Skip to main content

Satellite data 'identify' Gujarat's Mundra among 6 of India's top air pollution hotspots

By Rajiv Shah
A fresh study, which analyzes data between February 2018 and May 2019, obtained from Tropomi, a satellite instrument on board the Dutch Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite, has warned that coal-fired power plants and industrial clusters are India’s “worst nitrogen oxides (NOx) hotspots” contributing hugely to air pollution in Sonbhadra-Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, Korba in Chhattisgarh, Talcher in Odisha, Chandrapur in Maharashtra, Mundra in Gujarat and Durgapur in West Bengal.
According to the study, these “hotspots” are in addition to the already identified hotspots, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad, adding, the data show that power plants and industrial clusters have clearly turned into “the most polluting regions/hotspots” because of the high concentration of NOx.
Noting that Tropomi measurements have “a spatial resolution of about 7km”, which is “finer than the “7-km native satellite data”, the study says, “The power plant and industrial clusters e.g., Singrauli, Korba, Talcher, Chandrapur, Mundra, Mumbai, Durgapur” are “the most polluting regions/hotspots, along with cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad etc.”
In fact, according to the study, the “contribution” of NOx from “the power plants and industries can be even more in geographies like Singrauli, Korba, Talcher, Chandrapur. Reason is, here the capacity of coal based power plants "is much more higher than Delhi-NCR.”
According to the study, “NOx emissions contribute to three types of toxic air pollution: PM2.5, NO2 and Ozone, each of which is responsible for thousands of premature deaths each year in India”, adding, “It is estimated that air pollution caused 3.4 million deaths worldwide in 2017 and over 1.2 million in India.”
“Out of the total deaths in India ambient particulate matter pollution alone results in 673,129 deaths”, the study states, adding, long-term exposure to tropospheric ozone (O3) – a secondary gaseous pollutant produced by photochemical oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide (CO) in the presence of NOx – contributes to “the risk of premature mortality.”
It adds, “The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) in 2016 attributed 233,638 annual premature mortalities to ambient O3 exposure globally, with 39% of the disease burden in India.”
Released by Greenpeace India, part of one the world’s most powerful environmental NGOs, the study says, “Given the seriousness of the spread of NOx pollution, it is essential for the country’s decision-makers to ensure the power sector complies with the emission standards notified for coal based power plants in December 2015.” 
Even as stating that the Government of India decision to “leapfrog” to BS VI emission norms for auto fuels by 2020 would “helpful towards reducing NOx pollution”, the study insists, “It is important to ensure that the power and industry sector also adheres to strict NOx standards.”
The study defines NOx as “dangerous air pollutants, causing respiratory symptoms and lung damage on acute exposure, increasing the risk of chronic diseases in long-term exposure”, adding, “Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary gaseous pollutant produced by photochemical oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide (CO) in the presence of nitrogen oxides (NOx).”
The study says, “Population-weighted seasonal ambient O3 concentrations in India have increased by 27% from 62 parts per billion (ppb) in 1990 to 77 ppb in 2016”, adding, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur study of 2015 “confirms” the impact of NOx emission (especially from power plants) on air quality in the following words:
“…power plants contribute nearly 80% of sulfates and 50% nitrates to the receptor (Delhi-NCR) concentration… 90% reduction in NOx from power plants can reduce the nitrates by 45%. This will effectively reduce PM10 and PM2.5 concentration…”
Pointing towards the reason why it had to go in for satellite-based identification of hotspots of NOx pollution, the study says, the availability of reliable data in the public domain, “a key to cleaner skies”, is absent as of today, insisting, “The satellite-based data doesn’t allow the major polluters to hide.” 
The study says, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has recognized “the significant contribution of coal based thermal power plants to the air pollution and NOx/SO2 emissions”, and even came up with “NOx and SO2 emission limits based on the age of the power plants through gazette notification dated December 7, 2015”.
However, information accessed through the Right to Information (RTI) of the discussions between the Ministry of Power, the Central Electricity Authority and MoEFCC suggests that “the power industry is advocating to dilute the stricter emissions standards for NOx to 450mg/m3 from the current value of 100-300mg/m3 sighting non-availability of technology.”
The study wants that “power utilities and the government need to take public health more seriously and do away with attitude of delaying actions to reduce emission s from power sector and industry, they need to have political will to act and it should come now”, adding, “Government should ensure that all the emission sources/sectors of NOx, i.e., transport, industries and power generation are tackled keeping in view the health emergency India faces today.”

Comments

Uma said…
The Mundras, the Adanis, Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Mallya--nothing is going to happen to them.
impulse said…
Kindly provide the reference of the study
Editor said…
Hyperlink is given pls see the story
AVK said…
Thats the hard reality. But what other way? You wont let Mithi Virdi and Thutookudi nuclear power plants come up and coal creates pollution. power toh chahiye na
Anonymous said…
Don't know about other companies but NTPC is investing lot of money to reduce emissions level. We r helpless that we cannot completely go for non renewable energy like other developed countries.but our future will be on non renewable energy sources. NTPC is now going very slow on setting up new coal based stations. However we are setting lot of solar plants now.
It is also observed that lot of foreign companies are spreading roumers and seeks business opportunity in Indian power sector on the basis of environment norms.
Xposed said…
👆You are right

TRENDING

Reducing emission? India among top nations whose coal as energy source going up

By NS Venkataraman*  The State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the year 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global temperature of 1.4 degree celsius above pre-industrial 1850-1900 base line.

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk  In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor*  Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

'Wrong direction': Paris NGO regrets MNC ArcelorMittal still using coal-based steel

By Rajiv Shah  A new report by Paris-based non-governmental research and campaigning organization, Reclaim Finance, has blamed the MNC ArcelorMittal – formed in 2006 following the takeover and merger of the western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned Mittal Steel – for using use “climate destructive” metallurgical coal for its projects in India.

Attack on foreign students: Gujarat varsity's reputation, ranking at stake, say academics

Counterview Desk  Expressing anguish over the attack on international students in Gujarat University hostels, a letter claimed to have been signed by 122 current and former academics has asked the Gujarat Vice Chancellor, Dr Neerja Gupta, to provide emotional support to the attacked students and to ensure their physical safety.  

Poor private sector engagement 'impacting' carbon pricing policy in Global South

Counterview Desk  The joint report by Environmental Defense Fund and Observer Research Fund, "Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects", delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South.  The report claims to provide insights and recommendations for effective carbon pricing strategies in diverse economies.  A note: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) have launched the Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects” report. The report delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of various carbon pricing instruments currently in existence, providing valuable i