Before we dive into the latest air quality crisis besieging North India — no, it’s not Delhi alone — please consider the following.
Last month, India’s policy think-tank NITI Aayog reportedly proposed that coal-fired power plants could pause the installation of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) technology, which helps to cut the polluting sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from the plants. This move, it was reported, came on the back of a report by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–National Environmental Engineering Research Institute that found SO2 emissions from the country’s coal plants were not adversely impacting air quality.
Further, it has been suggested that the focus be on abating particulate matter pollutants. Now, it cannot be anybody’s argument that particulate matter need not be slashed, as the smaller-than-hair particles can enter the bloodstream and cause adverse health impacts. But the NITI Aayog’s proposed recommendations, if finalised, will mark a spectacular turnaround in the government’s decade-long push to get reluctant coal plants to install expensive but crucial pollution abatement technology.
The NITI Aayog’s proposal is emblematic of the government’s failure to cut down air pollution not just in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), but most of North India and other critically polluted cities. Installation and implementation of FGD in thermal plants is one of the stated goals under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), the government’s flagship scheme to slash the level of particulate matter 10 (PM10) by up to 40 per cent by 2025-26.
The government’s move raises concerning questions about the tardiness in implementing pollution abatement technologies for important energy assets, necessary for energy for all, and the lack of consistency and transparency on such a serious issue.
Let us consider some more data. India is the world’s biggest emitter of SO2 as per independent reports and the gas reacts with dust and other pollutants to form particulate matter. An analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said last week that thermal power plants emit 277 kilotonnes of particulate matter and 4,327 kilotonnes of SO2 — over 10 times and 240 times higher, respectively, than what is emitted from paddy stubble burning, which causes seasonal spikes in air pollution.
Since 2015, when the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change ordered coal-fired plants to abide by stricter emission norms, 39 units with a capacity of 19,430 megawatts have installed FGD technology, as per data presented in Parliament in August. Further, contracts have been awarded or installation is under implementation in 238 units with a capacity of 1,05,200 MW, and 260 units are in the tendering and pre-tendering process, with a total capacity of 79,530 MW.
This brings us to some key questions: Is the government willing to make tougher and urgent decisions to address air pollution? Does the government see air pollution’s potential in putting the brakes on India’s progress?
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode to power in 2014, one of the earliest decisions his government took was to roll out the “ease of doing business” policy. One of the key pillars of this policy was what the government called “streamlining” of environmental regulations for quicker permits, increased self-regulation and more exemptions for industrial expansion. There are no brownie points for guessing whether these factors, cumulatively, add to the pollution woes.
Perhaps, it is time for the government to start an “ease of breathing” index.
India’s journey to be counted as one of the developed nations cannot be traversed on a path shrouded in smog. Neither China nor the US was able to do so.
The government’s own studies, conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research, have shown that 17 lakh deaths in the country were attributable to air pollution in 2019. Ironically, in July, the government did not own up to its own studies on the floor of Parliament and has denied a direct correlation of death, life expectancy or disease.
The crisis is certainly not straightforward. It involves a complex interplay of science, sound environmental governance and implementation challenges between a plethora of federal and state agencies.
A start was made in 2019 by launching the NCAP with a clear aim to improve air in 131 polluted cities. Problems were identified, funds arranged and nearly ten ministries are pooling in efforts. Five years later, the programme is floundering with only incremental gains and is muddled in statistical compliance. However, what is lacking is a decisive push to take tough measures against key sources of pollution, such as industries, vehicular pollution and dust. As for stubble burning, it has been well-established by now that the available scientific and administrative solutions are stuck in a political quagmire.
To clean the air, there are no band-aid solutions, nor will it deliver instant electoral dividends to the political class. The government, though, has a responsibility to the people. It owes them “ease of breathing”.
nikhil.ghanekar@expressindia.com
