How China Fixed Its Air in 5 Years (And Why India Can’t)

So, in 2024, IQ released their annual list of the world's most polluted cities. You know what's crazy? Out of the 100 most polluted cities globally,

cities. You know what's crazy? Out of the 100 most polluted cities globally, 94 are in India. 94. But let me zoom in on one city in particular, Delhi, our

capital. Did you know that 15% of all deaths in the city are linked to air

capital. Did you know that 15% of all deaths in the city are linked to air pollution? That's literally 1 in seven deaths. Delhi's AQI hit an insane number

pollution? That's literally 1 in seven deaths. Delhi's AQI hit an insane number last November. I'll tell you what it was in just a second. So, if you didn't

last November. I'll tell you what it was in just a second. So, if you didn't already know, an AQI of 0 to 50 is good. 51 to 100 is also somewhat fine. Beyond

that, till 200, people who are physically sensitive start to struggle.

200 to 300, everyone struggles. 300 to 400, serious health effects stack up through prolonged exposure. And 400 to 500, that is emergency conditions. The

scale was designed to stop at 500 because scientists thought surely surely no city would let it get worse than that. Right? Except IQ reported Delhi's AQI to be 795.

And at one point it even peaked at 1,700 in some parts of Delhi. Weather apps

literally show a skull emoji now. And no, I'm not joking. Right now, as you are watching this, there are kids in Delhi whose lungs literally look like they belong to 40year-old chain smokers and they've never touched a cigarette.

They're just breathing. Studies show that a child born in Delhi today will lose 8 to 10 years of their life just from breathing this air. If we can't fix pollution in our capital with all its resources, all its visibility, all its

political power, do any of the other cities have any hope left? Is this an unsolvable crisis? No, not really. It's happened before to many, many cities.

unsolvable crisis? No, not really. It's happened before to many, many cities.

Just look at the case of Beijing 2013. Their pollution metrics went off the rails. Their AQI was over 750 or so. The international media literally called it

rails. Their AQI was over 750 or so. The international media literally called it air apocalypse. People wore gas masks to buy grocery. Hospitals overflowed.

air apocalypse. People wore gas masks to buy grocery. Hospitals overflowed.

Visibility dropped to 20 m. You couldn't even see across the street. And in 2024, Beijing recorded its cleanest year ever with a number of heavy pollution days

reduced to single digits. No, seriously, Beijing fixed it in less than a decade.

Meanwhile, what's Delhi doing? They're sprinkling water onto the pollution monitors in hopes that it don't make the list of most polluted cities this year.

See, I'm not saying the entire government is corrupt or incompetent, but something is deeply wrong when Beijing can reverse a crisis in 10 years while we're still here watering down the damn problem. Literally, if Beijing

could do it, we can too. But this is a complex issue. So, first we need to understand the science and politics behind why Delhi's pollution is so catastrophic. and then I'm going to show you exactly what China did so we can see

catastrophic. and then I'm going to show you exactly what China did so we can see their learnings and borrow from them and see how we can fix this crisis. So let's dive in.

So Delhi sits in what scientists call a geographical bowl. Now a lot of you might already know this but pay attention because we'll also show you how China faced the exact same issue and how they solved it. So to the north of

Delhi you have the Himalayas 8,000 m peaks forming a massive wall. To the

south and west the Aravei hills. Now every pollutant released in this region gets trapped. Think of it like a prison and the prisoners are these microscopic

gets trapped. Think of it like a prison and the prisoners are these microscopic particles called PM2.5. These are basically particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers. To understand how small that is, human hair is about 70

micrometers. To understand how small that is, human hair is about 70 micrometers wide. These particles are 30 times smaller. They're literally so

micrometers wide. These particles are 30 times smaller. They're literally so small they bypass your nose, throat, and even your lungs natural defenses. They

enter your bloodstream directly. Now there's also PM10 that's slightly larger particles but still tiny enough to get deep into your lungs. Then you have nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide. It's essentially a

toxic cocktail. So all of these particles that we just spoke of get

toxic cocktail. So all of these particles that we just spoke of get trapped in this bowl and in winters it gets even worse. So in winter something called temperature inversion happens. Now normally the sun heats the ground

and the ground heats the air near it. Now that hot air rises up and carries pollutants up and away. But in winter, what happens is everything gets flipped.

