Breathe easy: 40% drop in Sulphur Dioxide concentration in air across India

The observations are significant as India was in 2019 named the world's largest emitter of SO2.

Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) concentration, an air pollutant released by the burning of fossil fuels, reduced across India by almost 40 per cent when the country was shut down for more than two months to contain the coronavirus pandemic, data released by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows.

ESA’s observations show SO2 concentration in Delhi fell when coal-fired power plants and industries shut down for the lockdown, which started on March 24 and now has been eased off. While power plants across the country ceased entirely, some in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh maintained a substantial level of activity.

The observations are significant as India was in 2019 named the world’s largest emitter of SO2. India’s emissions have increased in the last 10 years, leading to haze and poor air quality in cities including national capital New Delhi.

Coal-based power plants and oil refineries are responsible for two-thirds of the anthropogenic SO2 emissions. “The country ranking shows India as the top emitter of SO2 in the world, contributing more than 15 per cent of the global anthropogenic SO2 emissions,” said Greenpeace in a 2019 report.

"We have experienced a reduction in Sulphur dioxide, however, this is temporary and it's not going to benefit in the long run. We should not forget that because of the drastic fall in consumption in the industrial and commercial categories, the power demand has also gone down during the lockdown. This reduction in SO2 could be achieved in the long run with cleaner energy sources," said Avinash Chanchal, Senior Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace India.

Delhi most polluted capital, India has 18 of top 30 worst AQI ranked cities

While Ghaziabad topped the list of most polluted regional cities (110 PM2.5), India ranked sixth on the list of 98 countries in PM2.5 concentration just behind Pakistan.

With an average of 98.6 Particulate Matter (PM 2.5) concentration, Delhi topped the list of most polluted capital cities in the world. 18 of the 30 most polluted cities in 2019 were from India. A recent report released by AirVisual, which monitors international air pollution, revealed the startling fact despite the government’s push to reduce air pollution.

While Ghaziabad topped the list of most polluted regional cities (110 PM2.5), India ranked sixth on the list of 98 countries in PM2.5 concentration behind Pakistan and Bangladesh. The majority of polluted cities and countries in the report are in the South Asia region, which includes 30 of the top 40 most polluted cities and four of the five most polluted countries.

“While pollution sources across the region vary, common contributors include transportation emissions, biomass burning for household cooking, open agricultural burning, industry, and coal combustion,” the report said.

Delhi experienced its longest period of hazardous air pollution during late October and early November 2019. The grim situation had forced the government to declare a public health emergency, temporarily ordering schools to close and construction activities to be stopped during the night.

Commenting on the World Air Quality Report 2019, Avinash Chanchal, Senior Campaigner at Greenpeace India said, “In Delhi, be it bypass roads, shutting down of Badarpur power plant, shifting the industries to PNG and BS-VI mandate have resulted in reduction of pollution levels on an annual average basis, supported by favorable meteorological conditions in 2019, but latest World Air Quality Report is an indication that the steps taken are not sufficient.”

The report highlighted the government’s actions in curbing air pollution with the launch of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to reduce PM2.5 and PM10 in 102 cities by 20-30 per cent by 2024 compared to 2017 levels. “While the long-term impacts of these activities are yet to be seen, India saw widespread improvements in PM2.5 levels in 2019, compared to 2018 as a result of economic slowdown, favorable meteorological conditions, as well as more dedicated efforts towards cleaning the air,” the report added.

Despite the efforts, India still leads the ranking of polluted cities with half of the 50 most polluted cities. Meanwhile, none of the Indian cities monitored for the report met the World Health Organisation (WHO) target for annual pollution exposure during 2019.

Poor nutrition to encephalitis outbreak: 2019's biggest health stories

All year round, the level of air pollution in Delhi remains three times higher than the national standard.

Business Standard : From a continued decline in infant and maternal mortality to inadequate funding for healthcare, from poor nutrition to an acute encephalitis syndrome outbreak, and from success in malaria prevention to below-par performance on leprosy control and tuberculosis elimination, here’s a look at 2019’s biggest health stories.

Decrease in maternal mortality, infant mortality

Fewer mothers died during childbirth as India’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR)--maternal deaths per 100,000 live births--fell 27% from 167 in 2011-13 to 122 in 2015-17, according to the Sample Registration System bulletin.

