Maybe it is late, but we can turn around: Addressing the rise of Smog in North India,

I still remember the news on Nov 1, 2019, where the newspaper headline highlighted
that the residents of New Delhi were submerged under a thick layer of smog, causing
severe respiratory problems along with headaches and teary eyes. The air quality index
touched 530, which is tagged as ‘severe plus’ or ’emergency level.’ Moreover, the
particulate matter’s quantification was cited to be  500 μg/m³  (PM 10) and  300
μg/m³  (PM 2.5), which raises the question ‘if this is the current scenario, where are we
heading to?’
I remember the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority of the National
Capital Region had declared the incident a ‘public health emergency’ and advised the
residents to minimize personal exposure to the outdoors. Smog in Northern India is a
burgeoning event that has kindled from the past decade, especially in the winters.
Works of literature cite multiple factors that stimulate smog formation, including motor
vehicle emission, emission from power plants ( coal-based and other industrial sectors),
burning of domestic and agricultural wastes. The meteorological factors, especially in
states like Haryana and Punjab, do not favor high wind speed. We simply catalyze the
process by producing unchecked emission level both from the industrial and the
domestic sector. It’s not only the case of these two states. In fact, the entire Indo-
Gangetic plain has emerged as the ‘hotspot,’ where the annual particulate matter level
remains more than double than the benchmark value. The emission sourcing from 700
million people dwelling in this region, coupled with the natural dust that is brought in
from the western arid region ( in the summers), collectively degrades the air quality level
of entire Northern India.

" While a detailed study is still to be conducted, which circumscribes the impact of the
health owing to the surge of smog, the records suggest that cardiovascular and
respiratory cases derived from smog heightened recently. The neonatal mortality rate in
the states in North India has climbed up, elevating the risk of diabetes, cancer,
cataracts, and cognitive impairment.

A  report published in 2018  revealed that air pollution contributed more respiratory and
allied diseases (respiratory infections, chronic obstructive lung disease, heart attacks,
stroke, diabetes, and lung cancer) in India than tobacco usage. The prediction cited
by  Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago  using the Air Quality Life Index
claimed that  the Indo-Gangetic plain  should experience a reduction in the life
expectancy by about 7 years, primarily due to the elevated levels of the particulate
pollution.
Clean air shall always be a dream for the people living in Northern India if events
continue to shape as it is tuning now. The government had tried to shut down all
backdated coal-based power plans along with making the vehicular emission laws more
stringent and restricting unwanted movement of the trucks across the cities; nothing
seems to work out significantly both as a short term and long term plan. Although we
are experiencing a slight dip in the air pollution levels, we still need to curb  65% of the
pollution  to bring the limits back to the national standards.We should realize that we should be that slight change, which may revolutionize the current escalation of the pollution levels in these states. From initiating campaigns and educating people, we should take the first step in not letting our states cross the tipping point. To be honest, if the scenario continues, not only the North Indian states but theen tire country shall flip over the equilibrium of the environment, which then can’t be reverted.
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