J&K fails every clean-air test
Srinagar, Nov 25: Jammu and Kashmir is suffocating slowly.
While the winter smog amply paints a grim picture of poor air quality in Kashmir, a new report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has highlighted the persistent air pollution challenges in J&K.
It shows all monitored districts in the UT exceed India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
The analysis is based on satellite-derived data from 2023.
It shows districts lying in the Indo-Gangetic Plain have a critical pollution issue at hand, and calls for urgent, year-round interventions.
The report ‘India Satellite Data Assessment Part 1’ shows J&K among northern Indian states (including Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand), where annual PM2.5 concentrations on average surpass the NAAQS limit of 40 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³).
On the stricter World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline of 5 μg/m³, the failure is dismal. There are widespread health risks from chronic exposure to polluted air, as per the WHO and many international studies.
Pollution in J&K hardly shows any respite.
All of the districts here fail NAAQS compliance across winter, summer, and post-monsoon periods.
There is a brief post-monsoon breather, the graphs show.
The air-quality monitoring in J&K has been sporadic, with very little real-time data available.
The AIQ monitoring data is not uploaded to the website of the Central Pollution Control Board regularly, posing problems for assessment and planning of mitigation measures.
The Indo-Gangetic airshed’s high baseline emissions can be linked to thermal power generation, industrial activity, biomass burning, and vehicles.
There are exacerbated episodic events, especially post-harvest seasons, due to crop residue burning and reduced wind speeds in the post-monsoon season.
J&K’s issues can also be closely tied to the Indo-Gangetic Plain’s transboundary pollution dynamics.
“The persistence of high PM2.5 in northern states, including J&K, challenges seasonal policy measures and requires year-round action,” the report states.
The southern states like Puducherry (with an average of 25 μg/m³), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Sikkim, Telangana, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh fare better on the AIQ indices.
The western states like Rajasthan and Gujarat also exceed standards; however, they show lower pollution than their northern counterparts.
The report does not provide J&K-specific health or economic impact data but implies broader consequences, irrespective of geographic location.
It discusses increased risks of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases from air that consistently exceeds WHO guidelines.
The CREA analysis urges targeted mitigation in polluted hotspots.
The report advocates clean air planning to district-level action plans, leveraging satellite data to identify pollution hotspots.
It calls for airshed-based management to tackle cross-state pollution flows.
