Urban Air Quality

Smog has to be cleared

Losing after winning is the worst feeling possible. This is how I feel looking out of my window at a thick pall of black smog engulfing my city. It was this time of the year, exactly 15 years ago, when Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) began its right-to-clean-air campaign. The air in Delhi was so foul one could hardly breathe. That was a time when air pollution was an unknown curse. Not much was known about its nature and the toxicity of the air contaminants.

Pollution: the great leveller

A harried parent called a few weeks ago. She wanted to know if the pollution levels in Delhi were bad and if so how bad. The answer was simple and obvious. But why do you need to know? Her daughter’s prestigious school (which I will leave unnamed) had sent a circular to parents, saying they are planning to shift to air-conditioned buses because they were worried about air pollution. She wanted to know if this was the right decision.

Workshop Photo Gallery

Workshop on Air Quality and Environmentally Sustainable Transport in Colombo: April 28, 2011

The Clean Air and sustainable mobility programme of the Centre for Science and Environment organised the Sri Lanka Country Workshop on Air Quality and Environmentally Sustainable Transport along with the Air Resource Management Centre (Air MAC), Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Transport in Colombo.

Experience Sharing Dialogue in Dhaka: Improving Quality and Performance of Natural Gas Vehicle Program in South Asia

Dhaka and Delhi met to discuss natural gas vehicle programme -- a unique opportunity for a clean up in the region where the mainstream technology of diesel and petrol are languishing. CSE-DOE event enthused all for a more robust CNG strategy for cleaner air.

Status of implementation of CNG as a fuel for urban buses in Delhi

On April 1, 2001, there was mayhem in Delhi. Not many buses were plying on the roads as the Supreme Court ruling on moving the entire public transport fleet to
CNG, came into effect. Unfortunately this had not been complied with. Without diluting the original order the Supreme Court only allowed a conditional extension of the deadline till September 30, 2001. Download report...

Diesel hides behind CNG

What’s going on? First the key partners of the Central Pollution Control Board -- IOC, and NEERI -- involved with yet to be released source apportionment study made claims publicly that LPG is the most polluting fuel in our cities. Now in quick succession a second study follows from CPCB that ranks CNG as the “worst” fuel and Euro II-III diesel as the “best”. No other government in the world has every branded CNG as worse than Euro II-III diesel.

Winter pollution is back with a difference. City now faces the threat of multiple pollutants going up together

• Not only are the tiny particles choking us, nitrogen dioxide levels have worsened; daily peaks of carbon monoxide are unacceptable, ozone pollution has persisted through the winter months. This has emerged from the official public information system on daily air pollution and monitoring. Some of these pollutants come predominantly from vehicles.