season. Burning of this substance has been the prime cause of Delhi smog. Now, Punjab has signed a Rs 10,000-crore deal with Chennai-based NEWAY Engineers MSW for setting up of 400 processing plants to convert crop residue into bio-energy. Under the deal, the company will set up 400 cluster units in the next 10 months. Each plant would be able to process 50,000 tonnes of paddy straw in a year. The plants will become operational before the next harvesting season.

The Punjab government will allocate seven acres of land to each cluster unit, and provide power at subsidised rates. About 30,000 youths will also find jobs through these clusters.

Haryana, too, is offering subsidy to farmers and government procurement agencies on responsible disposal of stubble.

NTPC to float tender for buying farm stubble

Then, there are takers too. State-run NTPC will float a tender to buy farm stubble at Rs 5,500 per tonne for power plants. This move will help farmers earn around Rs 11,000 per acre from the sale of stubble/straw pellets.

A new market is about to be created.

With inputs from Housing News