pPollution in Hyderabad

There are several agents that cause pollution, namely industry, vehicles, disposal of biomedical waste, disposal of bio-degradable waste, burning of non-degradable waste such as plastics and PVC pipes, modern agricultural inputs (fertilizer, insecticides/pesticides/herbicides, etc), building activity, mining activity etc. According to Down to Earth report of January 31, 2001 of the twelve dirtiest states in the country that pollute the air and water, both with toxic pollutants and as well as metal pollution, Andhra Pradesh takes the 5th position with Tamil Nadu in the 9th position and Karnataka in the 11th position; and in terms of top 10 polluting states Andhra Pradesh takes the 4th place. Hyderabad is the de facto Andhra Pradesh.

Health hazards: The studies indicate that the constituents of vehicular pollution cause several health hazards in addition to modification of weather in and around the capital city. For example nitrogen oxide causes sore throat, running nose and in severe cases pulmonary dysfunction. Leukemia is caused due to continuous exposure to benzene. It is said that the synergy between ozone and nitrous oxides causes asthma. Particulate matter released due to adulterated fuel, some of which gets absorbed into the blood, is the cause for cardiovascular diseases, breathing problems and lung cancer in severe cases lead, released due to un-burnt fuel causes heart ailment and hypertension. Here age is not a barrier.

The small particulates, coated with toxic gases in Auto Emissions are called Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM). The particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter (PM 10), is considered unsafe, since it is respirable. The fine particles PM 2.5 are considered to be more dangerous than PM 10, as they contain more sulphates and nitrates, having serious health impacts. As per the study published in the journal of American Medical Association, a mere increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particles (smaller than 2.5 microns or PM 2.5), can increase the risk of lung cancer by 8%, cardio pulmonary deaths by 6% and all deaths by 4%. In our country, CPCB started publishing PM 10 data only from 199_, for the whole of the country for the first time. These data shows that PM 10 has recorded critical levels in 13 cities - Hyderabad is one, and can reach as high as four times the national annual standard of 60 micrograms per cubic meter. As against this the PM 10 levels are below 40 micrograms in almost 90% of the cities in the US. The PM 2.5, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) and Benzene, exposure to which may lead to cancer, is not even mentioned in India. APPCB data of Hyderabad present PM 10 peaking to dangerous levels up to 750 micrograms per cubic meter. Even the lowest peak value of RSPM recorded is around 150 marks. The high incidence of respiratory, cancer and cardio pulmonary causes in and around Hyderabad should be an eye opener to the state government! The high-tech PUC certificate does not address the deadly RSPM, P AH, Benzene, etc.

Pollution under Control (PUC): Check is serving the purpose of harassing the public to collect mamools. This does not really check pollutants that cause health hazards and also it is not a suitable testing procedure for diesel vehicles. This is another wasteful expenditure on the vehicle owners. In fact the particle size (the particulate matter size of 2.5 microns, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) and Benzene, are not even monitored in India) plays the major role. Nowadays, even new vehicles show pollution is not under control, basically because when you give your vehicle for service, there is no guarantee that it will come back without replacing new parts by old parts. It is easy to tamper the miles the vehicle had run! To date still more than 40% of the vehicles are not having PUC certificates and to make others to follow, the government planned to introduce from 1 st December, 2003 "fuel with PUC" program but not implemented.

POLLUTION LOAD:

Automobiles generate around 75% of the obseryed air pollution. The automobile pollution has become an intangible and veritable threat to the citizens of Hyderabad, as the number 'of vehicles and their harmful emissions and consequent respiratory diseases, incidence of lung cancer and cardio pulmonary deaths are rapidly increasing. It is time to act swiftly and decisively to minimize automobile emissions by a prudent course of action, to save the citizens of Hyderabad from slow, silent and sure poisoning. The air pollution load, due to automobiles, at any given point is a function of three factors, namely vehicles, fuel and town planning/dispersion capacity of the ambient. Let us see the state of these three factors in and around Hyderabad.

Vehicles:

Population Growth: Not only the number of vehicles but also type, make and age play important role in the estimation of pollution load and their effect on environment and human health. At the time of state formation the population was around 3 cores and according to the census of 2001 it is 7.57 cores. Of these 2.05 cores is urban. In the last 45 years the population has grown by 1.5 times. The urban population during 1901 was 9.65%; this rose to 17.44% during 1961 and 27.08% by 2001. The population in the capital city of Hyderabad rose from 4.48 lakh in 1901 to 57.52 lakh in 2001 - 7.6% of the state's population (the same was 63.83 lakhs in total HUDA area). In a span of 100 years the population has grown by 11.84 times. This growth in population increased the needs of transport.

