International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET) Volume 9, Issue 7, July 2018, pp. 71–81, Article ID: IJMET_09_07_008 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJMET?Volume=9&Issue=7 ISSN Print: 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed IMPACT OF RISING AIR POLLUTION IN NEW DELHI: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY Dr. A Seema Assistant Professor (Senior), Department of Technology Management Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India Aditya Sood, Simran Bhalla and Shantam Bajpai School of Electrical Engineering (SELECT), Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study is to highlight the problems faced by the residents of Delhi due to the rising Air Pollution by considering the variety of factors such as increasing population, depletion of green cover, vehicular emissions, etc. The study also enlists the various causes, effects and harmful Impacts of Air Pollution to both environment and humans. This study was conducted to examine the overall Impact of Air Pollution on the lives of individuals by conducting a survey and thereby obtaining a total of 400 responses from the people of Delhi which were used for further analysis. Using various statistical tools, the findings which were observed through Karl Pearson’s Correlation Test, a negative correlation was obtained between Population and Green Cover (r=-0.93), signifying an Inverse relationship between the two parameters. Further, Z-Test was performed which indicated that all people irrespective of gender get equally affected due to the rising air pollution. (Calculated value Z = 0.036 ~ 0.04, which is less than the table value). Also, a dependency between the number of construction sites and the increasing respiratory problems among the people (p=0.019624) was observed, by using the Chi-Square test. The mean value of humidity was calculated, by taking an average of the values obtained, with the mean value of humidity being 7.2225 (Out of a range of 0 to 10). The findings and suggestion given were based on the responses submitted by the residents of New Delhi of all age groups, occupations and mind-sets. Further necessary changes with the support of the government can make a huge difference in solving this problem of Air Pollution. Keywords: Air Pollution, Rising Air pollution, Delhi, India Cite this Article: Dr. A Seema, Aditya Sood, Simran Bhalla and Shantam Bajpai, Impact of Rising Air Pollution in New Delhi: An Empirical Study, International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, 9(7), 2018, pp. 71–81 http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJMET?Volume=9&Issue=7 http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJMET 71 [email protected] Impact of Rising Air Pollution in New Delhi: An Empirical Study 1. INTRODUCTION Pollution in general means the contamination of various components of the Earth’s ecosystem due to the interference of humans. The various types of pollution are water pollution, air pollution, noise pollution etc. Recently air pollution status in many major cities around the world has undergone drastic increase in terms of levels of pollutants present in the air. In India, air pollution is measured by the content of certain pollutants like PM 2.5, PM 10, CO, Lead etc. A separate Air Quality Index (AQI) measures the level of pollution and quality of air. A guideline has been given by the World Health Organization to measure air pollution and a limit of the various particles present in air has been fixed. However, the limit to safe exposure for PM 2.5 as set by the Indian Air Quality Standard is up to 40 μg/m3 and a study recently conducted, reveals that 50% population living in 45% districts of India has been exposed to a concentration above the safe limit. According to the Ambient Air Pollution Database, released by WHO in the month of May 2016, 13 cities from India were parts of the world’s top 20 most polluted cities with Delhi being on top of the list along with other cities of India like Patna, Gwalior, and Raipur. Therefore target for the study will be Delhi. Till date measures taken by the government haven’t yielded satisfactory results and the various problems faced by the people living in Delhi need appropriate solutions. A number of factors have contributed to the rise in pollution levels – right from increasing number of vehicles, to burning of crops, depletion of green cover and the alarming increase in the population of the city. All these factors have led to harmful effects like respiratory diseases in children and elderly people, effect of meteorological conditions on air pollution, and many other long term problems in humans, animals and nature as well. Air pollution also leads to other harmful problems like low birth- weight, heart diseases, tuberculosis, decreases vision, asthma and cancers related to the throat [12]. Air pollution control measures taken by the government have shown little change in pollution levels however to reduce the levels even more, the already existing measures need to be strengthened and various factors like use of public transport, more frequent checking of Pollution, limiting the increase of migrants and appropriate health measures can help in improving the air quality in Delhi. 