What India must learn from China about cleaning its air

India is reeling under a blanket of toxic smog that has impacted cities in the north like Delhi, all the way to Mumbai which is also seeing severe air quality levels. A combination of emissions from vehicles, construction dust, seasonal farm fires and weather conditions have made the onset of winter a mess for much of the country. The lack of political will to deal with the problem as a national health emergency has made it all the more frustrating.

Citizens who came out to protest in the national capital some days ago were picked up by the police. The other day, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court remarked how sick he felt after talking a walk in Delhi. And yet the same court allowed “green” firecrackers to be burst on Diwali, undoing an earlier ban on all crackers.

The biggest lessons India can learn on tackling the air crisis are from China. In the early 2000s, China had similar levels of toxic air, but from the late 2000s, the country made air pollution a top priority, setting out performance targets for officials from mayors to governors. They invested more money for pollution control in industries, shutting down those that were excessively polluting the environment like power plants and chemical plants.

One of the biggest changes China adopted was the push for Electric Vehicles, including public transport. Electric buses became the norm. The subway system was expanded to encourage more people to ditch their cars. People were also able to monitor air quality levels in their area through new monitoring stations that had been set up. Within five years, the toxic levels of PM2.5 were down more than 35 percent.

India may not be able to replicate everything China did for financial and other reasons but there are key takeaways. One, the need for a comprehensive action plan that focusses on the long term. Not knee jerk, stop gap responses like Delhi’s Graded Action Plan that kicks in when air quality reaches a certain level. This means a much more coordinated approach between state governments and the centre. Right now, all we see is finger pointing and a complete lack of political leadership on this most basic right we have as citizens - the right to breathe. The approach has to be for the country as a whole and for the whole year.

Two, India needs to do much more to control emissions from cars and the use of clean fuels. Our public transportation system in most cities leaves much to be desired. These are the gaps that need to be filled on a priority basis. We need to invest much more money.

Three, having accurate data is key. This season, the Delhi government’s ham handed approach to pollution data has eroded trust amongst citizens. If you can’t even tell people the truth about air quality, then how can you be trusted for an effective response to this crisis?

Delhi’s air is so poisonous right now that even doctors have thrown up their hands and said those who can leave, should. More and more stories have emerged of people who have packed up and moved out because the air took such a huge toll on their health. The worst affected are young children and the elderly. But only those who are privileged can leave. The city’s poor take the hardest hit and have nowhere to escape to.

India’s political leaders make a big deal out of showcasing the country as the world’s fastest growing major economy, we want to host the Olympic Games in the near future, and the goal of a ‘viksit Bharat’ by 2047 is a major political slogan of the government. But none of this matters if we don’t have clean air. A developed country does not simply watch from the sidelines as it’s citizens slowly choke to death breathing poisonous air. No country can have delusions of development and real growth without providing people the most basic necessity such as clean air. Until that happens, all that remain are empty slogans.