India’s air quality ranks among the lowest five countries in the world, according to a Yale University study that assessed 178 nations. The only countries ranked below India on this score are Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bangladesh.
However, disputing media reports claiming that the report — Environmental Performance Index 2014 — ranked Delhi to be the most polluted city, a Yale University spokesperson in Delhi stated that EPI doesn’t rank cities but only focuses on country-specific performances.
The report assessed countries on their air quality, status of biodiversity, water and sanitation. Overall, India’s rank was 155th, far below other BRICS countries, China (118), Brazil (77), Russia (73), and South Africa (72).
Before Yale’s clarification, there was a lot of anxiety among Delhi Pollution Control Committee scientists after a media report suggested that Delhi was ranked the world’s most polluted city in the survey. Scientists who went through the report asked why Yale University authors had not consulted the Central Pollution Control Board or the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) for data.
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India has fared relatively better on just three counts: forests, fisheries and water resources
“We have spent the entire day going through the EPI but haven’t found air quality data for Delhi. The report does mention that it has sourced satellite-derived PM2.5 data from Aaron van Donkelaar of Dalhousie University. But we don’t understand on what basis it has concluded that Delhi has the most polluted air? This has to be explained” said M P George, head of the Air lab at DPCC.
In the report, India ranks 127 in terms of human health from environmental damage and in air quality where it ranks 174, barely above Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bangladesh. “India’s air quality is among the worst in the world, tying China in terms of the proportion of the population exposed to average air pollution levels exceeding World Health Organization thresholds” said a statement by Yale University.
While there has been a lot of debate on whether Delhi’s air quality is poorer than that of Beijing’s, in the country-wise ranking India fares better than China. The worst air quality according to the report is of Bangladesh.
India has fared relatively better on just three counts: forests, fisheries and water resources. “Although India is an ‘emerging market’ alongside China, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, its environment severely lags behind these others,” said Angel Hsu of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and lead author of the report.
“Very low GDP per capita coupled with the second highest population in the world means India’s environmental challenge is more formidable than that faced by other emerging economies,” she added.
Switzerland has topped the rankings, while Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore and Czech Republic made it to top five in the index. The bottom five performers are Somalia, Mali, Haiti, Lesotho and Afghanistan.
While focus has always been on China and India because they are bigger economies, the report raises concerns about air quality in Bangladesh and Nepal too. This category also includes a household air quality indicator assessing the percentage of solid fuel used primarily for cooking and heating.
However, Delhi Pollution Control Committee scientists have said EPI report had changed the goalpost on air pollution, resulting in India falling down the ranks. They said, till few years ago, EPI used to monitor sulphur dioxide (SO2) levels but now they had started monitoring PM2.5.
“SO2 levels are way higher in US and the entire developed world. Suddenly now they are monitoring PM 2.5 which is high here due to biomass burning so obviously our grade has fallen,” an official added.
