page_title: Environmental issues in India
section_title: Air pollution
hierarchical_section_title: Environmental issues in India / Major issues / Air pollution
caption_attribution_description: English: The rural stove which is used to burn plantation waste, paper waste.It ia too smoky and having much pollution impacts,Tamil Nadu, India தமிழ்: குப்பை எரிபொருட்களைக் கொண்டு பயன்படுத்தப்படும் அடுப்பு.இதில் உருவாகும் புகையானாது சுற்றுப்புறத்தை மிகவும் பாதிப்பதாகச் சுற்றுப்புற அறிவியல் அறிஞர் கூறுகின்றனர்.
context_page_description: There are many environmental issues in India. Air pollution, water pollution, garbage domestically prohibited goods and pollution of the natural environment are all challenges for India. Nature is also causing some drastic effects on India. The situation was worse between 1947 through 1995. According to data collection and environment assessment studies of World Bank experts, between 1995 through 2010, India has made some of the fastest progress in addressing its environmental issues and improving its environmental quality in the world. Still, India has a long way to go to reach environmental quality similar to those enjoyed in developed economies. Pollution remains a major challenge and opportunity for India.
  Environmental issues are one of the primary causes of disease, health issues and long term livelihood impact for India.
context_section_description: Air pollution in India is a serious issue with the major sources being fuelwood and biomass burning, fuel adulteration, vehicle emission and traffic congestion. Air pollution is also the main cause of the Asian brown cloud, which is causing the monsoon to be delayed. India is the world's largest consumer of fuelwood, agricultural waste and biomass for energy purposes. Traditional fuel (fuelwood, crop residue and dung cake) dominates domestic energy use in rural India and accounts for about 90% of the total. In urban areas, this traditional fuel constitutes about 24% of the total. Fuel wood, agri waste and biomass cake burning releases over 165 million tonnes of combustion products into India's indoor and outdoor air every year. These biomass-based household stoves in India are also a leading source of greenhouse emissions contributing to climate change.
  The annual crop burning practice in northwest India, north India and eastern Pakistan, after monsoons, from October to December, are a major seasonal source of air pollution. Approximately 500 million tons of crop residue is burnt in open, releasing smoke, soot, NOx, SOx, PAHs and particulate matter into the air. This burning has been found to be a leading cause of smog and haze problems through the winter over Punjab, cities such as Delhi, and major population centers along the rivers through West Bengal. In other states of India, rice straw and other crop residue burning in open is a major source of air pollution.
  Vehicle emissions are another source of air pollution. Vehicle emissions are worsened by fuel adulteration and poor fuel combustion efficiencies from traffic congestion and low density of quality, high speed road network per 1000 people. In order to reduce air pollution effects India is introducing hybrid and electric vehicles as per the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehciles in India scheme. While challenges are slowing down the development cleaner combustion fuels are being use in motor vehicles. As of now Delhi Transport Corporation is the world's largest operator of CNG bus fleet. Many Indian cities are testing out with cleaner fossil fuels mostly CNG fuel and renewable biofuels such as biodiesel and E85 blended petroleum. In June 2020, the supreme court promised that in order to improve emissions from vehicles all BS4 vehicles will be upgraded to BS6 standards. 
  On per capita basis, India is a small emitter of carbon dioxide greenhouse. In 2009, IEA estimates that it emitted about 1.4 tons of gas per person, in comparison to the United States’ 17 tons per person, and a world average of 5.3 tons per person. However, India was the third largest emitter of total carbon dioxide in 2009 at 1.65 Gt per year, after China (6.9 Gt per year) and the United States (5.2 Gt per year). With 17 percent of world population, India contributed some 5 percent of human-sourced carbon dioxide emission; compared to China's 24 percent share.
  The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act was passed in 1981 to regulate air pollution and there have been some measurable improvements. However, the 2012 Environmental Performance Index ranked India at 177th position out of 180 countries in 2018,as having the poorest relative air quality out of 132countries. Of the world's 30 most polluted cities, India is home to 21 as of 2020.
caption: A rural stove using biomass cakes, fuelwood and trash as cooking fuel. Surveys suggest over 100 million households in India use such stoves (chullahs) every day, 2–3 times a day. It is a major source of air pollution in India, and produces smoke and numerous indoor air pollutants at concentrations 5 times higher than coal. Clean burning fuels and electricity are unavailable in rural parts and small towns of India because of poor rural highways and limited energy generation infrastructure.
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