India's Toxic Air Crisis Is Reaching a Breaking Point (bloomberg.com) 56
New Delhi's air quality index averaged 349 in December and 307 in January -- levels the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies as hazardous -- and the months-long smog season that forces more than 30 million residents to endure respiratory illness has this year sparked something new: public protest. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at India Gate on November 9 to demand government action; police detained more than a dozen people, and a follow-up protest later that month turned violent.
The government's response has been largely cosmetic. Authorities deployed truck-mounted "smog guns" and "smog towers" that scientists widely regard as ineffective, and a cloud seeding trial in October failed outright. A senior environment minister told Parliament in December that no conclusive data linked pollution to lung disease -- a claim doctors sharply disputed. The government cut pollution control spending by 16% in the latest federal budget. Almost 1.7 million deaths were attributable to air pollution in India in 2019, according to the Lancet. A 2023 World Bank report estimated the crisis shaves 0.56 percentage point off annual GDP growth.
The government's response has been largely cosmetic. Authorities deployed truck-mounted "smog guns" and "smog towers" that scientists widely regard as ineffective, and a cloud seeding trial in October failed outright. A senior environment minister told Parliament in December that no conclusive data linked pollution to lung disease -- a claim doctors sharply disputed. The government cut pollution control spending by 16% in the latest federal budget. Almost 1.7 million deaths were attributable to air pollution in India in 2019, according to the Lancet. A 2023 World Bank report estimated the crisis shaves 0.56 percentage point off annual GDP growth.
levels the U.S. EPA classifies as hazardous (Score:4, Insightful)
Not to worry, problem solved. We're shutting down the EPA. You won't be hearing from them anymore.
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That's like the US with no EPA
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Not to worry, problem solved. We're shutting down the EPA. You won't be hearing from them anymore.
And I'd question why non-US countries should even trust any metrics coming from those agencies - are you getting actual scientific measurements or just what a flunkie thinks will make Dear Leader happy today?
coordination needed (Score:2)
At what point does Europe, the USA, Canada, NZ, Australia and Japan starting using coordinated trade policy to get large polluting countries by total tons of airborne pollution released and total plastic dumped in the ocean (India is amongst the largest) to reduce their pollution emissions?
It is a per country total emissions. It is not a per-capita or less stringent for "developing" economies measure.
A simpler measure would be to measure air quality in the 10 largest metropolitan areas weekly with Europe, U
Re:Until the goal posts move (Score:4, Insightful)
As the current administration has demonstrated repeatedly, when a metric shows negative, just change the metric (or remove it)!
Are you talking about the administration running India?
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As the current administration has demonstrated repeatedly, when a metric shows negative, just change the metric (or remove it)!
I remember a recent administration that redefined "recession" - is that what you're talking about?
They also redefined "women's sports" to include anyone that wants to compete as a woman - is that what you're talking about?
A previous administration invented a new metric "jobs created or saved" - is that what you are talking about?
Just curious, you need to be more specific...
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I remember a recent administration that redefined "recession" - is that what you're talking about?
I'm going to need some citations for this.
They also redefined "women's sports" to include anyone that wants to compete as a woman - is that what you're talking about?
You know this deals with literally 10 people nationwide? Why is this the biggest problem facing the nation?
A previous administration invented a new metric "jobs created or saved" - is that what you are talking about?
Just curious, you need to be more specific...
Going to need some citations for this as well there, chief.
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https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28... [npr.org]
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>>While two consecutive quarters of negative growth is often considered a recession, it's not an official definition.
okay so what's the conspiracy here
There's no simple answer (Score:3)
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Conspicuous by its absence, what are all the experts suggesting to remedy the situation?
What I got from this summary is that in the coming year (which hasn't fully happened yet, as we are 6 weeks into 2026) India will 16% of its's spending on measures scientists regard as mainly ineffective... should they spend more on the ineffective measures, or, perhaps, suggest something else? Why not roll out solar, I hear it's the bestest, cheapest way to generate electricity?
Authorities deployed truck-mounted "smog guns" and "smog towers" that scientists widely regard as ineffective, and a cloud seeding trial in October failed outright.
And
The government cut pollution control spending by 16% in the latest federal budget.
What should India do to improve air qu
Re:There's no simple answer (Score:5, Insightful)
What should India do to improve air quality?
Stop the farmers from burning the crop waste? They can till it back into the soil
Re:There's no simple answer (Score:5, Informative)
Why not roll out solar, I hear it's the bestest, cheapest way to generate electricity?
I didn't read the article (it's paywalled and I don't want to have Yet Another Account Somewhere just to read it), but according to a Wikipedia article on air pollution in Delhi [wikipedia.org], the main sources of air pollution there are:
Re:There's no simple answer (Score:5, Informative)
Unfortunately, there is no ranking or estimates of which ones are the worst. I suspect vehicles are up there in the list. And also suspect they have TONS of extremely-polluting, old, 2-cycle engines being used in 2 wheeled mopeds/cycles/scooters/generators/etc and micro cars. Just one such engine could produce the pollution of up to 125 4-cycle modern mopeds/scooters, or dozens and dozens of modern cars.
https://rd350.info/blog/post/t... [rd350.info]
I also doubt most of the 4-cycle gas cars are using anywhere near modern pollution controls, and I also doubt most of the diesel vehicles have proper filters and urea injection.
Unfortunately, correcting such issues will take a ton of money and time, neither of which they have.
Re: There's no simple answer (Score:3)
I've never been to India (and will never want to), but this seems likely to me. I visited Beijing about ten years ago and landing was descending from a "real" cloud, through a small clear layer of air, and into a yellow cloud of smog death. You could barely see the terminal from the tarmac through all the smog.
I haven't been back, but my understanding is that since electric cars and scooters have proliferated, the problem has been significantly improved.
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Like LA, Beijing has some geographic issues that make the pollution worse. The issues in India are often similar, varying from place to place.
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Two and three wheelers are undoubtedly a huge source, and they are being electrified pretty rapidly, because they are able to be produced at low enough costs to be compelling replacements even in the Indian market.
https://micromobility.io/news/... [micromobility.io]
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And even then, solar is going in everywhere because of grid reliability being poor and costing a lot. Diesel gensets are out, solar & batteries are in
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On that list, solar helps with about half of it:
Solar helps with:
wood-burning fires
cow-dung cake combustion
diesel generator exhaust
thermal power plants
cooling tower mist emissions
Solar & EVs help with motor vehicles, too
Yes, plenty of other measures required, but the rapid rollout of solar in India, which is well underway, will help substantially
Re:There's no simple answer (Score:5, Interesting)
IIT Delhi did a study on this, and they found out that 25-40% of the air pollution is due to construction waste & dust, and publicly dumped garbage. Indian pollution controls focus on industrial waste and vehicular pollution, which come a distant second and third.
So they need to regulate the construction industry, and improve sanitation service, while also cracking down hard on garbage dumping. Oh, and also crack down on farmers who burn crop waste - in Delhi, that exceeds even the construction waste during the Fall months
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Crack downs rarely work. What they need is a better refuse collection system so that people don't feel the need to burn their rubbish.
Same with all those high pollution combustion engines. Give people better alternatives. China switched to electric mopeds very quickly due to their convenience - store them indoors, charge them at home, use solar panels so it's cheaper than fossil fuel.
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They need a combination of both - carrots and sticks. Yeah, by all means, have more proper waste disposal facilities per square km. But recognize that at the same time, there will still be people who keep littering. Levy heavy fines on them, or even a brief incarceration if they can't pay it, and you'll see them clean up their act. I was also referring to farmers who insist on burning biomass, even if federal regulators go and try to prevent them: they do need to be cracked down upon!
India is already
Stop crop burning [Re:There's no simple answer] (Score:3)
Conspicuous by its absence, what are all the experts suggesting to remedy the situation?
