Dr. Sarath Guttikunda, and the UrbanEmissions.info team is launching the APnA City Program (link) in New Delhi today. 
What is APnA?
“The Air Pollution Knowledge Assessment (APnA) City Program aims at creating a baseline of air pollution related information for Indian cities, which can lead to an estimate of pollution source contributions – a necessary starting point for the policy makers to chart out strategies for better air quality. One of the main challenges is that data in an easy to use format is hard to come by and most of the estimates and information that we have compiled under this program are the only available information (especially in the case of tier-2 cities).”
Read more about it here.
Final thoughts from the team on air pollution in Indian cities:
“Air pollution in Indian cities is a symptom of inadequate urban planning and a byproduct of industrial activity. Unless there is a sustained effort to address the causes of air pollution at its source, the problem will only exacerbate over time. Many of these cities have grown rapidly and the infrastructure and systems are yet to catchup with growing urban population, more waste generation (per capita and totals), greater share of motorized transport for individual and commercial purposes, an increase in industrial and manufacturing activity, and a growing demand for clean fuels for cooking and heating. With the lack of systems, cities resort to ad-hoc methods to deal with increased pressure on existing infrastructure. Hence cities need to start planning by anticipating the challenges they will face as they grow and be proactive about solutions to reduce air pollution.”
Dr. Gutikunda is presenting the key findings from this assessment today in New Delhi starting at 10 AM (Casuarina Hall, India Habitat Centre).
IndiaAQ Hub 