International Journal of Environmental Studies
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Letter to the editor
Urbanization and changing air quality in the city of Delhi
Ghuncha Firdaus & Ateeque Ahmad
To cite this article: Ghuncha Firdaus & Ateeque Ahmad (2007) Letter to the
editor, International Journal of Environmental Studies, 64:2, 145-148, DOI:
10.1080/00207230701327458
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International Journal of Environmental Studies,
Vol. 64, No. 2, April 2007, 145–148
Letter to the editor
Urbanization and changing air quality in the city of
Delhi
GHUNCHA FIRDAUS* AND ATEEQUE AHMAD
Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, India
International
10.1080/00207230701327458
GENV_A_232641.sgm
0020-7233
Original
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[email protected] GhunchaFirdaus
2007
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Article
Francis
(print)/1029-0400
Francis
JournalLtd
of Environmental
(online) Studies
Air pollution is a major contributor to global warming, leading to the destruction of the ozone
layer, acid rain and trans-boundary smoke transport which have adverse impact on crop
productivity, forest growth, biodiversity, buildings and cultural monuments, and reduced
visual amenity of scenic vistas as well [1–3]. Air pollution is associated with increased
mortality and morbidity in human beings and other species [4–6]. This communication
details one such component of the impact – urbanization.
Detwyler defines ‘Urbanization as the process of city establishment and growth. The term
commonly connotes population increase in the city, resulting from both internal growth and
immigration, as well as spatial expansion of the city’ [7]. Cities are the major form of human
settlement. Specific features of cities that are considered important in air pollution are over-
crowding, industrialization, motorization and a high level of energy consumption [8–11]. Air
pollution has became widespread in urban areas, especially in developing countries where
pollution levels often exceed by several times the maximum level recommended by the
World Health Organization (WHO) [12,13]. New Delhi (Delhi), the national capital of India,
has a population of 13.79 million. Delhi is the third largest urban centre of India and one of
the mega-cities of the world [14]. There is great difficulty in providing the citizens of Delhi
with clean air, a feature common to many other mega-cities of the world [15–18]. In 2005 it
has been estimated that about 3000 metric tonnes of air pollutants are emitted every day in
the city [19]. Delhi thus suffers from extremely high levels of particulate air pollutants, with
levels of total suspended particulates sometimes reaching five times the maximum level
suggested by WHO [20].
New Delhi, as devised by Lutyens and Baker before Independence (1947), has included its
ancient antecedents [21,22]. It is the centre of economic, administrative and social activities
and an economic node for transport and communication. It has an alarming population
growth, a rapidly changing land-use pattern, burgeoning vehicular population and rapidly
deteriorating environmental conditions, etc. [23,24]. Few other cities have experienced such
rapid growth in recent history. The following figures show that no other city has grown as
fast as Delhi in the recent past. The decadal increase in the population during 1991–2001 has
*Corresponding author
International Journal of Environmental Studies
ISSN 0020-7233 print: ISSN 1029-0400 online © 2007 Taylor & Francis
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DOI: 10.1080/00207230701327458
Published online 30 Apr 2007
146 Letter to the editor
been registered to be 51.93% whereas the yearly increase is recorded as 4.27% as compared
to 46.94% decadal and 3.92% yearly rise in 1981–1991 [25]. The growth of industries
followed the rise in its population. The number of industries increased from 8000 in 1951 to
129,000 in 2002 [26].
Delhi’s urban area increased approximately twenty-fold from 1911 to 2001; that is, it
increased from 43.25 sq. km in 1911 [27] to 924.68 sq. km in 2001 [14] against a develop-
ment of 688.5 sq. km envisaged by the second Master Plan Delhi (1981–2001), which was
subsequently proposed to be enhanced to 839 sq. km within the framework of this master
plan [28]. Over the last 50 years, urban sprawl has increased journey times. Commuters
mostly depend on a single transport system, that is, road. During 1974–2005, the number of
registered motor vehicles has increased 19 times from 2.35 lacs to 44.9 lacs ([1 lac or lakh =
100,000). At the current growth rate, there will be more than seven million vehicles in the
city by 2020 [29]. This development will further aggravate the air quality in Delhi, bringing
in its wake a number of related health problems. Vehicular emissions have been found to be
the dominant source of air pollution in the city, responsible for more than two-thirds of the
total air pollution followed by industrial (20%) and domestic (8%) sources [30]. The emis-
sion of various pollutants especially particulate pollutants (SPM, i.e suspended particulate
matter & RSPM, i.e. respirable suspended particulate matter) is well above the Ambient Air
Quality Standard (AAQS) limits set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), whereas
the gaseous pollutants follow a mixed trend [30,31].