Vehicle Type Vs Pollution Load: As on 31.3.1999 the entire state had 24.7 lakh 2-wheelers of which 30.67% (7.58Iakhs) are in the Hyderabad only and of the 1.74lakh cars in the state Hyderabad had 0.84 lakhs (48.06%). In 2001 around 10.99 lakhs (around 14.3 7 lakhs in total HUDA area on 31.3.2002) vehicles were on the capital city roads generating a whopping amount of pollution load ot' 1123 tons/day (around 1500 tons/day iA total HUDA area on 31.3.2002). Among the 10.99 lakh vehicles, 78% constituted two-wheelers, 12% cars, 5% each of three-wheelers and buses-lorries. The 5% of busses-lorries emitted (39% of pollution load) as much as the 78% of two-wheeler vehicles (42% of pollution load); the 5% of three-wheelers emitted around 7% of the pollution load and the 12% of cars emitted around 12% pollution load. In the last five years (1995-96 to 2000-01) the pollution load was doubled (from 491 tjday to 1123 t/day) though the number of vehicles increased was only by 25% -1.08 lakh vehicles in 1981 raised to 4.50 lakh vehicles in 1991 and 10.99 lakh vehicles in 2001. The integrated pollution load, thus, presented a non-linear increase. That means, in future at this rate a small increase in number of vehicles will contribute higher pollution loads. This means pollution load is not only the function of number of vehicles on the road but also some other factors, namely age of the vehicle or make of the vehicle, fuel type/adulteration and urban growth/ traffic management, etc.

Vehicle make vs pollution load: The pollution emission load of vehicles manufactured after 1990 per vehicle was less than 10% of the vehicles manufactured prior to 1990. The pollution load (CO=carbon monoxide) from 12 cars produced after 1 st April 2000, would be roughly equivalent to the pollution from one car produced before 1990, correspondingly 17, 2-wheelers are equivalent to one 2-wheeler and 10, 3-wheelers are equivalent to one 3-wheeler.

Fuel:

Fuel type and fuel adulteration play important role in determining the pollution load under different categories of pollutants.

Fuel type vs pollution type: From the available data from various sources, efforts are made to indicate the source and magnitude of the pollution loads; 61.4% of CO, 34.0% of HC and 4.6% of NOx and particulates. As per pollution profiles of vehicles prepared by Indian Institute of Petrolium/ Dehradun, the petrol two-stoke 2 and 3 wheelers are estimated to have to their credit, about 70% of total vehicular unburnt Hydro Carbons (He) and 46% of the total r=O emissions with negligible NOx, while the vehicles powered with diesel engines emit 22% of HC, 29% of CO and 94% of NOx. The petrol four-wheelers, on the other hand, emit 7.5% of HC, 25% of CO and 5% of NOx. The buses, trucks etc., all most all of them powered with diesel engines, operating in HUDA limits, are estimated to be about 50,000 (less than 5%), out of which 50% are known to be older than 15 years and contributing to about 39% of the total pollution load.

Diesel contains sulphur level of about 0.5 to 1.0% to be reduced to 0.25% by the year 2000. Three refineries are already supplying 0.05% diesel to the four metros. SPM levels are directly proportional to the sulphur content. Also sulphur is a poison for catalytic converters. Diesel engines are 20-30% more efficient and inherently cleaner than petrol engines and if low sulphur diesel is extensively available then new technology engines can be used to meet the EURO III norms. Indian gasoline’s have high levels of Benzene which is a class I carcinogen Studies in Mumbai indicate that Benzene levels to be 40-70 times above WHO standards. Gasoline engines produce 19.4 g/mile of benzene and diesel engines produce only 1.40g/mile. Sadly Benzene levels are not covered under new laws or by the Supreme Court orders. Benzene levels in India are currently at 3%. Reliance's new refinery is expected to produce at 2% level. International standards range from 1.1 % to 2.5%. Sulphur content in Indian gasoline is 0.2% whereas European gasoline has 0.02% with planned reductions to 0.003%. Lead pollution is not a major problem any more since only unleaded fuels are being supplied across the country from the year 2000. The analysis of air pollution carried out in USA reveals those emissions from diesel engines account 78% of the total cancer risk.

Fuel vs adulteration: The principal problem with older lorries/transport vehicles, 3-wheelers and a to a limited extent the 2-wheelers is use of adulterated fuel - mixing of kerosene with petrol, diesel adulterated 2-T oil. Based on the level of adulteration the load of different pollutants combination changes along with the technical load.

