Air Pollution

    Air quality of Delhi, the capital territory of India, according to a WHO survey carried of 1650 world cities, is the worst of any major city in the world. It also affects the districts around Delhi Air pollution in India is estimated to kill about 2.5 million people every year; it is the fifth largest killer in India. India has the world's highest death rate from chronic disease and asthma, according to the WHO. In Delhi, poor quality air irreversibly damages the lungs of 2.2 million or 50 percent of all children.

       On 25 November 2019, the Supreme Court Of India made statements on the pollution in Delhi saying "Delhi has become worse than narak hell''. Supreme Court Justice Arun Kataria said that it is better to get explosives and kill everyone.

India's Ministry of Earth and science published a research paper in October 2018 attributing almost 41% to vehicular emissions, 21.5% to dust and 18% to industries. The director of Center for science and environment (CSE) alleged that the Society of Indian Automobiles Manufactures-st (SIAM) is lobbying "again Indian Automobiles Manufactures-st the report" because it is "inconvenient" to the automobile industry.

       Air quality Index of Delhi is generally Moderate (101–200) level between January to September, and then it drastically deteriorates to Very Poor (301–400), Severe (401–500) or Hazardous (500+) levels during October to December due to various factors including stubble burning, road dust, vehicle pollution and cold weather. In November 2017, in an event known as the Great smog of Delhi, the air pollution spiked far beyond acceptable levels. Levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10 particulate matter hit 999 micro grams per cubic meter, while the safe limits for those pollutants are 60 and 100 respectively.

      Delhi's pollution problem is also caused by the factor of animal agriculture, as smog and other harmful particles are produced by farmers in other states. burning of crops 80 percent of agriculturally used land is used for animal agriculture, so animal agriculture can also be attributed as a factor in Delhi's air pollution problem. Initiatives such as a 1,600 km long and 5 km wide the great Green wall of Aravali green ecological corridor along Aravalli range from Gujarat to Delhi which will also connect to Shivalik hill range is being considered with planting of 1.35 billion (135 crore) new native trees over 10 years to combat the pollution.

Particulate matter level in Delhi

Air quality or ambient/outdoor air pollution is represented by the annual mean concentration of particulate matter PM 10 (particles smaller than 10 )and PM 2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 microns, about 25 to 100 times thinner than a human hair).

The world's average PM 10 levels, for the period 2008 and 2013, based on data of 1600 cities in 91 countries, range from 26 to 208 micro-grams per cubic meter of air (μg/m³), with the world average being 71 μg/m³.13 of the 25 cities worldwide with the highest levels of PM are in India.

In 2010, the year of the WHO survey, the average PM₁₀ level in Delhi was 286 μg/m³. In 2013, the PM_2.5 level was 153 μg/m³. These levels are considered very unhealthy. In Gwalior, the city with the worst air quality in India, the PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 levels were 329 μg/m³ and 144 μg/m³ respectively. For comparison, the PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 levels in London were 22 μg/m³ and 16 μg/m³ respectively. The PM levels in Delhi have become worse since the WHO survey. In December–January 2015, in Delhi, an average PM_2.5 level of 226 μg/m³ was noted by US embassy monitors in Delhi. The average in Beijing for the same period was 95. Delhi's air is twice as bad as Beijing's air. As of October 2017, experts in several monitoring stations have reportedly measured an air quality index (AQI) of 999. According to said experts this is the equivalent of smoking 45 to 50 cigarettes a day. This has led to some government officials, such as Arvind Kejrival calling the nation's capital a "gas chamber".

Safe levels for PM according to the WHO's air quality guidelines are 20 μg/m³ (annual mean) for PM₁₀ and 10 μg/m³ (annual mean) for PM_2.5.

Causes of Poor Air quality 

• Lack of active monitoring and reaction by authorities.
• Overpopulation.
• Lack of political priority.
• Motor vehicle is one of the causes of poor air quality. Other causes include wood-burning fires, fires on agricultural land, exhaust from diesel generators, dust from construction sites, burning garbage and illegal industrial activities in Delhi. Although pollution is at its worst from November to February, Delhi's air misses clean-air standards by a wide margin for much of the year. It is a noxious mix of emissions from its 9 million vehicles, construction dust and burning of waste. On the worst days, the air quality index, a benchmark ranging from zero (good) to 500 (hazardous), exceeds 400. Badarpur plant a coal-fired power plant built in 1973, is another major source of air pollution in Delhi. Despite producing less than 8% of the city's electric power, it produces 80 to 90% of the particulate matter pollution from the electric power sector in Delhi. During the Great smog of Delhi in November 2017, the Badarpur Power Plant was temporarily shut down to alleviate the acute air pollution but was allowed to restart on 1 February 2018. In view of the detrimental effect to the environment, the power plant has been permanently shut down since 15 October 2018 
• The drift/mist emissions from the wet cooling tower is also a source of particulate matter as they are widely used in industry and other sectors for dissipating heat in cooling systems.
• Although Delhi is kerosene free and 90% of the households use LPG for cooking, the remaining 10% uses wood, crop residue, cow dung and coal for cooking. (Census-India, 2011)
• Fire in landfill is a major reason for airborne particles in
• Heavy metal rich firecrackers
• Agricultural also affects Delhi's air quality when crops are being harvested.

  Effects of poor air quality                                                                                                                                    2.2 million children in Delhi have irreversible lung damage due to the poor quality of the air. In addition, research shows that pollution can lower children's immune system and increase the risks of cancer, epilepsy, diabetes and even adult-onset diseases like multiple sclerosis. Children are more vulnerable to the negative effects of air pollution as they are growing and developing which means that they breathe a higher rate of air per kilogram of their body weight. They also spend more time outside and are thus more exposed to it.