Air pollution in India has widespread impacts on public health throughout India ranging from respiratory infections to heart disease. With increased industrialization India has been having major increases in air pollution from manufacturing and coal fired power plants. Larger cities have began to see the major concerns surrounding increased air pollution and are beginning to mitigate the growing problem. Though there have been major improvements in some large urban areas there seems to be very little that is being done on a national scale. After visiting several major urban centers in India I will provide a brief qualitative analysis of air pollution for two of India's most important tourist destinations Agra and Delhi.
India's urban centers have begun to experience a number of health problems that can be linked to the increase air pollution. Respiratory illnesses, asthma, heart disease, and chronic allergies are all on the rise with no peak in sight. These illnesses put even more stress on a health care system that is already overwhelmed with communicable diseases. This switch from communicable diseases to chronic disease that is caused lifestyle changes and environmental degradation will shape the health care system in India over the next 30 years. Groups that are most vulnerable to increases in air pollution are children and the elderly. Asthma has been on the rise across the world and can have long term developmental impacts on children. Because the two main groups that are at the beginning and end of life increases in air pollution can have larger impacts on overall life expectancy. These problems are being exacerbated by the rapid increase in urbanization and are going to get worse before they get better on the national level.
As soon as we arrived in Delhi it was apparent that there were major problems with air pollution. Many members of the group over a very short period began to have symptoms of upper respiratory distress for the remaining time in India following our arrival. However, Delhi has not always had such intense problems with its air pollution. Following the economic reforms of the 1990s the rapid urbanization and industrialization of Delhi has caused the extreme rise in pollution. Particulate matter in the air is at a level that is unbearable to the members of our group. Constant construction and burning of trash are the some of the main ounces along with major industrial sites and coal fired power plants. Delhi has attempted to address this growing health concern by switching over the thousands of auto rickshaws and public transport over to compressed natural gas to help lower levels of smog. There was according to multiple accounts a reduction in smog levels following this policy mandate, but there has been another drop in air quality over the past two years.
Our group visited another major city neighboring Delhi; Agra is home to the world renowned Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal has actually had a unusual impact on the differences seen in air pollution between Delhi and Agra. The white marble used in the building of the Taj Mahal has over time become yellowish because of air pollution in and around Agra. In order to preserve this site for tourism, which is a booming industry for Agra, the city moved all factories and power plants out of the city. This has had large positive impacts on the air quality over the past decade. However, smog and low level ozone still exist in Agra. The hidden impact comes from local rural communities that rely on dung bricks for cooking. The particulate given off by the burning of these bricks as a fuel source has had a much larger impact than policy makers were expecting. This problem exists throughout India and has it's own separate health problems associated with indoor air pollution causing woman to have an increased amount of respiratory illnesses. Policy makers are attempting to spread the use of natural gas and electricity as fuel sources to rural communities, but the extremely low cost of the dung bricks have made this initiative more difficult than expected.
Air pollution will continue to be at the forefront of Indian environmental health issues along with water quality issues throughout its immediate future. In order to appropriately solve complex and interconnected issues like air quality the Indian policy makers must find solutions that promote environmental, economic, and social justice in order to have lasting long term impacts.
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