NEW DELHI: A report by C40 cities released on Wednesday, September 29, stated that amongst megacities in the country, the people of Delhi are the ones who will be severely affected by coal pollution. This could kill nearly 5280 people in the national capital over the next decade.
The same report said that around 12% of India’s coal-generated electricity is generated within 500 kilometers of the national capital. Also, the pollution from coal-fired power plants travels up to long distances and their increased levels are a major health risk, especially targeting vulnerable categories including children, the elderly, and pregnant women, the report added. “The annual concentration of PM2.5 (particulate matter of diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) in Delhi is higher than nine times the World Health Organisation guidelines, and also more than twice the national guideline. India has national plans of expanding the coal fleet by 28% between 2020 and 2030, which will have dire repercussions in the near future. Besides the health and well-being of the residents in Delhi, this expansion will also undermine India’s climate and air quality targets,” said Dr Rachel Huxley, Head of Knowledge and Research, C40.
The expansion of coal-based power by 64 Gigawatts will nearly double the number of premature deaths due to air pollution. On September 29, the Strategic State Environment Ministerial Dialogue of C40 Cities was addressed by Gopal Rai, Minister of Environment, Government of NCT of Delhi, in which he shared the measures that have been taken so far for attaining sustainable development without compromising any environmental goals, a report by PTI stated. The C40 research further suggests that exposure to coal power plants will result in 5.5 million sick days and it will further entail a cost of around US$ 8.4 billion in the successive decade.
“We need to acknowledge the detrimental effect that these coal-fired plants will have on human health. There have been past studies, which have highlighted how long-range pollution sources have badly impacted Delhi’s air quality,” Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director (Research and Advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment, said.