Analysis
November 20, 2017
For most of November, Delhi has been blanketed by dense smog. Doctors in the capital declared the crisis a public healthy emergency, while the chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, called it a “gas chamber.” Since the beginning of the month, average pollution levels in the city have exceeded 10 times the World Health Organization-recommended 24-hour levels. At its worst, pollution levels were nearly 40 times this number.
But pollution is not just a Delhi problem. Indian cities are consistently ranked among Asia’s most polluted, according to WHO. Per the WHO’s 2016 database, 10 of the world’s most polluted cities, in terms of fine particulate matter, are in India.
Particulate matter pollution is the single largest environmental health risk across the world. These particles led to 4.2 million premature deaths in 2015-2016-more deaths than from malaria, tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS combined. A recent study from the Energy Policy Institute at University of Chicago (EPIC), on the impact of prolonged exposure to particulates, finds that an increase in particulate pollution (PM10) by 10 micrograms per cubic meter reduces lifespans by 0.6 years. For Delhi, that means average life expectancy could increase by about 6 years if particulate concentrations were brought down to national standards. Many other cities in North India would see similar benefits, including Agra (5 year gain), Bareilly (4.7 year gain) and Lucknow (4.5 year gain).
Particulate pollution comes from many sources: vehicles, industrial plants, biomass burns and dust generated by construction or traffic on poorly asphalted roads. Reducing smog and improving air quality in Indian cities over the long term requires an approach that targets each source of pollution.
While tackling pollution from vehicles and traffic have been widely discussed, a conspicuous absence in the current discussion has been industrial pollution reforms.
Environmental regulations in India, especially for industrial pollution, are long overdue for an overhaul. State Pollution Control Boards are desperately understaffed. The environment acts have not kept pace with changing times. And, continued reliance on stringent command-and-control structures has proven to be ineffective because they are often unenforceable. Non-compliance is a criminal offense under the Air Act, and while Indian emissions standards are typically less stringent than in developed countries, dragging plants routinely to the courts and prison is fundamentally unfeasible.
In the absence of laws that enable the regulators to take proportionate action, they are forced to find intermediate measures: mandate new pollution control equipment, and in extreme cases, cut access to power and water until the issue is redressed. These are expensive stopgap measures and may be ultimately ineffective in reducing pollution.
Efficient solutions
Experience from around the world suggests that well-designed economic instruments may incentivize industrial plants to reduce their emissions — and at lower costs. For example, most industrialized countries, including China, rely on monetary fines to reduce industrial pollution, an approach that has several advantages. First, fines can be designed to be proportional to the extent of the offense. Second, they can be levied automatically by the regulators, making their action predictable and transparent. Third, for industries, monetary fines essentially become a cost of doing business that they can factor into their decision-making.
Read more on Forbes: India And China Both Struggle With Deadly Pollution — But Only One Fights It
An emissions trading regime is likely to be more efficient still. Allowing industrial plants to trade permits could reduce pollution at much lower costs. Trading encourages industrial plants for whom it is most economical to reduce emissions to take these actions, and then sell their permits to those for whom it’s more economical to pay in place of taking action themselves.
Hints at progress
While India continues to rely on an antiquated system, there are reasons to be optimistic as pollution control boards across the country experiment with innovative changes. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, for instance, has introduced a star-rating scheme to publicly disclose pollution compliance of individual plants. Meanwhile, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has mandated that all high-polluting industrial plants install continuous emission monitoring to improve the ability to enforce pollution rules. Further, the CPCB is designing a pilot emissions trading scheme in three states — the first trading program for particulate pollution globally.
While these are welcome first steps that hint at progress, focus on improvement is needed not just when the air is at its worst, but all the time.