Impact of Policy Interventions on Urban Air Quality in India: A Retrospective Analysis

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Impact of Policy Interventions on Urban Air
Quality in India A Retrospective Analysis

• Presented at BAQ 2004
• Agra, 6th-8th December 2004

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Early 1990s, SPM-Comparison Across
Cities(Source UNESCAP 2000)
Annual Avg. (ug/m3)
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Background Context

• Very high levels of urban air pollution,
  especially particulate pollution, in Indian
  cities in the 1990s.
• Independent analyses estimated that it could be
  responsible for significant health damage.
• A series of policy interventions followed, in
  which civil society and judiciary have played a
  major role (Delhi has set an example)
• A number of other highly polluted cities to
  prepare action plans for addressing urban air
  pollution.
• On-going debate among air quality experts about
  the exact impacts of specific measures that have
  already been taken, and by how much the urban air
  quality has improved as a result.

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Objectives

• To undertake a retrospective analysis of urban
  air quality interventions and trends (with a
  focus on particulate pollution) for five major
  metros over ten years (1993 to 2002) and
• To strengthen, within the limits of the available
  data and analytical methods, the understanding of
  factors influencing ambient air quality in
  different cities so as to assist in the process
  of formulating future city-level strategies and
  action plans for addressing urban air pollution.

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Cities Selected (PM Averages, 2002)
NEERI Data
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Example Chronology of Key Actions in Kolkata

• 1995 Industry
• Air polluting industries directed to install air
  pollution control devices
• 1996 Transport
• Fuel Quality 0.5 S diesel mandated
• 1997 Industry
• Siting policy for red category (hazardous)
  industry was implemented
• 1998 Transport
• Low smoke 2T oil for two-stroke engine vehicles
  mandated
• 0.25 S diesel mandated in Kolkata Metropolitan
  Area
• 1999 Transport
• Pre-mixed 2T oil for two-wheelers mandated
• 2000 Transport
• Diesel sulphur reduced to 0.25 for all of
  Kolkata
• 2001 Transport Industry
• Low sulphur petrol and diesel (0.05) mandated
• The use of cleaner fuels made mandatory in
  industrial boilers

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Air Quality Data

• RSPM data collected by NEERI between 1993-2002
  was used taken from reports submitted to CPCB.
• Also used CPCB / SPCB data for RSPM since it
  became available in 1999 / 2000, for comparison
  purposes.
• Data Quality Issues
• Limited number of measurements (usually less than
  104 / yr in the early years)
• Instrument calibration frequency varies between
  agencies and locations
• No systematic cross-calibration or comparison of
  samplers used by different agencies
• Handling of filter papers varies between agencies
• Location of monitoring stations and days of
  monitoring differ between agencies
• Equipment were replaced by NEERI in the made- to
  late-1990s

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Annual Average RSPM Concentration
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1328 industries closed or relocated in 1996-97
Lower S in diesel and other industrial fuel
Change in monitoring equipment !
National Standard (Residential)
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Example Trend Analysis for PM in Delhi

• Observation
• The annual ambient RSPM averages on a city-wide
  scale did not show a discernible impact of the
  penetration of CNG as an automotive fuel in
  2000-02!
• Possible explanations
• The lower emissions from the previously
  diesel-fueled and two-stroke gasoline engine
  vehicles were offset by higher emissions from
  increasing overall vehicle use in Delhi,
  particularly of diesel vehicles, and ambient RSPM
  concentrations would have worsened in the absence
  of the CNG conversion programs.
• Given multiple sources of air pollution in Delhi,
  the impact was not large enough to be reflected
  in the ambient RSPM concentrations, while a
  likely larger impact on PM2.5 levels could not be
  detected because PM2.5 is not currently being
  monitored.
• Meteorological data could have influenced the
  readings. However, a closer look at the
  meteorological parameters suggest that there were
  no significant changes in key parameters as
  compared to preceding years.
• The quality of RSPM data collected is very poor !
  

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Monthly Variation in RSPM
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Relative Contribution of Sources to PM2.5 in 2001
Source ESMAP 2004
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Changes in RSPM levels Health Benefits
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Concluding Remarks

• RSPM, the main pollutant of public health
  concern, fell between 1993 and 2002. Clearly, the
  interventions undertaken had some effect !
• This decline in RSPM levels might have led to
  nearly 13,000 fewer cases of premature deaths in
  the five cities by 2002, than in the early 1990s.
• Despite substantial past progress the levels of
  RSPM are dangerously above the national standards
  in Delhi and Kolkata, especially in winter.
• Given that there is no established threshold for
  health impacts all cities will gain substantial
  health benefits from further reductions in RSPM.
• Reductions in RSPM concentrations have been
  achieved through a combination of measures
  targeting industry, transport, and better urban
  planning / development.
• Implementation of the same interventions in two
  cities with different meteorology and/or mix of
  sources is unlikely to give the same results.
• The importance of strengthening data collection,
  management, and dissemination cannot be
  over-emphasized. The power of analysis undertaken
  in this study is constrained by the quality of
  data.

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Sector-wise summary of key actions across the
cities
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Thank You !The team comprised of the following

• The full report entitled
• For a Breath of Fresh Air Ten Years of Progress
  and Challenges in Urban Air Quality Management in
  India 1993-2002 ,
• can be accessed at http//www.worldbank.org/sarurb
  anair

• CPCB
• B. Sengupta
• S. A. Dutta
• R. C Trivedi
• N. Badhwar

• World Bank
• Masami Kojima
• Kseniya Lvovsky
• K Mukundan
• U Balasubramanian
• Faisal Siddiqui
• Khaliquzzaman
• Sameer Akbar