Addressing air pollution in India: Innovative strategies for sustainable solutions
Om Kurmi, Tara Ballav Adhikari, S. K. Tyagi, Per Kallestrup, Torben Sigsgaard
Abstract
Addressing air pollution in India: Innovative strategies for sustainable solutionsGlobally, air pollution poses significant challenges, with over seven million deaths attributed to it annually 1 .Its effects are particularly severe in low-and middleincome countries like India.Air quality in India, both ambient and household, is significantly influenced by geographical variability and seasonal weather patterns.Key pollutants such as particulate matter (PM), oxides of nitrogen (NO x ), ammonia (NH 3 ), sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) are predominantly emitted from transport, industrial processes, farming, energy generation and domestic fuel use for cooking and heating 2-4 .Alarmingly, pollution levels in India are often much higher (overall annual geographic mean of PM 2.5 in India increased from 27 g/m 3 in 1998 to 44 g/m 3 in 2022) 5 than the World Health Organization's recommended levels 6 , particularly during the winter season in cities and harvesting periods in rural areas of the northern Indian States.Rapid industrialization, urbanization, climate change, crop burning, and population growth have further diversified and intensified pollution sources.This editorial will briefly explore the sources of air pollution in India, its effects on health and the environment, government efforts to address it, technological mitigation strategies, public awareness and engagement, challenges faced, successful intervention case studies, and the future outlook for tackling this critical issue.