Delhi's air quality takes a severe hit each winter, impacting millions. In this episode, Anchor Riya speaks with Dr. Gufran Beig, Founder of SAFAR, to explore the science behind Delhi's pollution crisis, the seasonal increase in pollutants, and actionable solutions. From real-time data insights to health implications and policy changes, Dr. Beig offers a comprehensive look at how we can tackle this pressing issue.
#DelhiPollution #AirQualityCrisis #SAFAR #AirPollution #CantBreath #PublicHealthCrisis #VeryPoorAirQuality #OneIndia #OneIndiaNews
~HT.178~PR.362~GR.344~ED.155~
#DelhiPollution #AirQualityCrisis #SAFAR #AirPollution #CantBreath #PublicHealthCrisis #VeryPoorAirQuality #OneIndia #OneIndiaNews
~HT.178~PR.362~GR.344~ED.155~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome. You're watching One India. I'm your host, Rhea. Today, we delve into
00:05a very pressing issue that affects millions of lives, Delhi's current air pollution crisis.
00:11And as we approach the winter months, the quality in our capital city worsens. It is
00:17impacting the health, the well-being and the quality of life of the people living here.
00:22And to help us navigate this critical topic, we have a very special guest joining us today,
00:28Dr. Gufran Baig. He is chair professor of NIAS and also the founder of SUFR, which stands
00:34for System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research. He's here to shed light on the
00:40current situation, the science behind it and the potential solutions.
00:44Thank you so very much, Dr. Baig, for joining us on One India and talking to us, taking
00:50your time out. Thank you so very much for joining in.
00:53Thank you very much, Rhea.
00:55So to start with, Dr. Baig, can you provide an overview of the current air quality situation
01:01in Delhi NCR and what specific factors are contributing to this pollution crisis that
01:07we are witnessing?
01:08At this stage of time, as we see in each winter, as the temperature falls down, winter sets
01:16in, monsoon withdraws, the air quality starts getting deteriorated. Where the majority of
01:23the factors are local, but the contribution from the external sources, when I say external
01:29sources, means away from the boundary of Delhi, capital region Delhi, out of that. So the
01:38contribution keeps coming. So accordingly, as it has happened last couple of years, at
01:45the end of the October months, air quality starts getting from moderate to poor, poor
01:51to very poor, and that's what it is happening even now. The additional factors which contributes
01:59to this is, one is episodic, which is probably firecrackers, which is a matter of only one
02:06or two days. But the major contribution for 40 days keeps coming by the parallel fires.
02:14But the peak for that is first two weeks of November, which we still need to see. So at
02:20this stage of time, even today, the air quality is in upper end of very poor, few notches
02:28below the topmost category, which is called severe.
02:33Right, sir. Now, if you talk about Safar, which you are the founder of, it has been
02:43an instrumental in providing the real-time air quality data. So how has the data collected
02:51by Safar changed the understanding of air pollution, A, and B, what trends are you currently
02:59observing through this, in the air of Delhi NCR?
03:04Right. See, the Safar are having about 10 air quality monitoring station online, state-of-the-art
03:12instruments. In addition to that, there are about 35 stations combined together with the
03:18DPC, CCA, as well as CPCB. So in all, around 40 stations we are having. Then the data,
03:27which is supposed to be a representative of Delhi, should be, the station should not be
03:34in one particular environment, but it needs to be in a different environment, which could be,
03:39what I mean by micro environment is, it should be in a downtown area, it should be in a residential
03:44area, it may be in a background area, upwind direction, downwind direction. So Delhi is very
03:50well placed with this kind of an instrument. And then the average of that is a representative of
03:55Delhi. And that is what it is. That is the reason that you must be hearing that in some places like
04:00Anand Bihar, or those places, the air quality is already going to severe category for many days.
04:06But in some categories, you will see that poor categories are also there. So on an average,
04:11if you see, it is a mid-stage scale of very good. Right, right. If we talk about the health impacts
04:23from the air pollution, and there are short-term also health condition, there are long-term health
04:28conditions in effect that people of Delhi NCR is facing due to the poor air quality. Can you
04:35tell some of them? See, to tell you to your viewers, there are six categories of air quality
04:44index. It starts from good, then good, satisfactory, moderate, poor, very poor and severe.
04:52Severe is the sixth one, which is the law, let us say sixth category, and then good is one category.
04:58We are in the fifth number at this time. So one notch below that. As the air quality index
05:07goes from different categories from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4, there are different kinds of health symptoms,
05:13there are different kinds of advisories and precautions for three categories of the people.
