WhatFinger


In China, concerns about air quality have transfixed many urban residents, and some government officials say curbing the pollution is a priority

India Has Worse Air Pollution Than China



India has the worst air pollution in the entire world, beating China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, according to a study released in 2012. Of 132 countries whose environment were surveyed, India was dead last in air ranking. (1)
Surprised? Perhaps so, since Beijing's air is the pollution favorite of the media. Yet today, three years later than the report mentioned above, the situation in India has not improved. A recent study by the World Health Organization (WHO) of 1,600 cities across 91 countries showed Delhi had the world's highest average concentration of small airborne particles known as PM2.5, with a value of 153. By comparison, London had an annual PM2.5 reading of 16. The study also reported that 13 Indian cities are among the 20 most polluted in the world. Indian government officials claimed bias on these data since readings from India were taken in 2012 and 2013 while the latest Chinese data were from 2010. (2) Yet, damning evidence on Delhi keeps appearing. The extremely fine particles of less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter are linked with increased rates of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease as they penetrate deep into the lungs and can pass into the bloodstream. (3)

Support Canada Free Press


An examination of daily pollution figures collected from both Beijing and New Delhi suggests that Delhi's air is more laden with dangerous small particles of pollution, more often, than Beijing's. Lately, a very bad air day in Beijing is about an average one in New Delhi. For the first three weeks of this year, New Delhi's average daily peak reading of fine particulate matter was 473, more than twice as high as the average of 227 in Beijing. By the time pollution breached 500 in Beijing, Delhi had already had eight such days. Indeed, only once in three weeks did New Delhi's daily peak value of fine particles fall below 300, a level more than 12 times the exposure limit recommended by WHO, reports Gardiner Harris (4) The findings by WHO confirm those of other experts, who for years have been puzzled about why so much international attention has focused on Beijing's troubled air quality rather than on what some say are equal or worse problems in South Asia. (5) “It's always puzzled me that the focus is always on China and not India,” said Dr. Angel Hsu, director of environmental performance measurement at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. “China has realized it can't hide behind its usual opacity, whereas India gets no pressure to release better data. So there simply isn't good public data on India like there is on China.” (4) In China, concerns about air quality have transfixed many urban residents, and some government officials say curbing the pollution is a priority. But in India. Delhi's newly elected regional government did not mention air pollution among its 18 priorities, and India's environment minister quit this past December amid widespread criticism that she was delaying crucial industrial projects. (4) Jack Dini 
Livermore, CA References
  1. Heather Timmons and Malavika Vyawahare, “India's air the world's unhealthiest, study says,” india.blogs.nytimes.com, February 1, 2012
  2. Dean Nelson, “India claims 'bias' as Delhi named world's most polluted city,” telegraph.co, May 8, 2014
  3. “India admits Delhi matches Beijing for air pollution threatening public health,” theguardian.com, May 8, 2014
  4. Gardiner Harris, “Beijing's bad air would be step up for smoggy Delhi,” The New York Times, January 25, 2014
  5. Gardiner Harris, “Cities in India among the most polluted WHO says,” ndtv.com, May 9, 2014


View Comments

Jack Dini -- Bio and Archives

Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology.  He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.


Sponsored