dailyO
Politics

How Beijing is winning the war against pollution. What Delhi can learn

Advertisement
Rahul Kanwal
Rahul KanwalMay 13, 2015 | 02:13

How Beijing is winning the war against pollution. What Delhi can learn

Till last year, Beijing was the pollution capital of the world. That ignominy now falls on Delhi, where pollution levels have started jumping off the charts. So what did the Chinese government do in its war against pollution and what are the lessons that the Modi sarkar can learn from the Xi Jinping government?

On January 12, 2013, the Air Quality Monitoring Station at the US embassy in Beijing recorded that the pollution levels in the Chinese capital had gone off the charts. On a scale of one to 500, the air pollution index stood at a "beyond hazardous" reading of 755. The situation was described by US embassy officials as being "crazy bad". All of Beijing resembled an airport's smokers lounge. Alarm bells were pressed. "Airpocolypse" was declared. And the lives of citizens changed forever.

Advertisement

Organised protest is strictly barred in communist China. But such was the fear and fury of the citizens that pollution protests went viral despite the great Firewall of China. One of the reasons that pollution became such a hot button topic was growing public awareness. A local NGO called the Institute of Environment and Public Affairs launched an application called Blue Sky Map, which monitors the level of particulate matter (PM) in the atmosphere. The application became an instant hit with more than three point five million downloads.

The idea behind the app is to use government-sourced data to create awareness about air pollution and air quality. The idea is also to look closely at pollution data of big companies so that people know the biggest emitters in their areas. The app gives people the opportunity to share that data on social media and shame the big companies into acting.

china-smog-pollution_051215085945.jpg
A hazy day in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China.

As public awareness grew, the usually stoic Chinese government was forced to act. Premier Li Keqiang declared a war on pollution. The government introduced a tough new environment protection law at the beginning of this year:

  1. The new law has increased the accountability of polluters by imposing more meaningful fines.
  2. Companies are now required to make a public disclosure of the environmental impact of their discharge.
  3. All violations by polluters are put out in the public domain.
  4. The law has also increased the accountability of government officials.
  5. There are provisions for demotion, dismissal and criminal prosecution of officials who cover up violations.
  6. The law allows NGOs to file public interest law suits in the courts against offenders.
  7. The law also provides for whistleblower identities to be kept strictly confidential.

In addition to enacting a tough law, authorities in Beijing have taken stringent measures to counter the negative effects of air pollution.

Advertisement
  1. Beijing has resolved not to use any coal-related products by 2020 in six districts neighbouring the capital.
  2. Construction of all new oil-refining, steel, cement and thermal power plants has been banned starting from March 2015.
  3. Whenever city authorities issue a "red alert", restrictions are placed on the number of private cars and heavy vehicles are banished.
  4. Vehicles bearing odd and even-numbered licence plates are allowed on the streets on alternate days during a red alert.
  5. Beijing has eliminated yellow-label cars, which failed to meet the National Emission Standard by the end of 2014.
  6. 1.44 million old vehicles have been banished from the roads between 2011 and 2014.
  7. All factories will be shut down during orange alerts.
  8. China plans to close numerous small-scale enterprises in nearly a dozen industries, including dyeing plants, oil refineries and pesticide producers, in an effort to clean up its water supply.
  9. There is a strong push towards solar power to ensure renewable sources of energy replace polluting fuels like coal.

The results of the government's efforts are finally beginning to show. A Greenpeace study released at the end of last month shows a 13 per cent fall in the level of PM 2.5 in Beijing's air quality for the first quarter of 2015. This is the first time in many years that the level of pollution in Beijing has come down instead of spiralling upwards.

We have seen a gradual improvement in the air quality reduction in pollution concentration. The report that we released in April shows that the level of PM 2.5 has reduced in the most polluted areas of north China. Three years ago, no one knew what PM 2.5 was. Now it's a very popular topic that everyone knows and cares about.

On Monday, the level of PM 2.5 in Beijing stood at a moderate 52, while Delhi was thrice as polluted with the PM 2.5 level measuring an unhealthy 151. As the saying goes in China, clean air does not come to those who wait. It is now time for the Modi sarkar and the people of India to act.

Environment minister Prakash Javadekar was recently in the news for saying that the surfeit of recent stories about the growing levels of air pollution is a conspiracy against India. Despite being an information-controlling state, the Chinese government paid attention to its citizens when they took to the streets and campaigned online against air pollution.

Advertisement

It's about time that the Modi sarkar stopped seeing conspiracies in Delhi's polluted air and declared an all out war on pollution.

Last updated: May 13, 2015 | 02:13
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy