What are the social and environmental consequences of economic growth in India?

“Breathe uneasy: air pollution in India” (The Economist, February 2015)

1. Complete the following paragraph by writing in the correct data from the article.

Air is dangerously toxic in Delhi. Particulate matter is a particular problem including both
PM10s and PM2.5s, the latter causing the worst health problems; due to their smaller size
these particles can go deep into the lungs. PM2.5s are routinely 15 times the World Health
Organisation’s (WHO) safe limit. A study by the WHO in 2014 found that India was home to
13 of the top twenty cities with most PM2.5s. Delhi’s air is said to be 45% more polluted than
Beijing’s. However, it is not just urban areas that are suffering from air pollution in India; 1
million people in rural areas die from health complications caused by burning dung-fuelled
fires for heating and cooking in domestic settings. In addition, a study of agricultural
productivity during the period from 1980-2010 found that wheat yields in India were 1/3
lower in some areas, compared to others, due to air pollution. In summary, indoor and
outdoor pollution is the biggest cause of death in India: 1.6 million people per year die from
health complications caused by it.

2. Describe the health complications caused by high concentrations of air pollution,

specifically PM2.5s.
PM2.5 particles can cause cancer as well as reduce lifespan and even kill people. This
is because they are small and so can travel into the lungs when inhaled by humans.
This can also lead to many respiratory problems such as asthma and triggering heart
attacks and strokes.

3. Summarise the positive actions (listed below) that have taken place in India to try to
tackle air pollution.
a. Anti-smog campaigns e.g.
These encourage
b. Monitoring of industrial pollution by Environment Minister Prakash
Javedekar…

Monitors have been fitted to identify the most polluting cities in India. This
allows the government to take actions which tackle a larger volume of
pollution rather than chipping away at it.
 c. Public transport developments and why they could potentially be very
successful in India…

This is because it would allow for many people to switch to using the metro
rather than using their own cars. Furthermore, many cars in India are also very
old and polluting to the atmosphere. However, if this were replaced by the
metro, less pollution would be released. It would also allow many people to
move around more easily.

d. Emissions trading (where each industry is allocated a maximum emissions limit

and if they exceed it they are fined or required to buy emissions permits from
industries who have emitted less than their emissions limit) in Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Can you suggest one advantage and one
disadvantage of this scheme?

Advantage: Means that the pollution released by industries would reduce

significantly

Disadvantage: The level of corruption might increase to cover up the actual emission
of industries and the pollution might in fact become worse.

4. What are the barriers to success with these schemes? Describe the legislative
change that is needed if India is to successfully tackle air pollution.
The legislation would need to change to allow financial instead of criminal penalties
to be placed against people who break this. This would mean that corruption is less
likely to happen as it could potentially destroy their entire business instead of simply
putting one person in jail for a few years.