However, India is still a long way from the Sustainable Development Goal for MMR: a target of 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. Three Indian states have already achieved this--Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

India’s infant mortality rate--deaths per 1,000 live births--also fell from 42 in 2012 to 33 in 2017, as IndiaSpend reported in June 2019. This rate is higher than the global average (29) and India’s neighbours Nepal (28), Bangladesh (27), Bhutan (26), Sri Lanka (8) and China (8), but better than that of Pakistan (61) and Myanmar (30).

While these reductions are great, a narrow focus on these indicators without tackling the social causes of these problems is pointless, said Rakhal Gaitonde, professor at the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies in Thiruvananthapuram. “We are too fixated on technical and technological fixes while ignoring basic underlying issues of poverty, hunger, livelihood and childcare which are important,” he said.

This may be the reason why five of India’s poorest states--Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh--were among nine states that saw their overall health performance decline in 2019, according to government think-tank NITI Aayog’s health index, IndiaSpend reported in June 2019.

Health budget increases, Ayushman Bharat completes a year

The Centre has been increasing its allocation to the health ministry, and this year’s budget of Rs 62,659 crore--2.25% of total expenditure--was the highest till date, as IndiaSpend reported in July 2019.

Delhi-NCR air quality improves to 'poor', bringing relief after weeks

The air quality in Delhi-NCR is expected to remain in the 'moderate' and 'poor' categories for the next two days.

Air quality in Delhi and nearby areas improved on Monday due to strong winds but continued to remain in the "poor" category.

The relief for Delhi-NCR came after strong winds due to western disturbance helped disperse pollutants in the region and other parts of north India.

The air quality in Delhi-NCR is expected to remain in the "moderate" and "poor" categories for the next two days.

At 6:30 am, Delhi's overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 211, which falls in the "poor" category. The AQI in the national capital on Sunday stood at 215.

An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "poor", 301-400 "very poor" and 401-500 severe".

The concentration of particlate matter (PM) 2.5 was at 94 while the PM10 level was recorded at 170.

The weatherman has forecast strong surface winds during daytime on Monday with the maximum temperature touching 27 degrees Celsius and minimum of 15 degrees Celsius.

The AQI in Faridabad was 197 (moderate), Ghaziabad 218 (poor), Greater Noida 202 (poor), Noida 203 (poor) and Gurgaon 136 (moderate).

Delhi was blanketed with a thick smog for four consecutive days till Friday as unfavourable weather hampered dispersion of pollutants.

Business Standard

Air pollution: Best air purifiers and masks that can help you breathe easy

Business Standard lists five anti-pollution gears that may be most efficient during poor and hazardous air quality in your city.

With most of India — capital New Delhi in particular — struggling to breathe because of hazardous air quality, people are forced to look at measures to prevent illness. Some of the most important things to do is getting good air purifiers and pollution filter masks. These come in different shapes and sizes, each with its own qualities and benefits. Which one should you go for? Business Standard lists five best anti-pollution gears to help you make a more informed choice:

Dyson Pure Hot+Cool air purifier (Rs 54,900)

This tower-shaped air purifier is a successor to the Dyson Pure Cool air purifier (review). As the name suggests, it is designed to work in all weather conditions. Like its predecessor, the Dyson Pure Hot+Cool does not look, work or perform in the same way as other air purifier in the market. Designed for indoor use — the living room, bedroom or large lobby areas — this air purifier has inbuilt sensors that detect pollutants, such as PM 2.5 and PM 10, and volatile organic compounds, such as benzene and formaldehyde, that are emitted from paints, burning of candles and materials in furniture, and nitrogen. It cleans the air based on the readings of its sensors. This air purifier has inbuilt Wi-Fi that makes it easy to connect with Android and iOS devices. With the help of the Dyson link app, you can fetch the air quality reading from the air purifier in real time. The app also shows the filters’ health and notifies when they need to be cleaned or replaced.

Honeywell Air Touch i9 (Rs 18,900)

This air purifier makes a good choice for moderate rooms of around 350 sq ft size. It has a minimalist design that makes it a good fit in contemporary living spaces. The air purifier has a three-level filteration process — a pre-filter for cleaning the air of large particulate matter, such as PM 10; a HEPA filter to bring down the PM 2.5 level and other particulate matter of up to 0.3 microns in size; and a HiSi filter that absorbs smoke and toxic gasses. The most likeable feature of this unit is its top panel. It operates with a light touch and is simple to understand. The touch panel has a PM 2.5 indicator, three modes for adjusting the fan speed, a night mode to turn the panel light off and a power button.

