India’s air pollution death rate to outpace China due to power pledge
India is ramping up coal production to help PM Modi meet his election promise to provide electricity to a population of 1.3 billion
The increase in people dying in India from air pollution will outpace the rate of such deaths in China, as India drags its heels over environmental rules while opening more coal mines, the head of a United States research group said on Thursday.
“India’s situation is getting worse at a much faster speed than China,” Dan Greenbaum, president of Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI), said in Beijing.
“It is definitely the case because India has not taken as much action on air pollution.”
India’s situation is getting worse at a much faster speed than China ... because India has not taken as much action on air pollution
HEI and a group of Chinese and Indian universities recently said that over half of world’s air pollution-related deaths were in China and India. In China, coal-fired plants have been the worst source of pollution. But India has lagged behind in implementing stringent environment policies for coal emission.
From now until 2020, China aims to cut coal output by 500 million tonnes, or about 19 per cent of its current annual output, and reduce emission of major pollutants in the power sector by 60 per cent.
By contrast, India has just only launched an emission standard for coal-fired power plants this year.
India is also ramping up coal production as Prime Minister Narendra Modi races to meet election promises to provide electricity to a population of 1.3 billion.
“Chinese actions to control emissions from coal power plants and from industries are considerably more strong than the ones in India,” Greenbaum said.