by Robbie Folkes – 

India is the second most populous country in the world, yet inequality amongst its people exists at numerous scales. There is huge income disparity, the top 10% highest earners in India own 77% of the national wealth[1] yet two Indians are pushed into poverty every second, largely as a result of rising healthcare costs[1]. It is clear India’s rapid economic growth is not benefitting everyone, and in some ways harming marginalized groups, such as through increased air pollution as coal burning for energy use increases.

Air pollution released from the Vindhyachal Thermal Power Station, the largest power station in India by electrical output. Image:Jayadevp13, CC BY-SA 4.0

It’s well known that air pollution is a severe global health problem, but it is particularly impactful In India: over half of the 5.5 million global premature deaths caused by air pollution in 2013 were either in China or India[2] and with India having the second largest planned coal expansion in the world[2] the number of deaths from air pollution will likely increase. The installed generation capacity for coal burning has already almost tripled since 2006 from 68,000MW (Megawatts) to 197,000MW, meaning more pollutants will be released into the air and therefore causing further problems linked to air pollution[2].

Environmental justice is defined as “the fair treatment ….. of all people regardless of race, colour, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.[3]” Across the world we can see environmental injustice relating to exposure to pollutants such as in the USA where there is an unequal share of pollution on the poor and non-white groups. Likewise, in India racial discrimination often affects a group called the ‘scheduled castes’ and the tribes who have been refused access to public services for many centuries. This discrimination still exists today across the country in education and in the workplace. Data shows there is inequalities affecting these groups  regarding air pollution too; where there is a higher proportion of scheduled castes or tribal people there is a higher level or air pollution[2]. Interestingly, where the proportion of the population belonging to a tribe is very high the pollution levels drop, but this is likely because they tend to live in rural, hilly areas where it is going to be difficult and not financially viable to build a power station.

There is a strong positive correlation between having no TV and pollution levels. Whilst this isn’t a direct indicator of wealth it does imply a trend where pollution levels are higher in poorer areas where the majority of the population don’t have a TV, likely due to a lack of wealth or no access to satellites or electricity, which are both linked to poverty. The difference in pollution levels is mostly down to where coal power plants are located[2]. With this clearly an example of environmental injustice, the Indian Government must investigate what can be done to reduce this inequality.

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References

1. Oxfam (ND) India: Extreme Inequality in numbers https://www.oxfam.org/en/india-extreme-inequality-numbers#:~:text=The%20top%2010%25%20of%20the,1%25%20increase%20in%20their%20wealth.&text=There%20are%20119%20billionaires%20in%20India.[29/11/20]
2. Kopas, J., York, E., Jin, X., Harish, S.P., Kennedy, R., Shen, S.V. and Urpelainen, J., (2020). Environmental Justice in India: Incidence of Air Pollution from Coal-Fired Power Plants. Ecological Economics, 176, p.106711.
3. United States Environmental Protection Agency (ND) Environmental justice https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice [30/11/20]