During 2005–2006 (data used are up to October 2006) the annual mean level of SPM
across the city typically increased from 304.89µg/m3 to 352.27µg/m3 in residential areas,
from 293.95 µg/m3 to 402.1 µg/m3 in industrial areas, and from 513.33 µg/m3 to 516.2 µg/m3
at traffic intersection against their AAQS limits of 140 µg/m3, 360 µg /m3, and 140 µg/m3
respectively. The annual mean levels of RSPM or PM10 were reported to vary between
115.53 µg/m3 to 136.95 µg/m3 in residential areas, from 131.03 µg/m3 to 152.6 µg/m3 in
industrial areas, and from 257.83 µg/m3 to 212 µg/m3 at traffic intersections against the
AAQS limit of 60 µg/m3, 120µg/m3, and 60 µg/m3 respectively [32]. People exposed to aver-
age PM10 levels of 47µg/m3 suffered a mortality rate as much as 48% higher as those exposed
to lower levels [33].
Particulate pollutants in Delhi originate mainly from vehicular exhaust (diesel and petrol
vehicles). Non-exhaust particles derive from wear and corrosion of road pavements and
vehicle components, for example, tyres and brakes and particles from the road surroundings,
industrial processes, construction activities in the form of residential and commercial
complexes, ring roads and metro railway etc, and thermal power plants – which produce
nearly 6000 metric tons of fly ash per day – and the loss of vegetation, etc. [19,30,31].
Measures taken against pollution have included tightening vehicular emission limits,
switching to cleaner fuels (i.e. unleaded petrol, reduction of sulphur in diesel, reduction of
benzene content in petrol, use of compressed natural gas [CNG]), phasing out of old vehicles
and better maintenance standards for vehicles in use; as well as closing or relocating
polluting industries and preventing industries from operating in non-conforming areas [30].
Much more still needs to be done.
The following matters need attention. Because Delhi’s traffic is chaotic and congested
with low average speeds, frequent stops at traffic intersections and long idling times, the traf-
fic management system needs to be modernized further. Fast motorways and reserved lanes
for different vehicles are recommended to enable transit traffic to pass unhindered. In order
to reduce dependence on motor transport, there in an urgent need to strengthen use of public
transport including development of the Mass Rapid Transport System and better use of the
Letter to the editor 147
existing ring railway and metro railway. The recommendations made in the recent past [34]
to make public transport efficient in urban India need to be implemented in Delhi. Traffic
management is applied successfully in some of the well known cities of the developed world,
for example, Athens and London [35]. Installation of particulate filters and new high effi-
ciency electrostatic precipitators to reduce particulates from diesel and petrol driven vehicles
and from industry and power generation plants should be obligatory. The measures already
taken [30] have led to the reduction of the particulates, yet more needs to be done. Soil bear-
ing particulate can be tackled by providing a green vegetation blanket on dry non-vegetated
areas and by plantation of pollutant tolerant tree species (Mangifera indica [mango], ficus
religiosa [peepal], Psidium guava [guava], Azadiracta indica [neem], etc.) in polluted hot
spots. Vegetation normally acts as an absorbent of various air pollutants, filtering out dust,
soot, smoke and much other fine particulate matter present in air by a process of absorptation,
detoxification, accumulation and/or metabolization. These plants have been reported [35,36]
to be the best dust collectors and have been recommended for the climatic conditions of
Delhi. Their dust collecting efficiency ranges from moderate (guava, neem) to high (mango,
peepal) [31]. Development of ring towns to decentralize population as well as certain indus-
trial and commercial activities, etc., may reduce emission to a considerable extent. This
arrangement is successfully working in Gurgaon (Haryana), Noida (U.P), Faridabad
(Haryana), etc. No environment programme can work without awareness among the masses.
Various campaigns like ‘Say no to fire crackers’ and ‘Greening Delhi’ have been successful
[30]. The difficulty may be to create more mass awareness campaigns incorporating complex
appeals to the citizens.
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148 Letter to the editor
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