Comments on Haq's Musings: Study Finds India's Air Most Toxic in the World

Here's a NY Times story on India's poor showing for serious pollution:

India has the worst air pollution in the entire world, beating China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, according to a study released during this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.

Of 132 countries whose environments were surveyed, India ranks dead last in the ‘Air (effects on human health)’ ranking. The annual study, the Environmental Performance Index, is conducted and written by environmental research centers at Yale and Columbia universities with assistance from dozens of outside scientists. The study uses satellite data to measure air pollution concentrations.

India’s high levels of fine particulate matter (a subject we’ve been looking at on India Ink, albeit just in Delhi) are one of the major factors contributing to the country’s abysmal air quality. Levels of so-called PM 2.5, for the 2.5 micron size of the particulates, are nearly five times the threshold where they become unsafe for human beings.

Particulate matter is one of the leading causes of acute lower respiratory infections and cancer. The World Health Organization found that Acute Respiratory Infections were one of the most common causes of deaths in children under 5 in India, and contributed to 13% of in-patient deaths in paediatric wards in India.

When it comes to overall environment, India ranked among the world’s “Worst Performers,” at No. 125 out of the 132 nations, beating only Kuwait, Yemen, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iraq. Neighboring Pakistan, in contrast, ranked 120th and Bangladesh was listed as No. 115 on overall environment.

It is not just India’s big cities which are grappling with air pollution, said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of India’s Centre for Science and Environment, a non-profit organization which was not involved in the study. Air pollution also is worsening in smaller cities, she said.

The main culprit, Ms. Roychowdhury said, is the growing number of vehicles in India. While the country still has far fewer vehicles per capita than developed nations, India’s cars are more polluting, Ms. Roychowdhury said. Other air pollution experts also cite India’s reliance coal and polluting industries like brick-making that are located close to densely-populated areas.

Emission standards are nearly “10 years behind European standards,” Ms. Roychowdhury said, and these standards are not legally enforceable, unlike in countries like the United States which has the Clean Air Act. India has an Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 which is supposed to be enforced by the Central Pollution Control Board. This act lacks teeth, Ms. Roychowdhury said. “We need to take big steps or the problem will overwhelm us,” she said.

D. Saha, a scientist in the “Air Lab” at India’s Central Pollution Control Board said the study’s findings were not a matter of huge concern.

“We should not compare our country with others,” Dr. Saha said. “India has a different terrain.” He cited seasonal rainfall, deserts and dusty conditions as being responsible for the particulate matter. “Can we put water sprinklers across the country?,” he asked.

Particulate matter comes from boilers, thermal power plants and cars, as well, he said, but India would not have development if these activities were curbed, he said. “The diseases mentioned in the report are caused by many factors not just particulate matter, we are raising undue alarm,” Mr. Saha said.

His advice? “It is a non-issue, we have other pressing problems like poverty, focus on them.”

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/indias-air-the-worlds-unhealthiest-study-says/

Here's a report in The News about $10 billion Chinese investment in energy projects in Pakistan:

China’s state-owned Three Gorges Corp. plans to invest $10 billion by 2018 in Pakistan’s energy sector and a delegation is scheduled to visit Pakistan on February 7, officials said on Friday.

The Hong Kong-based United Energy Group Limited of China also intends to establish a 2,000 megawatts power project in Sindh as their delegation is also visiting Pakistan next month to hold further talks on setting up the power projects, they said.

Sindh Coal and Energy Department has signed memorandums of understating (MoU) with the two companies, which have shown interest in developing coal-fired power plants in Thar and Badin coal fields, as well, the officials said.

In an attempt to resolve the issue, the government is pinning hopes on Thar Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) pilot project, which contains the country’s largest coal deposits of around 850 trillion cubic feet spanning over 3,800 square miles, they said.

Overall, according to the World Energy Council, Pakistan has slightly more than 2,000 million tons of proven recoverable coal reserves.

Pakistan’s current electricity demand is around 25,000 megawatts per day, but the current electrical production is less than 20,000 megawatts per day, leaving a deficit of slightly more than 5,000 megawatts, and by 2015, domestic demand is projected to rise to 30,000 megawatts per day.

Currently, the country depends on oil and natural gas to generate up to 60 percent of its electricity needs, further impacting the country’s balance of payments as the price of oil rises and the ongoing power shortages are beginning to impact the country’s bottom-line exports, the officials said.

Member of the Science and Technology Planning Commission, Dr Samar Mubarakmand, has said that Thar coal project would be beneficial for common people and free from all defects.

