Ranchi, 7th September, 2022: SwitchON Foundation on the occasion of international Day of Clean Air for blue skies today organized events with various schools of Ranchi under the theme “The Air we Share”
As a part of the celebrations, 80 students from 2 reputed schools of Ranchi participated in a Human Chain depicting the Word – ‘Clean Air’. The primary idea behind the programme was to showcase the demand for Cleaner Air and Action resulting in the formulation of new policies, modification of the existing one and implementation of laws to reduce the Air Pollution menace.
Women, Children and Elderly are the most vulnerable to air pollution. Therefore there is a need for more efforts and advance control measures towards driving changes on ground as current policies are not sufficient to substantially improve air quality at Ranchi and its suburbs by 2030.
Poor air quality in urban areas like Ranchi is a national concern. While we are all affected, those who are the most vulnerable in our society are more at risk, especially children and older people. According to the World Health Organization, every year around 7 million premature deaths are attributable to air pollution—a staggering 800 people every hour or 13 every minute.
Even after being declared as a punishable offense, open burning of garbage seems to be quite common in Ranchi. After becoming a capital city, Ranchi had to go through the process of sustainable development and urbanization which led to a major increase in population further leading to increase in the number of vehicles which is often cited as prime reason for drastic increase in pollution in the city.
According to the recent State of Global Air report (SOGA), 2022, published by the US based Health Effects Institute (HEI), highlights two of the most harmful pollutants, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
According to research done by the University of Chicago, Jharkhand is India’s 8th most polluted state, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 61.6 µg/m³. If Jharkhand were to reduce its average PM2.5 pollution to the level prescribed by the WHO guideline, it would end up adding 5.6 years to the life of its average resident. If Jharkhand were to reduce its average PM2.5 pollution to the national standard, it would still add 2.1 years to the life of its average resident. According to the report, between 1998-2020, average PM2.5 concentrations in Jharkhand increased by 84.4 percent.
As a part of the public art work, Jharkhand Clean Air Network (Jharkhand-CAN) members urged authorities to address the pressing issue of air pollution in the state by committing to reduce the air pollution by 30 percent by 2024. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had earlier launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to prepare clean air action plans with an objective to reduce PM2.5 pollution by 20–30% by 2024 as compared to 2017, in all non-attainment cities.
Speaking on the occasion, Vinay Jaju MD SwitchON Foundation said “There is a growing consensus that sweeping lifestyle changes and bold policy transformations are required to realize action at scale. Coupled with the technological advancements, lifestyle changes and behavioral shifts can make clean air action more focussed and deliberated.”
“Exposure to various toxics results in respiratory problems, notably, the prevalence of dyspnoea (difficulty in breathing) and chronic cough has been found to be an increasing trend”.
Media Dossier
Contact: Vinay Jaju | M: +91 9331178105 | Email: VJ@SwitchON.org.in
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