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At a time when the government is working hard to turn India into an economic powerhouse, the weather in both the nation’s political and economic capital is routinely turning so foul that it is virtually choking the businesses in these two vital centres.

While every year Delhi and NCR return to the headlines due to its extremely foul air quality – poor enough to even drive people indoors – Mumbai’s air quality too is triggering concerns of late.

Last week, the air in the country’s commercial capital turned out to the second most polluted in – hold your breath – the entire world.

“We are witnessing around a 25% surge in outpatient cases related to respiratory illnesses. However, not all patients are recommended for tests, so we cannot say for certain if air pollution is the only cause of this surge or if there are other supplementary causes. Modern construction involves many different materials. These materials can travel deep into your lungs and cause silicosis which is incurable…,” said Dr Farah Atul Ingale, director of internal medicine at Hiranandani Fortis Hospital at Vashi.

Delhi, meanwhile, is suffering very poor air quality continuously as stubble burning has returned ahead of the winter season. In fact, air quality across North India has deteriorated prompting about a dozen large companies to take steps to mitigate the fires and their impact on the environment.

“Our Moga factory will start using briquettes (compressed coal) from April 2024 in biomass boilers, reducing 4% of stubble burning in district,” said Suresh Narayanan, chairman of packaged foods giant Nestle. This company has one of its largest dairy manufacturing plants in Punjab’s Moga which suffers from poor air quality every winter.

Among the major businesses that are investing to minimise the impact of foul air emanating from stubble burning are some of the most prominent names in India Inc – HDFC, PepsiCo, Cummins, Indian Oil Corporation, Fidelity International, Royal Enfield, SBI Cards, Birla soft and Goodyear.

PepsiCo is setting up ‘biochar kilns’ that deploy smokefree technology in Punjab districts. The company said these kilns were erected in Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana. These are now being built in the districts of Sangrur, Patiala and Jalandhar. “Our Biochar project is a solution that has the potential to help address stubble burning. In 2023, we are actively broadening the project’s reach to additional districts and are adding more Biochar kilns,” said a PepsiCo India official. The snacks-beverages major is conducting sessions for farmers so that they become more aware about the menace of stubble burning.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is teaching about 86,000 farmers in 430 villages in Punjab and Haryana to teach them how to tackle the issue of burning crop residue. About a dozen companies that operate in domains of consumer goods, energy and banking are partnering the chamber of commerce.

Stubble burning by farmers in the three states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab has turned out to be an insoluble problem that results in sharp rise in air pollution across North India and even affects fertility of the soil. One of the strategies being adopted by the companies lies in providing farmers with training and resources to put crop residue back in the soil.

About 1,400 km away, Mumbai’s worsening air quality seems to have something to do with the delayed withdrawal of monsoons, real estate, and transport systems.
The city is rushing to complete construction of its Metro system and other transport projects to quickly decongest and the city and bring down pollution levels. A 300+ km metro project, a 21-km trans-harbour link and a road running parallel to the city’s coast are mammoth infrastructure projects.

Sales figures of air purifiers in Mumbai actually confirm what Dr Ingale apprehended. Electronic goods chain Vijay Sales used to sell 8-10 air purifiers a month. It has quickly risen to more than 100. “These sales are mostly based on doctor’s recommendations and are not a trend for every season. These few purifiers that we used to sell earlier in Mumbai were usually bought by the expat population living in the city. However, in few years, we will reach a stage where having an air purifier in every office will be a must.” said Nilesh Gupta, MD of Vijay Sales.

Unfortunately, experts seem to concur on this point.

“Dust is one of the contributors; there are others like industrial chemicals, including illegal garages set up almost outside every slum in the city,” said a former civic official.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the civic body entrusted with managing the civic services has now sprung into action to bring down the dust content in the air. Major developers such as Niranjan Hiranandani, MD of the group bearing his name, thinks that they are unprecedented.
The civic body unleashed a slew of 27 measures. They include sprinklers, vehicle tyre-washing facilities, and disposal of construction materials.

“The measures suggested so far are viable; the industry will comply and wait and watch,” said Anuj Puri, chairman at Anarock Property Consultants.