Samsung AX5500 (Rs 34,999)

This air purifier is a silent operator that does its job without making too much noise. The air purifier comes with a standard netted pre-filter and a two-in-one carbon and HEPA filter. According to the company, this air purifier is capable of servicing up to 645 sq ft — the size of a large living room.

Business Standard

Relief for Delhi-NCR as air quality improves to 'very poor' category

Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad too recorded 'very poor' overall air quality.

In a major relief for the residents of Delhi-NCR, the air quality on Wednesday morning further improved. The air quality index in the national capital dropped from yesterday's 365 to 356 at 6:30 am. The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR, said, "The AQI is back to 'very poor' category after rapidly recovering from 'severe' largely due to faster boundary layer winds (40 kmph)."

Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad too recorded 'very poor' overall air quality.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor, and 401-500 severe. Above 500 is severe-plus emergency category.

The India Meteorological Department said winds gusting up to 25 kmph were flushing out pollutants faster.

"There are good chances of rains in northwest India on Wednesday night and Thursday due to a western disturbance. The precipitation will cover Delhi-NCR, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh," head of IMD's regional weather forecasting centre of Kuldeep Srivastava, said.

Taking a grim view of the surge in pollution levels, the Supreme Court on Monday slammed authorities for failing to curb pollution in Delhi-NCR and said they have left people to die.

Passing a slew of other directions to prevent the rise in air pollution levels, it imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on anyone carrying out construction and demolition activity in Delhi-NCR, and a fine of Rs 5,000 on offenders involved in garbage or waste burning. The Bench said it had “no sympathy for farmers indulging in it (stubble burning) as they are putting lives of others at risk”.

The odd-even scheme, which kickstarted on Monday has entered Day 3 with only even-numbered non-transport vehicles allowed on Delhi roads. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed that due to the odd-even rule, 15 lakh vehicles have been taken off the road.

Business Standard

Delhi pollution: AQI still in 'severe' category, Odd-even enters Day 2

The odd-even scheme, which kickstarted on Monday has entered Day 2 with only odd-numbered non-transport vehicles allowed on Delhi roads.

Pollution levels in the national capital surged on Tuesday morning as the air quality remained in the 'severe' category. A day after high wind speed helped bring down pollution levels in the city, SAFAR, the government-run monitoring agency, said Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was 411 at 7:00 am. Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad too recorded 'severe' overall air quality.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor, and 401-500 severe.

Above 500 is severe-plus emergency category.

The odd-even scheme, which kickstarted on Monday has entered Day 2 with only odd-numbered non-transport vehicles allowed on Delhi roads.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), Noida (493) and Gurugram (405), also breathed polluted air.

Taking a grim view of the surge in pollution levels, the Supreme Court yesterday slammed authorities for failing to curb pollution in Delhi-NCR and said they have left people to die.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta took serious note of crop burning in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh and said it cannot go unabated every year.

"Can we survive in this atmosphere? This is not the way we can survive," the bench said. The bench called the pollution in Delhi-NCR as atrocious and said no one is safe even inside homes.

The Centre, in response said that the number of 'good' to 'moderate' days increased to 175 in 2019 against 157 in 2018. According to the Centre, the bursting of firecrackers during Diwali, stubble burning and adverse meteorology conditions exacerbated the pollution level in Delhi-NCR.

Passing a slew of other directions to prevent rise in air pollution levels, it imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on anyone carrying out construction and demolition activity in Delhi-NCR, and a fine of Rs 5,000 on offenders involved in garbage or waste burning. The Bench said it had “no sympathy for farmers indulging in it (stubble burning) as they are putting lives of others at risk”.

Business Standard

Delhi pollution: Odd-even scheme starts as AQI hits 708, schools shut

In the National Capital Region (NCR), Noida (720) and Gurugram (833), also breathed extremely polluted air.

Even as India's capital city scrambles to tackle its epic air pollution problems, there seems to be no end to the woes of people residing in Delhi and its adjoining areas. On Monday morning, Delhi air quality was in 'severe-plus emergency' category. SAFAR, the government-run monitoring agency, said Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was 708 at 6:30 am. Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad too recorded severe-plus emergency overall air quality.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor, and 401-500 severe. Above 500 is severe-plus emergency category.

The odd-even scheme and road space rationing scheme kickstarted today, with only even-numbered non-transport vehicles allowed on Delhi roads on the first day of the exercise. The impact of the scheme is yet to be seen.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), Noida (720) and Gurugram (833), also breathed extremely polluted air.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR, said the city's overall AQI reached as high as 708 around 5 pm, which is 14 times the safe level of 0-50.

