Particulate matter (PM) 2.5 emission in Ranchi is estimated to either shoot up by over 33 per cent or be reduced by 40 per cent by 2030 depending on the adoption of priority measures.

The data on emissions inventory was shared at the India Clean Air Summit 2023, organised by the Center for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy (CSTEP) in Bangalore on Friday.

The India Clean Air Summit is the CSTEP’s flagship event on air pollution.

The data further estimates a significant reduction in PM2.5 emissions in the non-attainment cities of Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur in Jharkhand.

Non-attainment cities are those that have fallen short of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for over five years.

An emissions inventory is a database that lists, by source, the amount of air pollutants discharged into the atmosphere during a year or other time period. The inventory has been prepared by the CSTEP for 76 cities across 17 states and Union Territories of India.

“Based on the emissions inventory developed for three non-attainment cities of Jharkhand, namely, Ranchi, Dhanbad, and Jamshedpur, in 2019-20 Jamshedpur was found to have the highest PM emissions, owing to the presence of heavy industries, within the city area,” the report suggests.

“Considering the air-shed (a geographical area where local topography and meteorology limit the dispersion of pollutants away from the area) level, Dhanbad’s emissions were almost five times double those of Jamshedpur, owing to the presence of heavy industries. Industry was the single largest contributor to PM emission for both Dhanbad and Jamshedpur,” the report states.

“In the case of the Business As Usual (BAU) scenario, by 2030, the emission in these three cities is projected to increase in the range of 18 per cent to 40 per cent, the highest increase being in Ranchi at 40 per cent, followed by 22 per cent in Dhanbad and 18 per cent in Jamshedpur,” the report adds.

If these three cities adopt all the recommended prioritised measures, the emission will be reduced by as much as 42 per cent in Ranchi, 36 per cent in Dhanbad, and 33 per cent in Jamshedpur, the report estimates.

“Some of the prioritised measures include a shift in fuel use from coal to the cleaner ones, better road infrastructure including materials utilised wherein road degradation gets reduced, stricter emission control norms for industries and transportation systems,” said senior research scientist (air quality) CSTEP, Pratima Singh.

“Clean air is a win-win for health and climate but needs to be done with evidence-based strategies and research with local knowledge,” said Vinayak Sinha, a professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research at Mohali during the summit.