The success of the Thar coal project would lead to investment from leading international companies, he said.

With the completion of coal-fired power generation project, the nation would get cheap and sufficient power supply, which would resolve the current energy crisis, he added.

Mubarakmand said that the country had enough coal reserves through which it could daily produce 50-60 million cubic feet gasifier, which would end gas shortage from the country.

It is for the first time that the coal gasification is being launched on commercial basis, which will help in abundant and cheap electricity.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=89763&Cat=3

Mukund: "Pls mention the names of American co...

2012-01-29T08:39:49.573-08:00

Mukund: "Pls mention the names of American companies who have invested in pakistan."

There are over 300 foreign multinational companies, including American companies, with operations in Pakistan. And more are coming every year in spite of economic slowdown. Almost all big name American and European companies operate in Pakistan.

Here's an excerpt from a US govt website:

U.S. firms have a strong presence in Pakistan. More than 70 wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries are registered with the American Business Council (ABC) and American Business Forum (ABF) in Pakistan. There are also hundreds of local firms representing U.S. firms in the market. Leading U.S. businesses in Pakistan include Citibank, Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, NCR, Teradata, Pfizer, Abbot, Eli Lilly, Wyeth, DuPont, Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Chevron, 3M, IBM, Apple, Monsanto, McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominoes Pizza, and Caterpillar.

Despite security challenges and common emerging market concerns about intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, contract enforcement, and governance issues, the Pakistan market offers many attractive trade and investment opportunities in a broad range of sectors: among others, energy (power generation); transportation (aerospace and railways); information and communications technology; architecture, construction, and engineering; health; environmental technology; agricultural technology; safety and security; franchising; and services.

http://export.gov/arizona/access2012/eg_us_az_040465.asp#P152_30584

" As India, Pakistan and other developing nat...

2012-01-29T07:11:42.221-08:00

" As India, Pakistan and other developing nations vie for foreign direct investments by multi-national companies seeking to set up "

LOL. You never cease to imply
Pak == India in FDI. Pls mention the names of American companies who have invested in pakistan.

Shams: "I do not know if you have recently be...

2012-01-28T13:36:52.189-08:00

Shams: "I do not know if you have recently been to Karachi or Lahore. It is true that about 10 years ago the air in Karachi and Lahore was quite toxic, mostly due to diesel buses and 2-stroke motor-bikes and auto-rickshaws. That has all changed due to the use of CNG in literally all vehicles...."

I agree with you that world's largest fleet of CNG vehicles is helping, and the air pollution situation would be a lot worse if natural gas was not the primary fuel used for energy in Pakistan.

The situation in Pakistan would probably be as bad as India if Pakistan relied on burning dirty fossil fuels like coal. However, the problem of air pollution from particulates in major Pakistani cities is still quite acute, and obviously visible to the naked eye.

During my travel to Dubai, Karachi and Beijing in 2009, I saw that Karachi was about as bad as Dubai and Beijing in terms of a constant layer of haze that hung over it during summer.

http://www.riazhaq.com/2009/12/pakistan-leads-south-asia-in-use-of.html

I do not know if you have recently been to Karachi...

2012-01-28T13:22:34.325-08:00

I do not know if you have recently been to Karachi or Lahore. It is true that about 10 years ago the air in Karachi and Lahore was quite toxic, mostly due to diesel buses and 2-stroke motor-bikes and auto-rickshaws. That has all changed due to the use of CNG in literally all vehicles. Pakistan now has the largest number of CNG vehicles in the world - period. The air quality in Karachi is exceptionally good, thanks to all commercial vehicles' use of CNG and the continuous sea breeze. Lahore and other Punjab cities also have reduced pollution, but in the winter, they burn a lot of wood and coal, though not as much as they used to since now they burn natural gas.

What that has done is to remove: sulfur dioxide (SO2); ozone (O3); nitrogen dioxide(NO2); Hydrogen Sulfide; and Ammonia. Clearly where combustion is, CO2 will be there, but with CNG, the days of CO carbon monoxide are also gone. The particulates, such as carbon soot are is also gone.

So - some idiot in the World Economic Forum must have pulled this data out of thin air, likely with bias against Pakistan. Apparently, no new studies have been undertaken..

If you want to publish accurate result, then have someone at PCSIR or Karachi University run some tests - just send them air quality analyzers that cost under $10,000.

yawn! Studies like this are dime a dozen.

2012-01-27T23:46:07.615-08:00

yawn!

Studies like this are dime a dozen.