ALSO READ: Delhi air pollution: 19 flights cancelled, over 550 delayed and 37 diverted

On Sunday, low visibility due to heavy smog disrupted flight operations at the Delhi airport, with 37 flights diverted to other airports and more than 250 departures and 300 arrivals delayed, officials said.

NASA satellite imagery showed vast swathes of the northern plains, covering Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, blanketed under a smoky haze.

Weather experts said any significant improvement in the situation is highly unlikely unless there is rainfall, which may occur on November 7 and 8 under the influence of Cyclone Maha and a western disturbance.

Business Standard

World Environment Day 2019: Air pollution claims 7 million lives each year

Hard facts: Four million people worldwide die prematurely each year from air pollution in Asia-Pacific region alone.

World Environment Day 2019 : Air pollution, both outside and inside homes, is a silent and deadly killer responsible for the premature deaths of seven million people each year, including 600,000 children, according to a UN Special Rapporteur on environment and human rights.

Keep Reading : Business Standard

Poor air quality is a global public health emergency

David Boyd, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada, said that over six billion people, one-third of them children, are regularly inhaling air so polluted that it puts their life, health and well-being at risk.

How bad is the current situation?

Every hour, 800 people are dying, many after years of suffering from cancer, respiratory illnesses or heart disease directly caused by breathing bad air.

Outdoor air pollution

Air pollutants are everywhere, largely caused by burning of fossil fuels for electricity, transportation, and heating, as well as from industrial activities, poor waste management and agricultural practice.

Indoor air pollution

Women and children, who in many less wealthy countries spend a lot of time at home, are disproportionally affected by indoor air pollution caused by cooking, heating or lighting with solid fuels and kerosene.

Boyd identified seven key steps, which include monitoring air quality and impact on human health, assessing sources of air pollution; and making information publicly available, including public health advisories. Programmes in India and Indonesia that have helped millions of poor families switch to cleaner cooking technologies and states that are successfully eliminating the use of coal-fired power plants are a few examples of good practices. Also, many actions to ensure cleaner air can be designed to simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, resulting in a double dividend.

Healthier air quality in car-free stretch of Karol Bagh: CSE study

The street has been marked with yellow and white stripes demarcating space for hawkers.

Business Standard : A localised study conducted on a car-free stretch of the Ajmal Khan Road in the bustling Karol Bagh market has shown a considerable improvement in air quality.

The Centre for Science and Environment's Anumita Roychowdhury, who conducted the study, said she compared air quality data collected from the traffic-choked Arya Samaj Road, which cuts through the Ajmal Khan Road, with that from the recently pedestrianised 600-metre stretch.

"We monitored roadside exposure to air pollution, which is different from ambient air quality, on the Arya Samaj Road during heavy traffic. We then moved to the car-free zone of the Ajmal Khan Road and collected the data," she said.

Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at CSE, found that while the average "PM2.5 concentration on the Arya Samaj Road is 63.6 micrograms per cubic metre, it is 47.7 micrograms per cubic metre on the Ajmal Khan Road".

The short-term spike of PM2.5 on the Arya Samaj Road could hit 105.4 micrograms per cum 42.8 per cent higher than the highest short-term spike in the pedestrian area, she said.

Not only this, the pedestrian traffic on the road has increased significantly. The number of pedestrians per five minutes on the Ajmal Khan Road was 2.7 times the number on the Arya Samaj Road, she said.

Buoyed by the response from people, the the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) , which carried out the pilot project on decongestion in Karol Bagh, now plans to expand the scheme to other areas to promote use of public transport and make market areas more pedestrian-friendly.

"After seeing the response at Karol Bagh, we are now planning to do similar projects in Kirti Nagar and Kamla Nagar market areas. World over, from London to Shanghai, pedestrianisation of market areas have enhanced shoppers' experience, and we also want people of Delhi to feel that comfort," NDMC Commissioner Varsha Joshi had told PTI earlier.

The street has been marked with yellow and white stripes demarcating space for hawkers. Besides, bollards have been put at the entry points of Ajmal Khan Road on Pusa Road and Arya Samaj Road to restrict entry of vehicles to the road.

Elections 2019: Pollution becomes an issue with promises made in manifestos

Political parties pledge to reduce pollution in manifestos.

Promises to fight the world’s most toxic air have made it to the manifestos of major political parties for the first time in Indian elections. Major political parties such as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the opposition Indian National Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have pledged to combat the crisis by taking measures ranging from setting deadlines, introducing new emission standards to promoting electric vehicles in a bid to fight toxic air.