05:18Number one, those who are already having some kind of a pre-existing respiratory system problem,
05:25one is a healthy person, and another one is infants or elderly people. So those are the
05:32broadly we try to do that. At this stage of time, which is very poor, number five, here it is
05:39advised that mainly you know the air quality and specifically the prominent pollutant is PM 2.5,
05:46which directly impact your respiratory system. Lower respiratory system is where the upper
05:53respiratory system. The upper respiratory system is the maximum which gets affected with that.
06:00That is the reason that asthma, shortening of breath, fatigue, all those are there. So in this
06:07particular thing, it is advised that as much as possible, try to avoid the outdoor activities,
06:17specifically where you exert too much, and specifically in the morning hours when
06:22temperatures are cooler, and the evening hours when the sun drops, and then the
06:28emotional layers start coming down. And that is the reason that these are, so those are the
06:33those are the symptoms, fatigue, you know, respiratory system diseases and all those are
06:39the things which keep on increasing and that is what we have been, you must be hearing that in
06:45the hospital admissions, outdoor admissions, around door visits have increased. Right, right.
06:52One very important question that I want to ask you so is that there are a lot of policies,
06:58effective policies, you know, already there. But according to you, what are the most effective
07:06policies that government can adopt to combat this crisis? And how can they ensure the enforcement
07:13of these policies in Delhi NCR? It's very, very pertinent and very important question.
07:21I will take some time. The very first thing which is that our NCAP program, which is a very,
07:28very good program which is started, but then NCAP program is a highly location centric and
07:34emission centric. Now in this world where we are working in a changing climate, in a warming world,
07:42what we call, there we need to take all kind of aspects in mind in making a planning policies.
07:53The airshed approach is something which I have been advocating in quite a few years,
08:01where the mitigation measures which are being taken now only for Delhi National Capital
08:06Territories that need to be taken in airshed regions. What is the airshed? Airshed is in a
08:12very simplistic language is an area which enjoys a similar kind of a weather or climate. So the
08:20air quality remains, for example, Delhi airshed consists of four more states. So it is not 50
08:29by 50 kilometers area, but it is something like 200 kilometer by 200 kilometer area.
08:34Now all those measures which are being taken in the city, if this is extended to all those places,
08:42then you will have a significant change. That is one. Second thing we should understand
08:47that the lead pollutant and the most toxic pollutant in winter becomes PM 2.5.
08:56Thus, so our priorities for mitigation should be focused on the most dominant source for the
09:05emission source for the pollution, PM 2.5, the number two, number three, number four, like that.
09:11Now the most dominant source for PM 2.5 is a transport sector,
09:15not the dust. Dust is the most dominant source for PM 10, which is not as lethal as PM 2.5.
09:30Now we have been taking a lot of measures in Delhi, water sprinkling, then construction
09:37activities, and then so many things. But I think that is a little misplaced. It will give you some
09:46dividend, but then the major thing is traffic management. In fact, NGT has also come very
09:52heavily, maybe two days yesterday or yesterday I was reading that. So the point what I'm trying
09:59to make here is that congestion, avoiding the unpaved area where the vehicle slips during the
10:09congestion when there is a heavy traffic time. And most important thing is that those vehicles,
10:16whether it is a private vehicle or some other vehicle running on diesel, need to be aware.
10:22Delhi still have a diesel vehicle for the private cars and private vehicles, which is,
10:29I think, not a right strategy. Then the most important thing which I am going to tell you is
10:36that peripherally, not only in Delhi, but outside Delhi, peripheral regions, heavy-duty commercial
10:43vehicle and light-duty commercial vehicle, they are, although in terms of a percentage contribution
10:51of number of vehicles, they may be 5 to 10 percent of the total number of vehicles, but they use
10:58more than 50 percent of the emissions for pollution, because of the three factors. Number
11:03one, they are diesel-driven. Number two, almost as observed, they are overloaded. When the things
11:12are overloaded in its more capacity, it gives a huge amount of emission. And number three,
11:17they are relatively less maintained. And during this time, when Delhi is a landlord city,
11:26during that time, all the emissions which is getting from there,
11:29they all get into dumping the city and it doesn't get dispersed.
11:35So, that is something which is more relevant to the priority.
11:42Rightly said, sir. One very interesting thing that I want to ask you is that, you know,
11:47there are numerous myths and misconceptions surrounding when we talk about air pollution.
11:52The biggest example is that, you know, burning crackers or fireworks will not contribute to as
12:00much as the vehicles or the construction contributes. So, can you clarify some of
12:06the common misunderstand that common people have about the air quality and its sources?
12:13Yes, that's very important. See, the point is that when we talk about PM 2.5 or PM 10,
12:18we are not talking about its chemical composition. We are talking about only the size,
12:24the particle which is having a size less than 2.5 micron or less or PM 2.5. It is made up of what?
