Air pollution in major Asian cities far exceeds WHO limits

The study led by the Stockholm Environment Institute's (SEI) centre at the University of York (UK) has found that air pollution in major Asian cities far exceeds limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO), and therefore, not doing anything about it could pose serious health and environment-related problems.

Twenty key cities in Asia were short listed for the study, and among them were Mumbai and New Delhi, two of India's main metros - one the national capital and the other the country's financial capital.

Bangkok, Beijing, Busan, Colombo, Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Kolkata, Metro Manila, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Surabaya, Taipei and Tokyo were the other cities, which were examined for their capability to manage air quality and collected air quality data.

Colombo, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Metro Manila and Mumbai were identified as having moderate capability in air quality management. The study said that they have achieved reductions in sulphur dioxide emissions, but needed to address the challenge of transport-related emissions.

Dhaka, Hanoi, Surabaya and Kathmandu were identified has having limited capability to manage air quality, while Bangkok, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo were identified as having excellent capacity to manage air quality.

The study has been published even as Asian Environment Ministers hold the first governmental meeting on urban air quality in Yogyakarta, Indonesia as part of the Better Air Quality 2006 Workshop.

The World Health Organization estimates that 537,000 people in Southeast Asia and the Pacific die prematurely each year due to air pollution.

The study found that there has been a general improvement in the ability of Asia cities to manage urban air quality since the 1990s. But air quality in the majority of the cities examined still exceeds international guidelines for the protection of human health for certain pollutants.

It recommended that there was need to take a more strategic approach to managing air quality to include all aspects of the problem; adopting more stringent vehicle emission standards; use more cleaner fuels for motor vehicles, industry and power plants; improve inspection and source of emissions; ensure stricter enforcement of legislation and more stringent standards for air quality; harmonize air quality standards across Asia; develop more reliable inventories of air pollution emissions and adopt a regional approach to air pollution to address trans-boundary air pollution and global climate change

The study was funded by the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida), the Korean Ministry of Environment and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Article Source: http://www.share.onlypunjab.com

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated