According to a study released during this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, India has the worlds worst air pollution. Beating out other countries like China and Bangladesh. Out of 132 countries in the study India has fallen to dead last. The annual study which measures air pollution concentrations is written and conducted by environmental research centers at Yale and Columbia universities along with assistance from dozens of outside scientists. Contributions from fine particulate matter is mostly to blame. Levels of so-called PM 2.5 , which relates to the micron size of particulates is nearly five times above the acceptable level for humans. Airborne particulate mater is one of the leading causes of lower respiratory infections and cancer. The World Health Organization recently discovered that acute respiratory infections were one of the most common causes of death in children under five in India. According to the director of India’s Centre for Science and Environment, Anumita Roychowdhury, It’s not just the big cities that are having these problems. It’s now an issue in the smaller ones as well. Anumita Roychowdhury stated that this is due in part from India’s reliance on coal and their large brick making industry. Perhaps one of the largest pollution culprits is India’s lack of automobile emissions controls. With an increasing number of vehicles on the road, India is about 10 years behind Europe in emission standards. It was stated that the emissions standards were not enforceable like in the U.S. which has the Clean Air Act. 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. That there were other issues like poverty that are more pressing. He stated that India’s pollution issues are due to terrain. Seasonal rainfall, deserts and dusty conditions are mostly to blame. He also said that most of the particulate matter comes from boilers, thermal power plants and cars. But without those things India would have no development.
This article brings up some very good points. First it seems most people think about China being the worst pollution contributor. I know I always believed that. Where in reality they are not and are doing many things to try and improve their condition. Whereas India is the worst and they are trying to play it off like it’s not a very big deal. This can have many ill affects on the Indian society. The elite which are the one’s producing much of the pollution and funding the scientists who say the pollution is not a big issue are engaging in white-collar crimes. The killing and hurting of all the people in their country and where ever their pollution goes after it leaves India is a direct violation of human rights. The unequal distribution of wealth prevents the lower classes from rising up against the industrial owners and government officials in fear of losing their jobs. It seems like the upper classes are discriminating on the lower classes by not doing anything about the pollution because they know they don’t have to. It’s not the lower classes that can do anything about the issues. Perhaps the values in India need to be shifted to reflect a more humanitarian way of thinking. The killing of adolescents in their culture due to pollution should be unacceptable on a culture level as well as a global level. If India chooses not to clean up their act then the rest of the world should place tariffs and restrictions on them and force them to clean up their pollution. There should be no reason why India is playing off the severe consequences of their industrialization. It has happened many times over and over throughout history. It would be nice to see them try to learn from others mistakes and value their people enough to not kill them with the pollution from their success. With an increasingly stratified society, it seems like it will just keep getting worse unless other countries step up. The lower classes will be doomed if nothing is done. The cost of living is sure to increase to a level that most will not be able to afford. Healthcare costs will rise, fresh water will need to be filtered or imported along with fresh foods from an unpolluted source. Many Indian’s will not be able to afford these basic human needs.
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