AQI blues: What India can learn from China to curb air pollution
On Monday morning, AQI levels in the city remained dangerously high. Notable readings included 919 in Mundka, 762 in ITI Jahangirpuri, and 624 in Anand Vihar, placing these areas in the 'severe-plus' category. In Beijing, the capital of China, pollution is nearly 10 times less than in Delhi. More than a decade ago, Beijing was known as the smog capital of the world where air pollution caused thousands of deaths every year. In a decade, starting in 2013, Beijing was able to bring down its air pollution drastically with a host of measures. Can Delhi learn anything from Beijing's war on air pollution?
How Beijing cleaned its air
In 2005, when Beijing was hosting 2008 Olympic Games, it came to be known as the smog capital of the world. Satellite data revealed that the city was one of the worst environmental victims of China's spectacular economic growth, which has brought with it air pollution levels that are blamed for more than 400,000 premature deaths a year, The Guardian had reported at that time.
The European Space Agency had said that Beijing and its neighbouring north-east Chinese provinces had the planet's worst levels of nitrogen dioxide, which can cause fatal damage to the lungs. Several athletes had announced pulling out of the games due to concerns over air pollution even though the authorities took drastic measures to reduce pollutions in the city including ordering thousands of cars off the roads and shutting down factories.
A decade ago, the air pollution in China attracted international attention as