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE The General Condition in India: The rising air pollution in India is a very serious issue which has been causing lot problems to the people as well as to the environment lately. The concentration of air pollutants has risen drastically due to various factors such as combustion of fuel wood and biomass, emissions from factories as well as vehicles, burning of crops, increase in the number of construction sites, cutting of trees, etc. This has resulted in polluting the air to such an extent that breathing clean air has become a royalty. The air quality of a region is governed by measuring the concentration of 4 major pollutants present in the air namely SO2, NO2, PM 10 and PM 2.5. As per the guidelines of WHO, the concentration levels of the four pollutants, mentioned above, have to be kept intact to keep the air clean and pollution free. The following table discusses the maximum concentration of the pollutants set by World Health Organization to ensure clean and healthy air. The table enlists the maximum concentration of pollutants in terms of µg/m3 measured annually and over a period of one hour that should be followed by every country in order to keep the pollution levels at a minimum level. http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJMET 72 [email protected] Dr. A Seema, Aditya Sood, Simran Bhalla and Shantam Bajpai Compound/ Concentration (Annual Concentration (1-hour mean Concentration (10 Pollutant mean in µg/m3 in µg/m3 min mean in µg/m3 SO 2 20 - 500 NO2 40 200 - PM 10 20 50 - PM 2.5 10 25 - India is a country housing 29 states and 7 union territories. The pollution levels of each state vary with the variation in the concentration levels of the pollutants present in the air thus resulting in a different AQI (Air Quality Index) for each state/ union territory. The following table discusses the average concentration of the four pollutants namely SO2, NO2, PM 10 and PM 2.5 (measured annually in terms of µg/m3) in four states and a union territory of India by considering various regions within the states/ union territories. The states/ union territories have been chosen at random. 3 3 3 3 State SO2 (µg/m ) NO2 (µg/m ) PM 10 (µg/m ) PM 2.5 (µg/m ) Delhi 6.88 66.8 251.9 118 Andhra Pradesh 6.76 22.92 76.04 106 Karnataka 3.29 30.38 88 43.41 Jharkhand 21.8 20.07 193.6 NA Chandigarh 6.69 22.53 108.03 123.4 As seen from the above table the concentration of SO2 is the lowest in Karnataka and the highest in Jharkhand. In 4 out of 5 places, the concentration of SO2 in the air is well within the standards set by World Health Organization, Jharkhand being the only one having a value greater than that set by WHO. However, the difference between the two values i.e. 21.8 and 20 is not that significant. Such a high level of SO2 concentration in Jharkhand is due to the large number of factories in areas like Jamshedpur and Dhanbad which are responsible for discharging high amounts of harmful compounds into the air. The concentration of NO2 of all the states is well within the set standard of 40 µg/m3, which is a positive aspect since high levels of NO2 can cause huge damage to the environment as well as to humans. The highest concentration of NO2 is possessed by Delhi whereas for Jharkhand it is the lowest which is quite surprising since Jharkhand houses a large number of factories. PM 10 (Particulate matter 10 micro-meters or less in diameter) is the highest for Delhi (251.9) and the lowest for Karnataka (88). However, it is very disappointing to see that neither of the states have PM 10 concentration within the prescribed limit. The concentration of PM 10 in Delhi is more than 10 times the set standard of 20µg/m3. This is very alarming since such a high concentration of PM 10 can cause many diseases in humans and harm the environment too. Following Delhi are Chandigarh and Jharkhand with concentrations of 193.6 and 108.03 respectively with Andhra Pradesh having the lowest. The concentration of PM 2.5 in Chandigarh is 123.4 µg/m3, for Delhi it is 118 µg/m3 whereas for Karnataka it is 43.41 µg/m3.