final paper

INCREASING POLLUTION ISSUES IN INDIA 1

Literature Review

Rushabhkumar Bharatbhai Paghdal

Department of Computer Science, Monroe College, King Graduate School

KG604: Graduate Research & Critical Analysis

Professor Amanda Ramlochan

3/12/2023

INCREASING POLLUTION ISSUES IN INDIA 2

Literature Review

Introduction

India ranks as the second most polluted country in the world, with the entirety of the

country’s population living in areas with a yearly average particulate level of pollution exceeding

the guidelines established by WHO (Gupta & Dhir, 2021). Addressing pollution is essentially the

main goal of the different climate change agreements that India happens to be part of. The

literature review was predicated on articles that focused on the country’s pollution state. The

articles incorporated in the review feature different aspects associated with pollution issues. The

key elements included consideration of pollution by region with emphasis on the urban regions,

the nature of pollutants, and the impact of pollution in the country. The situation that India is

facing is adverse, to say the least. The research articles were sourced from different databases,

which included Web of Science, ProQuest, and EBSCO Host. The key terms factored in the

search process were pollution, air pollution, environmental pollution, and India.

Review of Literature

Air Pollution in India

Gupta & Dhir (2021) conducted a study on the air quality in the key urban cities of

Gujarat, India. The study featured an ambient air quality monitoring program and incorporated

data across 15 years (from 2004 to 2018). The researchers used the Mann-Kendall test to assess

the air pollutant concentrations across the years that were featured in the study. The Central

Pollution Control Board initiated the ambient air quality monitoring program (NAAQM). The

findings from the research showed that fine particulate matter and coarse particulate matter

significantly contributed to pollution as compared to sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide (Gupta

INCREASING POLLUTION ISSUES IN INDIA 3

& Dhir, 2021). The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) showed that fine

particulate matter and coarse particulate matter are on the decline. The levels declined between

2012 and 2015 but increased again after that (Gupta & Dhir, 2021).

Air Pollution and Disease Burden

Bagepally & Rakesh (2022) conducted a study on the impact that air pollution plays in

spreading diseases. Their research article sought to find out the implications of the pollution

menace on gross state domestic product growth in India. The study incorporated disability-

adjusted life year (DALY) measures in relation to air pollution. The article sought to establish a

link between diseases attributed to air pollution with gross state domestic product (GSDP) in

India (Bagepally & Rakesh, 2022). The featured period was between 2011 and 2019. The

researchers used concentration indices and Lorenz curves in examining the differences in

APADB across 28 states and two union territories. The association between APADB and GSDP,

and APADB and motor vehicles registered across states were estimated using Pearsons’s

product-moment correlations and partial correlations. The results indicated that in the majority of

the states, APADB has an inverse correlation to GSDP. Growth in motor vehicles had a negative

correlation to APADB across 19 states. The research showed that air pollution negatively

impacted the productivity of the states across India and recommended efforts to address air

pollution (Bagepally & Rakesh, 2022).

Comparing Pollution in Urban Verses Rural Rivers in India

Pollution in India does not only affect the air. Lechthaler et al. (2021) conducted their

research on the state of microplastic pollution in Indian rivers. The research was carried out in

November 2019. The featured rivers were Chennai and Munnar. The former, an urban region,

INCREASING POLLUTION ISSUES IN INDIA 4

had two rivers involved in the study (Kosasthalaiyar River and Adyar River), while Munnar, a

rural region, had the other river (Muthirappuzhayar River). The researchers assessed the

microplastic concentration in the three rivers. Sampling points were chosen at specific points on

the rivers. Major considerations in the study included flow rates of the rivers and meteorological

conditions with respect to northeast monsoon winds. The sampling method that the authors used

involved a Neuston Net. Sample preparation and analysis entailed the use of Fourier-transform

infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Pearson’s t-tests were used to analyze the association between

microplastic concentrations and relevant parameters. The results showed that the urban rivers

(0.4 microplastic particles/L) are more polluted compared to the rural river (0.4 microplastic

particles/L). The factors that were tied to the outcomes were the high population growth rate and

industrialization. Lechthaler et al. (2021) recommended additional environmental sampling for

better accuracy.

Source and Impact of Coarse Particulate Matter (PM10)

Like Gupta & Dhir (2021), Sasmita et al. (2022) investigated aerosol pollution associated

with coarse particulate matter (PM10) in the environment in India. The authors examined the

source regions of PM10 and the health impacts that this has. They focused on Bhubaneswar,

which is a major industrial zone in eastern India. The study was conducted from July 2018 to

June 2019. Samples were collected utilizing the Envirotech Respirable Dust Sampler (Sasmita et

al. 2022). 103 PM10 were collected on days that did not involve rain or storm. The statistical

trajectory approaches that were used included potential source contribution function (PSCF),

trajectory clustering, and concentration-weighted trajectory (CWT). Data collected was analyzed

using various statistical analysis tools such as SPSS 25 2017 version (Sasmita et al. 2022). The

results showed that severe pollution in the city is experienced during winter, with standards

INCREASING POLLUTION ISSUES IN INDIA 5

surpassing the pollution control board. Lower pollution was experienced during monsoon season.

The main health issues were chronic bronchitis and post-neonatal infant mortality (Sasmita et al.

2022).

Analysis of Literature

India faces a huge pollution problem, and as the research articles show, different kinds of

pollution are prominently experienced. Gupta & Dhir (2021), Bagepally & Rakesh (2022), and

Sasmita et al. (2022) concentrated on air pollution, while Lechthaler et al. (2021) focused on

water pollution. In all instances, the articles studies reviewed indicated that air pollution affects

the studied population in one way or another. Major effect of pollution emerged to be diseases

spread. The scope of the study by Gupta & Dhir (2021) was wider than that of Sasmita et al.

(2022) though the latter considered the health impacts of pollution. Similarly, Bagepally &

Rakesh (2022) factored in health implications, but this extended to the economic impact on the

Indian states. Whereas the studies by Lechthaler et al. (2021) and Sasmita et al. (2022) were

localized, Bagepally & Rakesh (2022) and Gupta & Dhir (2021) conducted their studies on a

national scale. Across the studies, it was evident that meteorology was influential in the degree

of pollution that regions in India experienced.

INCREASING POLLUTION ISSUES IN INDIA 6

References

Bagepally, S, S. K., B. S., & Rakesh, B. (2022). Air pollution attributed disease burden and

economic growth in India: Estimating trends and inequality between states. The Lancet

Regional Health - Southeast Asia, 7, 100069.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lansea.2022.100069

Gupta, A., & Dhir, A. (2021). Spatial and temporal variations of air pollutants in urban

agglomeration areas in Gujarat, India during 2004–2018. MAPAN, 37(1), 215-226.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12647-021-00495-5

Lechthaler, S., Waldschläger, K., Sandhani, C. G., Sannasiraj, S. A., Sundar, V., Schwarzbauer,

J., & Schüttrumpf, H. (2021). Baseline study on microplastics in Indian rivers under

different anthropogenic influences. Water, 13(12), 1648.

https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121648

Sasmita, S., Kumar, D. B., & Priyadharshini, B. (2022). Assessment of sources and health

impacts of PM10 in an urban environment over eastern coastal plain of India.

Environmental Challenges, 7, 100457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2022.100457