Living with the enemy

Air pollution, an invisible killer, is getting worse with climate change and summer dust storms

- PUJA DAS

No matter where one lives in India, the air is unhealthy. Climate change and the extreme events it is triggering are only making it worse.

A World Bank report from last year presents an alarming reality: 100 per cent of India's 1.4 billion population is exposed to PM2.5 levels that exceed the World Health Organization's (WHO) safe limits. These fine particles — less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter — are the most dangerous form of air pollution, capable of penetrating deep into the lungs and bloodstream.

The WHO recommends an annual average of no more than 5 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) for PM2.5, and a daily average not exceeding 15 µg/m³. India regularly exceeds both thresholds. The sources are varied: Burning of fossil fuels, biomass combustion, vehicular emissions, industrial activities, construction dust, and natural events such as dust storms.

In the third week of May, for instance, the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) saw a sharp and sudden deterioration in air quality index (AQI), which crossed 250 — categorised as 'poor' — as PM2.5 and PM10 levels soared to nearly 20 times the safe limits. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) attributed this spike to strong winds transporting dust from Rajasthan.

For the first time since its inception in 2021, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) activated Stage 1 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the summer. GRAP-I, which is triggered when AQI reaches 201-300, calls for measures such as dust mitigation, traffic regulation, and emission control.

According to the IMD, the event occurred due to surface winds blowing dust from western Rajasthan through northern Rajasthan, southern Punjab, and southern Haryana into the capital region.