A haze of institutional weakness

Policies that are localised and reactive will solve none of India's air pollution problems

- NIRVIKAR SINGH

A CONSTANT HEADLINE at the end of each year in India is the problem of air pollution. Increased monitoring of pollution levels as well as worsening levels themselves have made these headlines global. The problem is most acute in the Indo-Gangetic plains of northern India, which have topographical and climatic features that trap pollutants near the ground.

Recent headlines have tended to focus on the capital region of Delhi, or on other cities, as sites of acute problems, and on the increased burning of crop residues in the agriculturally intensive states of Haryana and Punjab as a proximate cause. However, the problem affects all of northern India, and the causes are many.

A National Clean Air Programme was launched in 2019, and it has increased monitoring of air pollution, but has had little impact in terms of reducing the problem. Government responses have included shifting schools to online modes or just asking students to stay home, banning vehicles in certain cities at certain times, and shutting down various economic activities. Individuals also respond to pollution by curtailing their activities, or by relocating temporarily. The health costs of air pollution at the levels being experienced in India are enormous. The responses to mitigating these costs seem to be extraordinarily inefficient in terms of costs, and the benefits may be limited by their unevenness and limited nature. Why is India doing so badly at controlling air pollution?