Analyzing Air Pollution In Gwalior, India: Causes, Effects, And Recommendations

Causes of Pollution in Gwalior

Question:

Discuss about The Biggest Environmental Problem Of India.

Pollution is referred as unwanted, harmful material which contaminates an environment, and it pollutes land, air or water; it is the introduction of poisonous or harmful substances which contaminates the air, water or land which is detrimental for the people and the environment. The lives and health of living organisms are negatively affected by the contamination of the atmosphere by harmful elements such as carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and sulphur, plastic, and many other harmful chemicals. According to the data of World Health Organisation (WHO), India is world’s 8^th most polluted country with most polluted urban areas that have an average concentration of 60.6 due to lack of environmental policies and negligence of government (Smith, 2017). As per the real-time Air Quality Index of 2017, Gwalior, a city in Madhya Pradesh, India, is the second most polluted city in the world (Nandil, 2017). This report will analyse the reason for high rate of air pollution in Gwalior, India and evaluates how the government has failed to address this issue. The report will evaluate the negative impact of air pollution on people and environment of Gwalior. Further, various recommendations will be provided in the report that can be adopted the government to address the air pollution issues in Gwalior. 

Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems that world is facing today since it is causing irreparable damage to world’s natural resources. This is an important issue because it causes 40 percent of deaths worldwide (Lang, 2007). India is facing serious problems because of the high rate of air pollution in most of its major cities; Gwalior is the most polluted city in India (Gupta, 2016). This report is critical because it analyse how the state and national government have neglected their duties, and their careless attitude contributes to increases in air pollution rates in Gwalior. Lack of environmental policies increased the number of industries, vehicles, deforestation, and dilapidated roads in Gwalior which causes air pollution in the city (Mallick, 2016).

The main purpose of this report is to analyse the causes and risks associated with high rate of air pollution in Gwalior, India. The scope of this study include evaluating the role of government in increasing rate of air pollution in major cities of India and how it is negatively affecting millions of people. The scope of this report will include failure of government policies which increases the rate of pollution in Gwalior. The report will provide various recommendations relating to environmental policies that can be implemented by the government for reducing the rate of air pollution in Gwalior.

Impact of Pollution on People and Environment

According to WHO’s study, Gwalior, India is world’s second most polluted city; it has an average PM 2.5 concentration of 176 (Singh, 2016). Gwalior has more than three times the acceptable particulate matter levels in the air. They are tiny droplets in the air which causes small as well as serious health problems such as affecting lung function, asthma, heart disease and others. As per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) study, the permissible particulate matter limit is 60 micrograms per cubic meter, and Gwalior stands at 329 micrograms which is five times more than the safety rating (Santoshi, 2015).

According to the data provided by Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Gwalior is the leading city with most number of vehicles as compared to other cities in Madhya Pradesh. The city has more than 23 percent of diesel and 6.9 percent of petrol vehicles of the entire state that emit pollution which heavily contributes to increasing air pollution in the city (The Times of India, 2014). Various large and small industries operate in Gwalior which did not comply with local environmental policies; these industries use fossil fuel to power their operations which increases the rate of pollution in the city. Different emission in the air causes different health problems such as oxides of nitrogen cause respiratory issues such as shortness of breath or asthma whereas carbon mono oxide causes weakness and dizziness (Moretti and Neidell, 2011).

There are several factors which increase the rate of air pollution in Gwalior such as high population density, a large number of vehicles, fossil fuel powered industries, less greenery, dilapidated roads and others (Parihar et al., 2012). These factors have increased because of lack of government policies and carelessness. The government has failed to address various issues in Gwalior which allow corporations and people to take unfair advantage of natural resources (Guttikunda, Goel and Pant, 2014).

Contribution of Industries

The government of Madhya Pradesh has failed to monitor and control the activities of industries in Gwalior; most of the industries are small which are powered by fossil fuel. Many small industries cut trees from nearby forests and use coal or gas for powering their operations; the cutting of tree also result in increasing deforestation and decreasing greenery near the city (Ahmad et al., 2014). The government has failed to establish strict policies upon smaller industries which increase the cutting of trees and use of coal in production (The Free Press Journal, 2014).

Government's Failure to Address Pollution in Gwalior

Congested areas

Gwalior is a congested city with a population of 1.069 million people; most of the people are poor, and they are living below the poverty line. These individuals did not focus on environmental protection; they use fossil fuel for daily operations such as cooking or heating water because they are easily available at lower costs (Saxena and Saksena, 2012). People prefer to buy cheap vehicles, and they use public transport which causes high fuel consumption. The government has failed to provide basic education and health facilities to the people that hinder their development. High rate of illiteracy and poverty in Gwalior also increase air pollution since people avoid recycling policies (Chandra, 2012). 

Vehicle pollution

The larger number of vehicles in Gwalior increases the rate of pollution; the government has failed to implement strict transport laws which ban motor corporations from manufacturing and selling vehicles in Gwalior (Shrivastava, Neeta, and Geeta, 2013). Most of the motor companies offer cheap vehicles to people that are highly pollutant and require larger number of petrol or diesel to work. In 2015 to 2016, there are more than 60,000 new vehicles purchased in Gwalior which increase the total number of vehicles to 440,000 (Narwaria, Chandramauli, and Bahuguna, 2017). The dilapidated roads in most of the locations of the city increase fuel consumption of vehicles because the municipal department has failed to build proper roads. Below mention table show growing rate of vehicles in Gwalior which prove that it is a serious issue.

Figure 1: Registered Vehicles in Gwalior

(Source: Narwaria, Chandramauli, and Bahuguna, 2017)

Carelessness of the government

The rate of corruption is considerably high in India, and most of the government officials avoid implementing environmental policies to take unfair advantage of public and national income (Sen, 2016). As per the story of Santoshi and Singh (2015), the government officials in Gwalior were surprised when WHO provided its report that Gwalior is the second most polluted city; it shows their carelessness towards the implementation of environmental policies in Gwalior. 

Due to the high rate of air pollution, temperature of Gwalior is continuously increasing which negatively affects the health of people and growing of crops (Verma and Saksena, 2010). In April-May, temperature of city-raised above 45 to 47 degree Celsius which is hazardous to the health of people. Following table shows growing temperature in Gwalior which is dangerous for agriculture production.

Figure 2: Monthly mean Temperatures

Recommendations for Reducing Air Pollution in Gwalior

(Source: Narwaria, Chandramauli, and Bahuguna, 2017)

The concentrations of nitrogen oxides in ambient air in various locations of Gwalior have increased which causes various health problems (Narwaria, Chandramauli, and Bahuguna, 2017). Following table shows growing rate of nitrogen oxides in Gwalior’s which is hazardous for people’s health and crops.

Figure 3: Concentration of Nitrogen Oxides

(Source: Narwaria, Chandramauli, and Bahuguna, 2017)

Conclusion

Conclusively, the rate of air pollution is continuously increasing in Gwalior due to lack of strict government policies and carelessness which is causing various health issues. The air quality is decreasing because of various factors such as less greenery, number of vehicles, fossil fuel powered industries, dilapidated roads and others. The government has failed to address environmental issues in Gwalior which result in increasing the rate of air pollution in the city.

Following recommendations can be implemented by the government of Madhya Pradesh to address the issues of air pollution in Gwalior.

1. Strict adherence to environmental norms can assist in reducing air pollution in Gwalior. Firstly, the government should ensure that industries are not powered by fossil fuel which can be achieved by registering and providing licenses to each plant and take strict actions against industries which are not registered or which use fossil fuel to power their operations. The government can also introduce mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which forces industries to implement and comply with environmental protection policies.
2. The government should ensure that Motor corporations are not selling high-pollutant vehicles at low costs. Delhi government has banned 10-years old diesel vehicles and 2000cc heavy-load vehicles in the city which reduced the air pollution (Financial Express, 2016). Madhya Pradesh government should implement similar policies to reduce the number of vehicles in Gwalior. The government should also promote CNG vehicles and CNG public transportation to reduce the usage of petrol and diesel.
3. The government should implement sustainable transportation in city, easy availability of clean household fuels, solid waste management, strict implementation of environmental policies, use of renewable energy and industrial emission reduction which will assist in reducing air pollution in Gwalior. 

References

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