By Tirthankar Mitra
Come winter, the discourse over air pollution gets shriller in India. It is this time of the year when burning agricultural stubble and bursting firecrackers make the air more noxious. India can take a leaf out of China’s book to find s way out of the toxic haze. After all, it kills many and extracts s high economic cost.
Looking back at the early 2000s China faced a similar sir pollution hazard. It could be traced to industrialisation and urbanization leading to greater carbon emission. The fallout of this tradition was visible at the turn of the century. Smog, jaundiced skin and polluted rivers came in the wake of development.
Fine particulate matter such as PM 2.5 led to serious hazards in China. The depredation of PM 2.5 on public health in India is well documented. To combat the situation, Beijing made heavy investments in pollution control technology. It also mobilised well-piled tiers of bureaucracy and the party.
Electric vehicles were adopted to reclaim the blue skies. Entire fleet of buses were electrified. Sources of local pollution were plugged. The environment was not cleansed overnight but these measures have led to remarkable improvement in China’s air quality in recent years.
It is no cakewalk for India to clean it’s air adopting China’s template. There is no denying the difficulties arising from political and economic scenario of India which stands in the way of sweeping reforms to make way for a cleaner environment.
India is a multi-layered democracy. It is not in a position to tackle the challenges posed by the sloth of its bureaucracy. Both India and China have introduced environmental laws pertaining to air pollution. Yet there are differences in direction. China focuses on long term action. India’s preferences are for localised intervention.
India’s populace has poorer access to cleaner and affordable sources of power. Agricultural stubble is a. ready fuel to light their kitchen fire. Hence domestic emission is a burden to India. It cannot be wished away. Yet there are two areas in which India can take lessons from China to tackle air pollution. But they are not easy ones.
A stronger political will to end air pollution without a thought for the vote bank will go a long way to ensure a cleaner environment. A similar mindset should be taken towards structural impediments
These are vehicular and industrial pollution. There needs to be crackdown on their sources and patrons. The two countries do not enjoy the best of relations. But there ought to be areas and initiatives to better the ties. Scientific cooperation and knowledge sharing can smoothen the rough edges. This is a unique way to improve bilateral relations. (IPA Service)