The ground cools rapidly at night. So the air at ground level becomes colder than the air right above it. And beyond that warmer layer of air will be another cold layer of air. Basically it's like a sandwich. Now unfortunately for us, the

warm air in between also acts like a lid. Nothing escapes through it. Now

what does that mean? This basically means the pollutants that are trapped below it don't get carried up and away. Now Delhi's mixing height that's basically how high pollutants can rise drops from 1,000 m in summer to just 100

m in winter. Same pollution but 1/10th the space because of which the concentration of pollutants multiplies by 10x. Now adding to this is the seasonal winds. So between October and February northwesternly winds sweep in

seasonal winds. So between October and February northwesternly winds sweep in from Punjab and Hana. This pick up smoke from crop fires, dust from the Thar desert, industrial emissions from Panipat and Sonipat and deliver

everything straight into Delhi's bowl. More prisoners flooding into an already overcrowded jail. And once they arrive, they multiply because Delhi has around

overcrowded jail. And once they arrive, they multiply because Delhi has around 1.2 cr registered vehicles. That's more than Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata combined, by the way, pumping out tons of PM2.5 every single day. And these

vehicles aren't just polluting through their exhaust. Every time when drives down the road, it kicks up dust. So every vehicle resuspends around 10 to 15 g of dust per kilometer. And to make things worse, you have construction.

Studies indicate that over 6,850 metric tons of construction and demolition waste is generated every single day. Sites are supposed to be covered with green nets, sprayed with

single day. Sites are supposed to be covered with green nets, sprayed with water, and materials need to be transported in covered vehicles, but the compliance rate for this less than 30%. Most sites just don't bother. And

finally, the one contributor that everybody loves to blame, stubble burning. Between mid-occtober and mid- November, farmers in Punjab and Hana

burning. Between mid-occtober and mid- November, farmers in Punjab and Hana burn approximately 35 million tons of patty straw. It's a direct unintended consequence of 1970s green revolution policies. Basically, state level

groundwater conservation laws banned farmers from planting their crops early, which meant that the window from their rice harvest to preparing for their next so shrank fatally to just 10 to 20 days. So, the only economic choice left for

the farmers during this period is double burning. You know what's crazy? Recent

NASA satellite from 2021 to 2024 has recorded yearly fire counts ranging from 40,000 to 90,000. On peak burning days, this alone contributes up to 40% of

Delhi's PM2.5. The smoke drifts south, settles into the bowl that is Delhi and

Delhi's PM2.5. The smoke drifts south, settles into the bowl that is Delhi and it's there to stay. All of this now adds up to an undivable city that was once a

glorious cultural benchmark. Now let's look at another city. Beijing also, like I mentioned earlier, sits in an almost identical geographical trap. Yan

mountains to the north, Taihang mountains to the west. Same bowl effect, same temperature inversion in the winter, same mixing height drops from 1500 m to under 200 m in winter. A topographic study found that Beijing's

terin amplifies local emissions by 50 to 150% during winter. Their geography is actually worse than Delhi's. They also have seasonal agricultural burning.

Farmers in Hab and Shandong provinces burn crop residue every autumn. On top

of all of this, Beijing also gets sandstorm from the Gobi Desert that can reduce visibility to 50 m. So if you look at all the issues that Delhi faced, Beijing also faced the exact same problem. Geographical bowl, check. Temperature inversion, check.

Agricultural burning, check. Seasonal wind patterns, check. Beijing literally

had all of it. And in 2013, their PM 2.5 peaked at 755 micrograms per cubic meter at a point. Their annual average was about nine times the limit set by WH.

But today their annual average has plummeted down to about 29. The sky is blue. People jog in parks without masks. Cafes have outdoor seats. Children play

blue. People jog in parks without masks. Cafes have outdoor seats. Children play

outside. And the babies born in their hospitals take a deep breath and sigh in relief. So what did Beijing actually do to solve the problem? They created a

relief. So what did Beijing actually do to solve the problem? They created a five action plan with specific measurable targets. Then they executed step one that shut down the biggest polluters. They closed 2,000 factories

in Beijing permanently. Shyang, one of China's largest steel companies, was relocated from Beijing to Habe province. The cost $15 billion. The number of jobs

that were lost, 80,000. They just did it because it was necessary. Step two, they launched a massive subsidized program to replace millions of household coal sts with electric or gas heaters with the government covering the vast majority of

the cost. Step three, build and improve public infrastructure. Beijing underwent

the cost. Step three, build and improve public infrastructure. Beijing underwent

one of the most rapid transit expansions in history, exploding its subway network from just two lines in 2000, which is 54 km of track to nearly,000 kilometers of track. Today, China now also dominates the global electric bus market,

track. Today, China now also dominates the global electric bus market, deploying hundreds of thousands of them. from across its city, making clean public transport the easy choice. They basically made polluting more expensive

and clean alternatives cheaper and easier. Oh, they also planted 54 million trees around the city and created many new jobs trying to maintain these trees every 5 years. Step four was tackling agricultural burning strategically. They

didn't just ban it, they made it economically stupid to burn. Farmers

could sell crop residue to biomass power plants at guaranteed profitable rates or they could use subsidized machine where the government covered 80% of cost to incorporate stubble into soil. Burning basically was no longer economically

strategic and within just 3 years agricultural fires dropped by 70%. Step

five was monitor and enforce all of these steps ruthlessly. Satellites were

monitored for fires 24/7. You detect a fire, local officials had 2 hours to extinguish it or face penalties. It literally took them less than 10 years

to do all of this. So the question here is why can't we do the same thing? I set

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Anyway, putting the link in description. See you there. Let's start with the basics. In India, we can't even agree on where our pollution is coming from. The

basics. In India, we can't even agree on where our pollution is coming from. The

Ministry of Earth Sciences says vehicles contribute 41% of Delhi's PM2.5. Safar

says 39.2%. It Kur says 25% and they claim that road dust is the biggest culprit at 30%. Terry says no, road dust is at 35.6%. And another study claims it's at 65.9%.

That's a 30 percentage point difference. These aren't just rounding errors. These

are completely different conclusions and it happens because every study uses different methods, sampling periods and even different emission factors in their models. And this confusion is fully weaponized as well. Every industry

models. And this confusion is fully weaponized as well. Every industry

points to studies showing someone else is a problem. The automobile industries blames dust. Construction blames vehicles. The government blames stubble

blames dust. Construction blames vehicles. The government blames stubble burning. Punjab blames Delhi's local sources. Everyone has a study that

burning. Punjab blames Delhi's local sources. Everyone has a study that proves that they are innocent. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court orders action. Grab stages 1 2 3 4 get activated like levels in a video game. They ban construction, implement odd

event, close schools, sprinkle water on roads. So when winter ends and the AQI drops to 200, we declare victory. Come next October, same script, the cycle repeats. Sure, yeah, there are attempts to come up with solutions, but those

repeats. Sure, yeah, there are attempts to come up with solutions, but those solutions seem to spring about their own subsets of problems. Just take a look again at stubble burning. The government's solution was something called happy cedars. Machine that can sew wheat to stubble. Sounds great, no?

Except the supply of these subsidized happy cedars reportedly falls catastrophically short. For each of them provided, a lot more remained without

catastrophically short. For each of them provided, a lot more remained without it, making burning stubble their only option. So the issue still persists. But

why is that? Is it really that unaffordable an issue? Where is all taxpayers money going then? Is there no authority investing any time into figuring out any solutions? Do they even think about how to protect the lungs of

children who are unfortunate enough to be born into the city? Well, look at this. In 2019, India launched the National Clean Air Program. 19,711

this. In 2019, India launched the National Clean Air Program. 19,711

crores allocated. As of 2024, only 57% or so was utilized. That's around 8,000 crores just sitting in government accounts. And the money that was spent, nearly 64% went to dust control measures, sprinkling water on roads, a

temporary fix that lasts 2 to three years. By the way, about 15% for biomass burning, 13% for vehicular pollution, and industrial pollution, 0.61%.