12:34That is made up of mineral elements, nitrates, sulfates, carbonates, what? Ammonia, all those.
12:43The toxicity of these particles depends on what it is made up of. So, even if the
12:50concentration of those are less, but if they are made up of carbon particles, suppose,
12:56black carbons are there, elementary carbon, then they are really very dangerous.
13:01Then if they are made up of sulfates, that will be more. The problem with the particles of PM 2.5,
13:08which are coming out from a normal emissions from a dust or other, as compared to what comes
13:14out from the crackers, is this that the particles which are coming from the crackers are really
13:20highly toxic. Carbon and sulfates are there. Nitrates are also there. This is true that these,
13:29the Diwali fire crackers problem is only for one day or at the most two days. It is episodic. It's
13:35not a certainly permanent problem, but you know, when there is a fire already, you are putting oil
13:41on the fire and that is the only thing which happens. Otherwise, I always say that it is
13:46increasing your peak, but you are already in the peak. The only thing is increase the magnitude
13:52of the peak. But the most important thing is that the particle which you are inhaling, they are
13:58huge, highly toxic is mainly the firecrackers, which are there, Chinese firecrackers and all,
14:04if they are of great firecrackers. So, that is the difference. But coming back, the point is that
14:09both the things are true, that this is something which is increasing your peak, but at the same
14:14time, this is only a matter of one or two days. But we need to, if you would like to get rid of
14:22this problem, we need to look for a long-term solution. Right, sir. Now, talking about the
14:28long-term solution, sir, this is going to be my last question as we have a little time crunch as
14:32well. What advancement or changes do you believe that could significantly improve the situation of
14:38Delhi NCR that we are in currently, right now? We need to shift our perception from
14:48location-specific emission-centric policy to the airshed-centric policy.
14:55We need to improve our air quality index, where not only the size, but the health component,
15:03which is related with the chemical composition of PM 2.5 particle, air health index, that need
15:09to get into, that will provide you much more better information. Number three, the implementation
15:18remains one of the major issues which anyway you have been hearing. We have all the rules in place.
15:27There are some policy-related issues, for example, this, as I am telling, from emission-centric and
15:32location-centric, Delhi-centric to the airshed, we have to expand our horizon for this. But the
15:40question remains that how much we are successful in implementing these measures, which are in
15:48place. Unless implement is done in full sincerity and religiously, and the priority is set to the
15:59highest emitters, the faster the problem, the significant change you won't see. Hence, it is
16:08a high time that we need to bring these changes to have a significant impact. These years, parallely,
16:15the fire counts have declined significantly. But the point is that weather conditions are so bad
16:21that even if 300-400 fire counts are sufficient to deteriorate air quality and contribution is
16:26going to be 10-15%. One last question, sir, and this is going to be a tough one as well.
16:33How much time do you think it will take Delhi NCR to actually come back to an air quality where
16:41people can, you know, breathe happily and after every effort or everything is done, how much time
16:50on reality it's going to take? If the government, if the authorities come in together and work and
16:56do something, do a magic, how much time do you think it will take?
17:00Yeah, thank you. In fact, this is the question which has been asked to me sometimes,
17:03some people do, the years also, whether this must take time or although my answer to them is
17:10that if the sincere efforts continues and then implementation strategy is certainly in place
17:19down the line in five, at least five years, it will take, it cannot be a magic
17:25or that it will, but down the line in five to 10 years, we should be able to see
17:31that really in place because you know, our country has to develop, economical growth has to happen.
17:36Right. So we cannot stop, you know, stop manufacturing the vehicles or we can close
17:44the industry, that has to go on, but then good measures, green practices and sincerity
17:51and most important is outreach and teaching to the people that what is good and what is bad,
17:58unless self-mitigation starts. So it is a combination of different governments
18:03from different states along with the citizen, if they come, I think you can see very significant
18:11change in five years down the line. Right, sir. That means we have a long way to go and
18:16there's a lot to be done in order to come out of this situation together,
18:21because all of us are in it together. Thank you so very much, doctor, for, you know,
18:25joining with us and talking to us on One India on a matter, on a topic, which is right now the
18:31hottest topic in Delhi NCI, if we talk about, and thank you for your, you know, insights and
18:39all the things that you shared. It was great having you on our show with us on One India.
18:45Thank you, Rhea. It's always a pleasure talking to you in India and I wish all of the viewers
18:52very happy Diwali, safe Diwali, green Diwali and pollution-free Diwali. Let us not say
19:00pollution-free, but breathable and much better air quality. Right, sir. I wish that if
19:09it rains, probably we will have a very important decline in air quality.
19:18Thank you, Rhea. Thank you so very much. Thank you.
19:21Don't miss out. Log on to OneIndia.com for more updates.