A major component of air pollution in India is farmers burning the stubble left behind on their fields after harvesting to prepare for the next planting. The number one suggestion is to use more modern equipment to clear fields after harvest, but the equipment costs money which the farmers don't have.
https://www.ccacoalition.org/r... [ccacoalition.org]
https://www2.purpleair.com/blo... [purpleair.com]
https://www.nature.com/article... [nature.com]
https://economics.yale.edu/new... [yale.edu]
Re:There's no simple answer (Score:4, Interesting)
Why not roll out solar, I hear it's the bestest, cheapest way to generate electricity?
Maybe a country that is the 3rd largest solar producer globally with 160GW installed capacity, boasting the worlds single largest solar park, and a city like New Delhi specifically having already over 211MW of roof top solar in place has already thought of that.
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> Maybe a country that is the 3rd largest solar producer globally with 160GW installed capacity, boasting the worlds single largest solar park, and a city like New Delhi specifically having already over 211MW of roof top solar in place has already thought of that.
You mean I can't come on here with absolutely no clue and make a comment after maybe 5 seconds of thought having not read TFA, and barely skimming TFS?
Ho hum... better just say something that makes this about America instead of India then. At le
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Not only have they thought of it: they have implemented it. But as I pointed out above, their major sources of pollution are construction waste, random garbage dumping and biomass burning. There is no way that having more solar panels will reduce any of that
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I was reading an article the other day about rickshaw electrification in India. Can't find the recent article, here's an older one, https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/... [www.cbc.ca] which doesn't mention the shift to solar+batteries that is now happening in India at an accelerating rate. Article also mentioned the problem of electricity theft.
The other problems, farming and construction are going to be harder, especially the farming as farmers are a powerful lobby in India.
Plus, it takes some wealth for people to care and
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In India? A lot there seem to be electric, which seems easier to set up the infrastructure for in a 3rd world country. Even here in Canada, I haven't noticed a LNG pump at a gas station in a long time. For a while they were somewhat common, over 25 years back now.
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Yeah. I have seen lines of them in Calcutta outside stations that provide LNG just for them. As for electric cars, while I have seen the occasional EV there, I haven't seen many charging stations. Also, if the grid in the US can't support EVs should the number of EVs skyrocket, the same is even more true about India
Anyway, as I pointed out elsewhere, if India's issue is air pollution, they need to do something about construction dust, biomass burning and unsanitary garbage disposal. That is what const
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India needs to start phasing out its coal-fired power plants. That's why China is trying to do, but there are so many coal-fire power plants built in the last 30 years shutting them all down will take many years to complete.
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Off the Chart (Score:3)
Looks like 349 is about as high as you can get, but when I checked minutes ago, Dakar was at 580+ (Dakar sandstorm, I assume).:
https://www.iqair.com/world-ai... [iqair.com]
Re:Off the Chart (Score:4, Informative)
Better educational system, lower levels of consanguineous marriages, centrally planned neomercantilism, less disruptive forms of corruption and nepotism, one child policy.
Or just blame the English.
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China used to be like that.
China managed to do something about it.
Why can't India?
You're begging the question. It took China 3 decades to quarter it's pollution. India has only very recently started acknowledging they have a problem in the first place. There are already programs in place to address it: mass rollout of solar, improvements in electrical infrastructure to reduce diesel generators (the power goes out so frequently that most buildings have diesel gensets), they converted the entire Tuktuk fleet to compressed natural gas to reduce emissions.
The big problem is, a shitton of the
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China is anything b/w an authoritarian to a totalitarian state. While India can be authoritarian at times, its government is nowhere near as omnipotent as Beijing is
Great video made by Indian YouTuber on this (Score:4, Interesting)
it compares Indian’s response to China’s. China is not good, but is miles better
https://youtu.be/-VPYbJxPvzY?s... [youtu.be]
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It's not industrialization - that is has to tackle the last 3 of these if it is to do anything about air quality
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ? (Score:1)
Very good! Best oxymoron of the day!