Atmospheric Dispersion Capacity:

The atmospheric dispersion capacity relates to the congestion factor and traffic management or free flow factor. Congestion factor relates to road width, building density both horizontal and vertical growth, change of land use and building regulations, destruction of greenery, destruction of water bodies, etc. The Building renualisation scheme and manipulation of zoning regulations (the draft HUDA Master Plan-2003 puts this in black & white by stating that residential zones can be converted into commercial zones) i.e., at the cost of public welfare the government wants to earn money). With this some pockets of the city have become heat islands affecting people living around these heat islands. The other major impediments in terms of traffic management or free flow of vehicles are non-availability of footpaths, pedestrian crossings over-bridges, road dividers, bays for buses/3-seaters/7-seaters, road widening/parking/vertical growth of city, slow/fast moving vehicles, traffic signals/road design, etc. The road over bridges constructed recently are causing more problems rather than solving them. Road dividers without accompanying pedestrain crossing over bridges are causing more porblems. Thus, the hindrances for free flow of vehicles relate to occupation of footpaths, non-existing of pedestrian crossing road over bridges, bad roads, road cuttings, poor road sense by road users, stopping in the middle of the road by RTC buses, slow moving 3-wheelers, improper traffic management etc.

MINIMIZATION OF POLLUTION LOAD

Reduction of pollution has two parts, namely reduction of pollution load and reduction in respirable particulate matter content in the load. This includes dispensing with vehicles older than 15 years from city roads, eradication of adulterated fuel, changing the fuel mode, traffic management & town planning, etc.

Vehicles older than 15 years: In 1999 at a meeting convened by Ministry of Transport at Secretariat, Gov_rnment accepted to withdraw vehicles older than 15 years in a phased manner. A year later the government announced dispensing all those vehicles older than 15 years from the city roads. The public opposed this and then the government withdraws the Order. Now, with the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India's directive in WP (c) No. 13029 of 1985, dated 14-8-2003 "that among other 13 cities, 'Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM)' levels in Hyderabad city has become a serious problem and directed to draw a plan to bring down their levels" the government convened a meeting on 16.10.2003 and presented the proposal of 1999 suggested by us. However, at this meeting the other departments like Traffic Police & MCH were not represented.

Adulterated fuel: In one of the official meetings during 2000, where the Forum also participated, it was agreed to create a special task force to tackle the menace of fuel adulteration and accordingly it was constituted. However, no progress was evident in this direction. But, now the government says (at the 16.10.2003 meeting) that there is no law to punish the seller or user of adulterated fuel. This shows the indifferent attitude of the state government in controlling auto pollution.

Change of fuel mode: Table 1 given below presents the pollutiion loads under different fuel modes. In the gas mode, the SPM's are low. In the case of RTC buses, the "fuel mode" can be converted into "gas mode". On 3rd November 2003 the first 'Auto LPG Dispensing Station' in Secunderabad, run by Margadarsi Service Centre, a dealer for HPCl was opened. HPCl runs two more, one at Attapur and the other at Bahadurpura. The other such facility in the city is the BPCl's lakdikapul outlet. 10Cl runs three: Thimmapur, Kompally and Moulali. The OMVl conversion kits are made in Italy imported by Ace LPG Car Kits and distributed in AP. by Jeeyar Enterprises. The major deterrent in this was the cost of conversion kits - Rs. 14000 for auto-rickshaws, Rs. 1 9000 for cars with carburetors and Rs. 23000 for cars with multi-point fuel injection system. To minimize the burden, it was suggested to give some sops to those vehicle owners who convert from fuel to gas mode. However, it was cautioned not to encourage very old vehicles, which may pose more danger. At present the gas filling takes 4 minutes for an auto-rickshaw and slightly more for cars.

Alternate mode of transport: The use of 2-wheelers can be brought-down if we can improve the public transport system. This includes the RTC bus network, MRTS (Mass Rapid Transport System) LRTS (Light Rail Transport System). The other important area to reduce the two-wheeler traffic on city roads is through decongestion of Hyderabad and development of counter magnets. Under this, the outer ring road of the HUDA draft master plan of 2003 can have both road and rail tracks. All these actions will also reduce, to a certain extent, the pollution load of Lorries in the city area and contribute to the free flow of vehicles on the road. However, it was reported during the 16.10.2003 meeting that the population using public transport system is coming down day by day.

Improve the dispersion capacity: To de-congest, widen road width, implement strict zoning regulations, stop BRS, develop counter magnets, restore water bodies, improve effective greenery, etc. Thus, to have free flow of vehicles, restore foot paths, plan pedestrian crossing over bridges stop road cuttings, check road toppings for quality, develop bus-bays & 3-wheeler bays, infuse road sense among RTC and 3-wheeler/2-wheeler drivers, etc.