Fighting air pollution, easier to clear
failed to arouse any attention among Indians.
“It might be related to the stage of development India currently is in. The awareness of Indian society in this regard is generally weak, which is quite like Chinese society 10 years ago, when the mainstream idea was also ‘economy comes before environmental protection’,” said Ma.
Indian professor Achal came to China seven years ago. He still remembers the severe smog in many North China cities in 2013. “[The pollution] prompted the Chinese government to move forward with a number of new environmental policies, laws and action plans at national and regional levels, mostly starting from June 2013,” Achal told the Global Times.
“Pollution prevention is often prioritized under the ‘Five-Year Plan’ of the Chinese government, showing how serious the government is about curbing pollution. You won’t find such specific action plans to control pollution in India,” he said.
China is often cited as an example for India to learn from. Among the mostpraised reasons, the role the government has played.
“It is a great advantage for China that the government could play a leading role in addressing the pollution problem, which compelled society to gradually join in,” said Ma.
In contrast, Achal pointed out that India’s government has halted appropriate pollution prevention strategies from taking effect.
“Being a democratic country, there are many political parties in India. Opposition parties means they must oppose everything the government proposes. Sometimes the government proposes sustainable laws to curb environmental pollution; however, it doesn’t get support of the opposition parties,” explained Achal.
“Too much democracy sometimes kills environmental development, and India suffers from this,” Achal concluded.
Indian advantages
The Modi administration has prohibited hay burning – a primary source of pollution every winter – in four states. But the order has not been widely implemented for various reasons. Even previous measures closing some polluting factories were not well carried out.
Ma recently returned from a visiting program at Chicago University, which cooperates with India in pushing Indian enterprises to publicize their information related to pollution. To date, the program has only managed to persuade 200 enterprises in one state to agree. Meanwhile, in China, thousands of enterprises in iron, cement and electricity are required to publicize their statistics online at all times.
But Ma said that India has its own unique advantages. The energy structure of China is much more complicated than India, with much more consumption of coal and larger volumes of industrial waste. The source of pollution in India is simpler, which means it will be much easier for India to control the pollution problem if the Indian government really places an emphasis on doing so, said Ma.
India also has much more “elasticity” than China in encouraging nongovernmental organizations and individuals to contribute by protesting their government into taking proper measures, according to Ma.
Public awareness
The year 2013 was a key point for China in enacting air pollution measures. As thick, dangerous levels of smog blanketed many cities across the nation, including and especially Beijing, the government and the public both finally admitted to the severity of the problem.
“Besides efforts in controlling the sources of pollution, large-scale publicity to disseminate information were carried out, including publicizing air quality levels and publicly exposing pollution sources,” said Ma, adding that the public’s “strong awareness” played a key role in pushing for change.
“But in India, people do not show enough concern yet, due to their lack of knowledge,” Ma said. “If there is something India can learn from China, it is raising public awareness.”
Achal agreed, pointing out that, besides the government, the Indian people themselves are also to blame for the laxity in controlling their country’s pollution.
“The majority of Indians are not willing to accept that the country is already heavily polluted. Just imagine why, in this 21st century, a prime minister himself must sweep a road with a broom just to send a message about ‘Clean India’,” Achal said.
“The government alone can’t curb the pollution without complete involvement and support from the public,” Achal added. “The support in China from the public has been enormous.”
Having recently returned to India, Arun observed that poverty, illiteracy, religious beliefs, age-old values and even superstitions are all affecting many Indian people’s awareness about environmental protection and air pollution.
“Indian society should cooperate with its government and in fact shouldn’t hesitate to suggest the government enact harsh rules or legislative actions for environmental issues,” said Achal, who personally has been active by publishing articles about this issue.
“When the people’s awareness has been raised, they will push the government to do something. Probably only in this way will the Indian government put air pollution on its agenda,” suggested Ma.