Opinion Heat and dust

In India’s own capital,some of the landmark environment policies have emerged from the judiciary: the much-lauded switch to CNG for commercial vehicles and the ban on plastic bags,for example. But there is also evidence that other important policy shifts,like mandating large buildings to recycle their own waste water,and that new buildings comply with the Energy Conservation Building Code,are now driven not by judicial activism,but by the new city-level climate change action plan that Delhi formulated before Copenhagen.

In Tokyo,air-pollution related research has revealed that a “heat island” — a heated spiral caused by vehicular pollution — is forming over the centre of the city. And this is precisely the reason why public-health dangers like land and air pollution are so amplified in large and small cities: because there are so many more people crowding over one single piece of land.

Cities are centres of consciousness in the way people mobilise themselves towards the city,and also experience their land: the first prism of impression is created through the city-level airport or railway station. Cities are also places where opinion is mobilised in sophisticated ways: a large city will sweat a marathon for a cause,bristle for an equal opportunities march,blossom into a gay-pride celebration,or come together for a vigil lit by candles.

It can therefore only be a triumph that local governments and municipalities in places like London,Delhi and Tokyo are putting together clean development concerns while continuing on their growth paths. In November,Australian capital cities committed to a 41 per cent emissions cut by 2020. In India,new fuel emission norms for vehicles will first be introduced in 11 big cities. But while there is reason to cheer,this is also a dire need to take another look at our smaller cities through the same lens.

A new comprehensive pollution index report on the most polluted industrial clusters in India released recently reveals that smaller or emerging cities are the main perpetrators — and victims — of environmental degradation. In the top 10 list,places like Ghaziabad,Chhattisgarh’s Korba,Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi,Punjab’s Ludhiana,and UP’s Singrauli figure. But other cities,better known for their rich heritage of beauty and culture,Agra,Aligarh and Haridwar,figure elsewhere on the same list. Equally,while these areas are hubs for industrial activity,they are also places where populated residential settlements exist. These are places where unchecked levels of pollution,in sewage disposal,air quality,toxic soil and water table contamination,presence of carcinogens,are posing a threat to human settlements.

Now is the time to put forward local-level solutions for these cities which also need to continue emerging on their growth paths. While the national-level climate change action plan is being formulated in the corridors of New Delhi,there has to be an equal emphasis on local-level solutions. Environment is the one issue where “local” factors — geological terrain,wind dispersal,water availability — are all-important,and painfully distinct. Therefore,solutions too,have to be.

At the point where climate change debates have entered the policy framework,there has to be a thrust on strengthening local-level pollution control boards,and incentives handed out for creating several local-level environment action plans. We need scores of local action plans. As some of the most exciting cities in the world have shown,the answers,and identities,can and should be cool — and local.

neha.sinha@expressindia.com