Air Pollution in Urban Areas - Academic

            In New Delhi we had an opportunity to experience first-hand how bad air quality can become. Air quality is a major problem, which can especially threaten urban areas in developing countries. We saw the sheer number of vehicles on the road throughout India and this is being accompanied with high levels of industrialization. India is already home to three of the ten largest cities in the world (Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai), and the rate of urbanization is predicted to continue substantially in the future. Air pollution is not only detrimental to human health (i.e. respiratory infections), but the wellbeing of the environment as well.

The Complexity of Air Pollution and Urbanization

            Air pollution is caused by various sources and the relationship between these sources is very complex. Air pollution is exasperated in cities because of the growing populations. As poor economic opportunities in villages push people to urban areas, the government is pressed to provide/maintain the infrastructure needed (traffic congestion, poor housing, poor sanitation, etc.). The number of cars and two-wheelers in India has increased dramatically over the last twenty years. Of the 400 million cars in India in 2000, 30% of them were located in 12 cities. Nadgdeve (2004) cites vehicular traffic as the most important source of air pollution in all mega cities (cities of population greater than 10 million).

Health & Environment

            Katie Darrocott, Elizabeth Johnston, and myself researched the economic, environmental, and health impacts of urbanization in India for our final GIS project (a copy of our final poster can be found at the bottom of the linked page). Our overall conclusion aligns with many of the articles we read in class. While urbanization does provide some economic benefits (i.e. more job opportunities), there are considerable environmental and health implications. Air pollution kills an estimated 673,000 people annually in India (Nagdeve, 2004). Our presentation (see figure 3) shows that areas with high rates of urbanization have greater reported cases of respiratory infection. Our anomaly to this conclusion was Kerala, which had lower rates of urbanization but very high reported cases of respiratory infection. This could be caused, however, by better reporting of statistics in Kerala.

Our Proud Group at the Poster Presentation

            Environmental impacts are not limited to local air quality, but global climate change as well. Greenhouse gas emissions from vehicular traffic damage the ozone layers on a global level and also have local impacts. Increased greenhouse gas emissions damage nearby soil, vegetation, forest areas, aquatic systems, and groundwater (Badami 2005). With two-thirds of India’s population depending directly on climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, and forestry (Sathaye, Shukla, Ravindranath), it is essential that these problems are thoroughly researched and addressed in the near future.

Solutions

            We saw first-hand in New Delhi how bad air pollution can be. As we drove around the city in the middle of the afternoon, the smog was so bad you could not see what was beyond the bridge we were driving over. Dr. Kaup even remarked that the air quality was worse in New Delhi than Beijing or any city she had been to in China. As bad as the air pollution problem is, however, there are solutions that can help restore the air quality. We saw the importance and significance of education in changing the culture of environmentalism. Informing the population of the adverse effects of pollution and about how they can personally help out will be important to create a culture that values the environment. Additionally, focus should be given to enforcement and monitoring. While the laws and regulation clearly protect the environment, a lack of regulatory force limits the efficacy of the laws. Increased monitoring will provide clearer insight to those who form policy. When more is known about a particular problem, policymakers will be able to appropriate funds more effectively. As India moves in to the future, the population (overall and urban) shows no signs of slowing. Given the importance of air quality, it must be a serious priority for policymakers as well as individual citizens.

Badami, M. (2005). The Urban Transport in Challenge in India. IDPR 27(2), 169-174.

Nagdeve, D. (September 2004). Urban Air Pollution And its Influence on Health in India. IIPS Mumbai, ENVIS center, Vol. 1(3).

Sathaye, J., Shukla, P.R., Ravindranath, N.H. (February 10, 2006). Climate change, sustainable development and India: Global and national concerns. Current Science, Vol. 90(3), 314-325.