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Delhi to Delay Release of Air Quality Data Delhi to Delay Release of Air Quality Data
(about 9 hours later)
NEW DELHI — This megacity’s modest effort to warn residents about unhealthy spikes in air pollution levels will soon end after a government decision to delay releasing the data by at least a day, ostensibly to authenticate it. NEW DELHI — This megacity’s modest effort to warn residents about unhealthy spikes in air pollution levels in real time may soon end, after a decision to first send the data to be authenticated by the central government.
“The unified system, expected to be in position in maximum two weeks’ time, will ensure authentic air quality information of Delhi to public at large,” said a statement issued on Tuesday by India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests. The change is intended to ensure that the many government departments monitoring Delhi’s air “follow a uniform scientific calibration protocol and validation process.” Some experts and activists immediately questioned the need for such checks, accusing the government of trying to hide — or worse, alter — data that show Delhi’s air to be the world’s most toxic at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pushing for greater industrialization. Recent high readings, in many cases exceeding Beijing’s pollution readings, have alarmed the city’s Indian elites and expatriate community.
Although the government says it will release the checked data daily, at least one official questioned whether that would happen consistently. Any delay in the release of the information deprives people of the opportunity to protect themselves against bad air by limiting their time outdoors.
Five officials contacted by telephone on Wednesday refused to answer questions about the new policy.Five officials contacted by telephone on Wednesday refused to answer questions about the new policy.
“I’m in a meeting right now,” Sanjiv Kumar, chairman of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, said when reached on his mobile phone. A statement issued on Tuesday by India’s environment ministry said, “The unified system, expected to be in position in maximum two weeks’ time, will ensure authentic air quality information of Delhi to public at large.” The change is intended to ensure that the many government departments monitoring Delhi’s air “follow a uniform scientific calibration protocol and validation process.”
Delhi’s air is the world’s most toxic, according to global rankings. Awareness of this problem among the city’s elites has surged in recent months, leading to growing uneasiness in Delhi’s diplomatic, expatriate and wealthy Indian communities. But B. Kumar, who retired in 2013 as an official of the Delhi pollution committee and who helped create the present monitoring method, said on Wednesday that the system had worked well.
That awareness could complicate the present government’s efforts to increase foreign investment and bolster India’s economy through industrialization that could make the air even more polluted. Information about pollution levels in India has also increased international pressure on the country to contribute to efforts to slow the warming of the planet. “It’s totally automatic, and the data is transferred directly from the machines to the website, so there’s nothing to authenticate,” said Mr. Kumar, who like many Indians uses an initial for his first name. “If they feel there is a problem, they could just check the equipment and see what needs to be solved.”
Instead of taking measures to improve Delhi’s air, officials are now simply trying to suppress information about it, Sarath Guttikunda, director of Urban Emissions, an independent research group based in Delhi, said on Wednesday. The new policy requires that Delhi’s data be sent for authentication to the Central Pollution Control Board, overseen by the national government, Mr. Kumar said.
The city’s data is “not that reliable to begin with,” Dr. Guttikunda said. “And blocking that data from coming out in real time and somehow correcting it in some back office will only make it even more unreliable.”
B. Kumar, who retired in 2013 as the additional director of the Delhi pollution committee and who helped create the present monitoring system, said on Wednesday that the current system worked well.
“It’s totally automatic, and the data is transferred directly from the machines to the website, so there’s nothing to authenticate,” Mr. Kumar said. “If they feel there is a problem, they could just check the equipment and see what needs to be solved.”
But those checks are routinely made by the Delhi pollution committee, he said. The equipment is top-notch, the maintenance is good, and the system is audited by outside experts, Mr. Kumar added.
The new policy would require that Delhi’s data be sent for authentication to the Central Pollution Control Board, overseen by the national government, Mr. Kumar said. But no one works at the central board at night or on weekends, which would ensure long delays before the information was made public, Mr. Kumar said.
“They just don’t want people to see the actual data,” Mr. Kumar said.“They just don’t want people to see the actual data,” Mr. Kumar said.
India’s government sometimes suppresses information it finds embarrassing. It recently banned a documentary film that focused on a 2012 rape in Delhi, offering sometimes contradictory and inaccurate explanations for doing so. The attempt to make the documentary unavailable only enhanced global interest in the film. Mr. Kumar said no one works at the central board at night or on weekends, which he said would result in long delays before the information was made public.
During a visit in January by President Obama, India signed an agreement that would bring to the country a system called AirNow, which is used in the United States to measure and quickly disseminate data about air quality. The United States Embassy in Delhi presently publishes information on its website from an air monitor on embassy grounds, although the data is averaged over a 24-hour period and does not provide a good snapshot of the air quality at any given moment. Sarath Guttikunda, director of Urban Emissions, an independent research group based in Delhi, also criticized the government’s decision, saying that instead of taking measures to improve Delhi’s air, officials are trying to suppress information about it.
An estimated 1.5 million people die annually in India, about one-sixth of all Indian deaths, as a result of both outdoor and indoor air pollution, a problem caused in part by the widespread use of cow dung as cooking fuel. The country has the world’s highest death rate from chronic respiratory diseases, and more deaths from asthma than any other nation, according to the World Health Organization. Air pollution also contributes to both chronic and acute heart disease, the leading cause of death in India. The city’s data is “not that reliable to begin with,” Dr. Guttikunda said. “And blocking that data from coming out in real time and somehow correcting it in some back office will only make it even more unreliable.”
Among the existing problems, Dr. Guttikunda said, are frequent, unexplained gaps in the data.
During a visit in January by President Obama, India signed an agreement that would bring to the country a system called AirNow, which is used in the United States to measure and quickly disseminate data about air quality. The United States Embassy in Delhi publishes information on its website from an air monitor on embassy grounds, although the data is averaged over a 24-hour period and does not provide a good snapshot of the air quality at any given moment.
An estimated 1.5 million people die annually in India, about one-sixth of all Indian deaths, as a result of outdoor and indoor air pollution, a problem caused in part by the widespread use of cow dung as cooking fuel.
The country has the world’s highest death rate from chronic respiratory diseases, and more deaths from asthma than any other nation, according to the World Health Organization. Air pollution also contributes to both chronic and acute heart disease, the leading cause of death in India.
“People have the right to know whether the day’s air quality is good enough to go outside,” said Dr. Sundeep Salvi, director of the Chest Research Foundation in Pune. “If they don’t trust their monitors to provide good data, they should get new monitors. What they shouldn’t do is stop releasing the data.”“People have the right to know whether the day’s air quality is good enough to go outside,” said Dr. Sundeep Salvi, director of the Chest Research Foundation in Pune. “If they don’t trust their monitors to provide good data, they should get new monitors. What they shouldn’t do is stop releasing the data.”