How can we tackle the issues faced by the urban population
Air contamination:
- It is the existence of compounds in the atmosphere that are detrimental to the health of people and other living things, or that deteriorate materials or the climate.
- There are numerous varieties of air contaminants, including:
- Gases (including methane, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxides, ammonia, and chlorofluorocarbons)
- Particles, comprising both organic and inorganic components
- molecules that are biological.
The effects of air pollution:
- Our life expectancy is being reduced by more than 10% due to air pollution.
- People’s health is directly impacted by pollution.
- Because of this, an average Indian loses 3 (five point three) years from his life expectancy;
- It is nine (eleven point nine) years for the people who live in Delhi.
- In addition to aggravating cardiovascular problems, pollution causes burning eyes, irritation of the nose and throat, coughing, shortness of breath, and asthma.
- Due to extremely low Air Quality Index levels, a media investigation dubbed Mumbai’s air pollution “Death by Breath.”
Why is the issue in Indian cities so serious?
- Widening of highways and real estate development are the main focal points of urban growth.
- It permits big, fuel-guzzling cars to drive on them.
- It constricts the area designated for pedestrians, and in Indian cities, rebuilding increases pollution.
- Other important factors are road dust, concrete batching, emissions from vehicles, and polluting industrial units and their expansion into cities.
- 60% of urban pollution is thought to be caused only by motorised transportation.
- There has been evidence of shrinkage in urban agriculture, green spaces on common areas, urban forests, water bodies, and the green lung of cities.
- The grey infrastructure has grown quickly.
- In North India during the winter, pollution (smoke and particle matter) is caused by burning parali, or paddy straw.
- The situation is made worse by the burning of paddy, which is mostly done in Punjab and Haryana.
- Road widening encourages people to purchase more automobiles, and daily traffic jams raise pollution levels.
- About 10% of the air pollution in the National Capital Region is caused by construction activity.
- Hardly any efforts are being made to use developed standard operating procedures to oversee and manage construction-related operations.
What actions are necessary?
There is a need for an alternate city-building strategy that focuses on:
- establishing safe bike lanes and walkways and staffing them with bicycle cops
- utilising standard operating procedures to control construction-related activities.
- Excellent public transport is required, and towns and cities should invest in buses.
- To address the demands of urban mobility, it is anticipated that the current bus fleet in cities will need to be expanded by roughly 10 lakh vehicles.
- Strong measures that follow the model of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission are required.
- People, of whom 85% work in the unorganised sector, need to have affordable and easy access to public transport.
- Strict measures must be implemented to regulate the movement of private motorised vehicles within urban areas.
- One idea is to impose a congestion levy on private vehicle owners who drive during rush hour.
- Another significant intervention may be an odd-even number plate formula.
- Certain cities have designated days when cars are not allowed; individuals in positions of authority and influence ought to follow this example.
- As an example of token motivation, state chief ministers, city leaders, and the elite should all take public transport at least once a day.
- Making the switch to green cars is crucial.
- When air quality deteriorates, Delhi implements a Graded Response Action Plan, or GRAP, which is a series of anti-air pollution actions.
- The four sets that are triggered are determined by the state of the air.
- It is imperative that other Indian cities implement a similar system.
- Industrial pollution should never be tolerated, and real-time monitoring ought to be made possible.
- Urban local bodies can guarantee street surveillance by residents, which is necessary rather than waiting for the statutory bodies to take action.
- Parks, playgrounds, urban forests, ponds, and other water features are examples of urban commons that should never be permitted to be taken over by public or private entities for their own benefit.
- Urban communities need to be nurtured, expanded, and protected.
Urban Planning’s Current Shortcomings:
- significant modifications to land use and the transfer of open spaces to developers
- Pollution is a result of the nation’s redevelopment.
- One of the first things to suffer is a city’s environment, and there is very little significant afforestation there.
- Reducing pollution in the city does not benefit by planting trees fifty km outside of it.
What Air Pollution Initiatives Are Being Taken by the Government?
- Delhi’s Graded Reaction Action Plan
- The polluter pay theory
- Smog Tower
- Tallest Purifier for Air
- The Act of 1981 Concerning the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
The Way Ahead:
- Financial resources need to be directed appropriately in order to prevent the premature end of urban futures caused by improper urbanisation and to create safe and livable cities.
- A paradigm shift is required for the entire development plan of urban development in India, aside from the appropriate execution of enforcement by agencies.
- Unfortunately, city dwellers are compelled to play a passive observer role in the urbanisation process and have very little opportunity to participate.
- Empowering people via the governance framework of the city is a significant advancement.
- Standard operating procedures and pollution guidelines for different line departments and agencies need to be integrated into the city’s way of life in addition to being easily accessible to the public.
- Now is the time for people to speak up in favour of weekly “no-car days” or the introduction of the odd-even number plate system.
- A robust standard operating procedure that resembles GRAP is required.
- The release of a public health advise requires the backing of the medical community.
