Have we measured enough?
Today cities occupy just 3% of the land, but contribute to 82% of GDP and responsible for 78% of Carbon dioxide emissions (PIB). The impact of poor air quality in India is just disastarous. Two million premature deaths every year and 30% lesser lung function compared to Europeans is the price we pay for the foul air. The National Clean Air program set a target of 20–30% tentative reduction of Particulate Matter by 2024 (PIB). The range is too wide and calling it tentative only makes it worse.
With more than a 100 monitors deployed between public and private agencies in Bengaluru, theoretically there is one monitor per 7 SqKm of the city. But, we can see from the spatial distribution collated by CiFoS, most of these monitors are present in East and Central Bengaluru. The population density on the other hand is more towards the west of Bengaluru and increasing in the north & north east. The distribution of the devices need to follow population density along with congestion points.
All the measurements clearly indicate one thing. Air pollution levels in Bengaluru are significantly higher than all reasonable worldwide standards of breathability.
So what are we doing with all the data? Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has come out with an action plan for control of air pollution that relies on multiple stakeholders. The only tasks they have assigned to themselves in that plan is to measure and report the levels. They should replace “control” in their name with “measurement”.
But transport related pollution is a collective action problem. While disincentives can be wielded by the authorities, there are multiple incentives for the public to alter their behaviour and reduce the negative externality of their choices. This needs sustained interventions which involve them in action using the measurements as a baseline. Closing the loop on action to impact is the imperative.
A measure of who we are is what we do with what we have — Vince Lombardi