These are national averages, but it paints a portrait that's not very efficient. Just look back at Beijing, okay? You know what they did first? They

efficient. Just look back at Beijing, okay? You know what they did first? They

admitted that the problem was real. That is step zero. In January 2013, after PM2.5 hit 755, Premier Lee Kochang declared, and I'm quoting, "We will resolutely declare war

against pollution as we declared war against poverty. Not a campaign, not an initiative, war." They changed the entire incentive structure. Local

initiative, war." They changed the entire incentive structure. Local

officials promotions became tied to air quality improvements. Miss your target, no promotion. consistently fail, you're fired. The Central Environmental

no promotion. consistently fail, you're fired. The Central Environmental Protection Inspection held 18,999 officials accountable in its first round

alone. Have we even taken Step Zero yet? Nope. Every year we act surprised. Every

alone. Have we even taken Step Zero yet? Nope. Every year we act surprised. Every

year we blame geography. Every year we point fingers. We're stuck in a blame game while children's lungs collapse. And here's what really gets me. You know

now I know the wealth cap issue is complex and it's widening but in so many cities in India the godamn health cap is widening too. The rich have a way to shield themselves from pollution. Air purifiers in every room that cost 50,000

to two lakh each. Cars with cabin filters, offices with central air purification, kids schools with AQI monitoring and god knows what else.

They've literally purchased clean air because they can. The air purifier market in Delhi has exploded becoming a milliondoll industry. We have literally commodified breathing. For the rickshawas peddling through traffic, the

commodified breathing. For the rickshawas peddling through traffic, the construction worker building the metro, the security guards standing outside for 12 hours, the poor babies in their mother's arms, they are breathing

everything. No filter, no escape, no choice. We are literally stealing over a

everything. No filter, no escape, no choice. We are literally stealing over a decade of life from the regular people and we have normalized it. Look, I'm not an appointed committee trying to solve these problems. I'm a communicator of

urgency at best. But am I missing something? Is this really an unsolvable crisis? Is there more to it that we don't understand? Is there more that you

crisis? Is there more to it that we don't understand? Is there more that you know? Please share your thoughts in the comments. Maybe there are angles,

know? Please share your thoughts in the comments. Maybe there are angles, policies, on ground realities that we haven't covered here. Maybe there's a lot I don't know. But here's what I do know. Beijing was able to solve it. And

it wasn't because China is authoritarian. It's not because they can just order things and make it happen. In fact, in 2015, researchers ran an experiment in China. They publicly rated municipal governments on their

environmental transparency. That forced transparency led to people within the

environmental transparency. That forced transparency led to people within the city publicly shaming the municipalities. They then knew which high polluting firms to direct their anger towards. And this outrage, by the way, it led to those companies cutting

anger towards. And this outrage, by the way, it led to those companies cutting their violations by 37%. Ambient air pollution decreased by 8 to 10%. And

this wasn't government-ledd. It was public accountability, a tool that any democracy could use if they only had the will. See, boycotting, shaming, and embargos have always been the most powerful weapons, and they wielded by

regular people, the masses. In Platim Mada, Kerala, local villagers campaigned against Coca-Cola for depleting and polluting their groundwater. After years

of protest and legal battles, the plant was shut down in 2004. They won. In New

York, toxic emissions from residential heating oil were killing people. Public

health advocates used data to shame polluting landlords and push for citywide reform. In 2010, the clean heating law passed. Within a decade,

citywide reform. In 2010, the clean heating law passed. Within a decade, emissions dropped by 65%. The Sataram River in Indonesia was once labeled the

most polluted river in the world. Local communities united through grassroots organizing and public shaming of polluting factories. They pushed for stricture enforcement. Today, the river is recovering. Those Indonesian

stricture enforcement. Today, the river is recovering. Those Indonesian

communities were fed up with the label of dirtiest river in the world. So, they

did what they had to change it. We have a label too and it needs to change. A

child born in Delhi today will lose 10 years of their life just from breathing.

Beijing has proved that you can reverse this. In 5 years they cut pollution by 35%.

Just 5 years to add back years to people's lives. The solutions exist. The

money exists. The technology exists. Beijing had the same geography, the same excuses, the same political complexity. They chose their children's lung over political convenience. What will we choose?

political convenience. What will we choose?