That is a change from the 2014 elections when none of the party manifestos had any mention of clean air or pollution.

India, home to world’s top ten cities with the worst air quality, has been struggling to contain a deadly haze that killed an estimated 1.24 million citizens in 2017. In the past, governments have pledged millions of dollars and deployed extra teams to enforce existing environmental laws that include banning farmers from burning their fields. But the sheer scale of India’s toxic skies has made progress difficult.

Keep Reading : Business Standard

Air pollution on the agenda

The ruling BJP’s election manifesto promises to focus on 102 most polluted cities in the country. “We will reduce the level of pollution in each of the mission cities by at least 35 percent over the next five years,” it says, lauding itself for “effective steps” taken to reduce the level of pollution.

The Congress party manifesto calls air pollution a national public health emergency. It promises to strengthen the National Clean Air Program to tackle pollution. “All major sources of emission will be targeted, mitigated and reduced to acceptable levels,” it says.

The manifesto of the Aam Aadmi Party, which runs the government in the national capital of New Delhi, promises induction of electric buses and vacuum cleaning of roads, among other measures to address the pollution problem. In order to control smog in Delhi, the AAP implemented a program in 2015 to arrest vehicular emissions through traffic controls.

It is a ‘‘good sign’’ that political parties haven’t ignored air pollution, according to Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director of research at advocacy group Centre for Science and Environment. “The intent and the purpose have to get much clearer and sharper through strong political mandate for real action afterwards,” she said in a phone interview.

A recent study by The Lancet found 77 per cent of India’s 1.4 billion people exposed to air far dirtier than recommended limits. The poor are the worst hit by pollution, according to The Lancet.

The bigger political parties’ focus on pollution should eventually trickle down to manifestos and agendas of regional parties, according to Hem Himanshu Dholakia, senior research associate at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water. “Air pollution can be solved through action by both the center and states in terms of tackling local sources, for example, waste burning, which will require more action from local bodies,” Dholakia said.

The South Asian nation’s deadly air, especially in winter, is caused due to a combination of farm stubble burning, firecrackers, vehicular emissions and weather conditions.

Air pollution kills 1.2 mn Indians in a year, third biggest cause of death

The study titled 'State of Global Air 2019' reported that the life on average of a South Asian child growing up in current high levels of air pollution will be shortened by two years and six months.

Business Standard : Exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to over 1.2 million deaths in India in 2017, a new global study said on Wednesday.

The study titled "State of Global Air 2019" reported that the life on average of a South Asian child growing up in current high levels of air pollution will be shortened by two years and six months, while the global life expectancy loss is 20 months.

At the same time, the study noted, India has initiated major steps to address pollution sources like the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, accelerated Bharat Stage VI clean vehicle standards and the new National Clean Air Programme.

"These and future initiatives have the potential, if fully implemented as part of a sustained commitment to air quality, to result in significant health benefits in coming years," Health Effects Institute Vice President Robert O'Keefe said in a statement to IANS.

The Health Effects Institute is an independent, non-profit research institute funded jointly by the US Environmental Protection Agency, industry, foundations and development banks.

Worldwide, air pollution is responsible for more deaths than many better-known risk factors such as malnutrition, alcohol use and physical inactivity, according to the annual report.

In India, air pollution is the third highest cause of death among all health risks, ranking just above smoking. Every year, more people globally die from air pollution related diseases than from road traffic injuries or malaria.

Overall, long-term exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to nearly five million deaths from stroke, diabetes, heart attack, lung cancer and chronic lung disease in 2017.

Out of these, three million deaths are directly attributed to PM2.5, half of which are generated from India and China together.

South Asia -- Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan -- is the most polluted region, with over 1.5 million air-pollution related deaths.

The report found China and India together were responsible for over half of the total global attributable deaths, with each country facing over 1.2 million deaths from air pollution in 2017.

Vehicles seem to be 'bigger' contributor to pollution than firecrackers: SC

The Supreme Court also asked the Centre if there could be any comparative study to see pollution caused by both.

The Supreme Court Tuesday said why people were "running after" firecracker industries when it seems that automobiles were "bigger" contributor to pollution, and asked the Centre whether there was any comparative study on pollution caused by both.

While expressing serious concern over loss of jobs of people involved in manufacture and sale of firecrackers, a bench of Justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer said, "We do not wish to generate unemployment."

"Is there any comparative study on what proportion of pollution is caused by firecrackers and what proportion is caused by automobiles? It seems you are running after firecrackers, but bigger pollution contributor is perhaps vehicles," the bench told Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, who was appearing for the Centre.

