According to Greenpeace India report 2018, Uttar Pradesh is India’s most polluted state. While Varanasi is the sixth most polluted city in the country the state got 13 cities on the list of 30 most polluted cities of India with Ghaziabad sticking to the seventh spot.

Greenpeace India Report 2018: Airpocalypse II

This year’s Greenpeace India report is based on the particulate matter data of PM 10 levels for 280 cities of the country during the year 2016 (report of last year carried data for 168 cities). On ‘Assessment of Air Pollution in Indian Cities’ Delhi topped the chart as most polluted Indian city and Uttar Pradesh emerged as the most polluted state.

Five most polluted cities of India are:

Delhi (290) Faridabad (272) of Haryana Bhiwandi (262) of Rajasthan Patna (261) of Bihar Dehradun (238) of Uttarakhand

The report is based on the data acquired from the annual reports of Central and State Pollution Control Boards and Committees along information from their websites and through applications under RTI.

According to Suni Dahiya, the Senior Greenpeace campaigner:

“This data is from the 22 cities of the state where air quality monitoring systems exist whereas in the rest of the 53 districts no such equipment has ever been installed. Thus, the number of affected districts and people living there would considerably rise in case data is to be monitored throughout the state. Most of the people live in places where air quality remains unmonitored and their numbers are estimated to be over 130 million. So it is quite clear that the first step to deal with air pollution has to be installation of air quality monitoring devices in all cities and districts.”

Condition of cities of Uttar Pradesh

Varanasi came out to be the most polluted city in the state (with PM 10 levels at 236) and Ghaziabad (236) stood at the second spot. The other cities of the state that made it to the list are Hapur (235), Bareilly (226), Firozabad (223), Kanpur (217), Lucknow (211), Agra (197), NOIDA (195), Moradabad (192), Allahabad (191) and Gajraula (172).

PM 10 levels in Uttar Pradesh: Courtesy- Airpocalypse

Sunil Dahiya also stated that the air pollution in UP is highly worrisome. The actual number of people who are breathing toxic air might be much more than the report revealed.

Measures to improve air quality

As suggested by Greenpeace, following measures can be employed to fight air pollution in the country:

Improving public transport

Limiting the number of polluting vehicles on the road

Introducing less polluting fuel (Bharat VI)

Strict emission regulations

Improved efficiency for thermal power plants and industries

Moving from diesel generators to rooftop solar

Increased use of clean renewable energy

Electric vehicles

Removing dust from roads

Regulating construction activities

Stopping biomass burning, etc.

What would be government’s policy on fighting pollution?

The report reveals that none of the 280 cities complies with the PM 10 levels in the air as fixed by WHO at 20. It is affecting more than 630 million people but environmentalists are of the view that despite the red flag by Greenpeace, it is highly unlikely that the government will take any strict action on it.

According to Venkatesh Dutta, faculty, an associate professor at the School for Environmental Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Lucknow, “Environment is not always a priority when it comes to economic development and infrastructure expansion. We are making smart cities but there is a very little emphasis on developing natural capital to increase the competitiveness of our cities and towns,” as reported by Hindustan Times.

What is Greenpeace (and Airpocalypse)

Greenpeace is a global organization that works towards a green and clean world. Being founded in 1971, the Greenpeace has a presence in more than 55 countries of the world. At all the places, the organization works on the donation from the local people only.

It campaigns to:

fight against climate change,

creating a global network of marine reserves,

protecting the ancient forests,

animals and plants,

elimination of nuclear weapons,

sustainable agriculture,

and pretty much everything the world needs right now for a healthy and peaceful life.

Apocalypse II is the report on the Assessment of Air Pollution in Indian Cities by the Greenpeace India (which was founded in 2001)

What is PM or Particulate Matter?

Particulate Matter or PM is the sum of all solid and liquid particles that suspend in the air and are hazardous to the living beings. The complex mixture of the PM includes both organic and inorganic particles like dust, soot, pollen, smoke and liquid droplets.

PM 2.5 & PM 10

PM 10 is the pollution particles having diameters equal to 10 micrometres or lesser (a human hair is about 100 micrometres). These are not trapped in the nose or throat but are drawn deep into the lungs.

PM 2.5 is the small pollution particles having diameters equal or less than 2.5 micrometres in size. These are much harmful than PM 10 and penetrate deep into the respiratory system. These cause the most damage to the body.

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