Business Standard

The top court said, "You must tell us some way of preventing unemployment also. We cannot have people unemployed and hungry. There are areas where firecrackers can be used."

"We cannot give them (those who have lost jobs) money. We cannot support their families.

Unemployment is there," the bench said.

The bench also raised a question as to how manufacture of firecrackers could be stopped if the trade is legal and people have licence to carry out the business.

"Nobody has tested this in relation to Article 19 (which says all citizens shall have the right to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business). If the trade is legal and you have the licence for this, then how can you stop this? How can you leave people unemployed?" the bench observed.

The court was hearing a plea which has sought a complete ban on use of firecrackers across the country on the ground that it gives rise to pollution.

The apex court had last year said people in the country can burst firecrackers only from 8 pm to 10 pm on Diwali and other festivals, and had allowed the manufacture and sale of only "green crackers" which have low emission of light, sound and harmful chemicals.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the ASG told the bench that the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) and other expert agencies were experimenting and they have come up with composition of "green crackers".

Regarding the use of barium nitrate, which was earlier banned by the apex court, Nadkarni said, "Barium was banned in firecrackers by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Supreme Court also banned it.

7 of top 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India; Gurgaon on top

The index measures the presence of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, a pollutant that can fester deep in the lungs and bloodstream of human beings.

Seven of the top 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India, according to a new study showing South Asia’s battle with deteriorating air quality and the economic toll it’s expected to take worldwide.

Gurugram, located southwest of India’s capital New Delhi, led all cities in pollution levels in 2018, even as its score improved from the previous year, according to data released by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace. Three other Indian cities joined Faisalabad, Pakistan, in the top five.

The index measures the presence of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, a pollutant that can fester deep in the lungs and bloodstream of human beings.

“This has enormous impacts, on our health and on our wallets,” Yeb Sano, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a statement released with the figures. “In addition to human lives lost, there’s an estimated cost of $225 billion in lost labor, and trillions in medical costs.”

India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, makes up 22 of the top 30 most polluted cities, with five in China, two in Pakistan and one in Bangladesh. India racks up health-care costs and productivity losses from pollution of as much as 8.5 percent of gross domestic product, according to the World Bank.

China made marked progress in its usually dismal pollution levels, with average concentrations falling by 12 percent in 2018 from the previous year, according to the data. That should help the message President Xi Jinping will share with political party leaders on progress across three so-called “critical battles” during the National People’s Congress meetings that start this week.

Sano traced much of the problematic readings back to climate change. He noted that burning fossil fuels is both the key driver of climate change and of air pollution worldwide, and that shifting atmospheric conditions have worsened air quality and amplified forest fires.

Business Standard

COPD: What we know about the disease that killed a million Indians in 2017

Levels of air pollution have risen dramatically over the last two to three decades. That has had a major impact on COPD.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) was the second highest cause of death in India after heart disease in 2017, killing 1 million (958,000) Indians that year, according to University of Washington’s Global Burden of Disease study, 2018.

COPD led to 13% of all deaths in India, and 7.5 million were at risk of the disease in 2016, IndiaSpend reported in January 2018.

COPD is an incurable and progressive condition, which inflames airways in the lungs and destroys air sacs, which extract oxygen from the air and expel waste, including carbon dioxide. Patients often cough, wheeze and are short of breath.

(Business Standard)

COPD can be caused by long-term exposure to lung irritants and toxins in the air. In the West, a majority of COPD cases are caused by smoking tobacco, but in the developing world, including India, most COPD cases spring from exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollution, particularly burning biomass, from wood to cow dung.

Knowledge about non-smoking risk factors for COPD is only about a decade old, and one of the researchers instrumental in proving India’s burden is primarily because of burning biomass for fuel is Sundeep Salvi, 53, Director of Chest Research Foundation (CRF) in Pune, which he helped establish.

CRF is a leading research institute dedicated to research on chronic respiratory diseases, especially COPD and asthma. The 30-member team of researchers at CRF collaborates with international institutes, including Imperial College in the UK, Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA, and McMaster University, Canada.

Salvi is also a member of Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease, founded by the World Health Organization and national health institutes in the USA, to improve diagnosis and treatment of COPD, and is a fellow and visiting faculty of Imperial College, London and John Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Salvi talked to IndiaSpend about the under-diagnosis of COPD in India, the implications of rising air pollution in India’s cities for COPD risk, and the need for a multi-pronged policy approach. Excerpts.