Air Pollution, Waste Management and Livelihoods

Patterns of Cooking Fuel Use Among Waste Picker Households in Delhi

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4487274
AutoresAman Luthra (0000-0002-8574-7271), Bharati Chaturvedi, Srijon Mukhopadhyay
Año2023
Volumen113
Número2
Páginas229-245
Fecha de publicación2023-03-15
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGeographical Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0016-7428 • E-ISSN: 1931-0846
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00167428.2021.1941016
OpenAlexW3169179996
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas46

While the problem of Delhi's air pollution is well recognized, as is the class bias of the judiciary in targeting certain sources of air pollution over others, what is less will understood are the unintended consequences of air pollution interventions on indoor and outdoor air quality. This paper shows how the National Green Tribunal has targeted one source of air pollution in recommending waste-to-energy technologies that deprive waste pickers of their livelihoods. The pandemic-related lockdown provides an opportunity to assess the impacts of livelihood deprivation on fuel use. Using data collected from surveys of waste pickers, this paper shows that decreases in income are related to an increase in reliance on solid fuels. Therefore, we argue that air pollution interventions designed to control air pollution from poor waste management have the unintended consequence of increasing air pollution from a different source (biomass burning for cooking) that specifically impacts waste pickers by increasing their exposure to indoor air pollution, while also undermining the government's urban air pollution mitigation efforts overall

Agriculture · Air pollution · Air quality index · Business · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental protection · Geography · Livelihood · Municipal solid waste · Natural resource economics · Waste management · COVID-19 impact on air quality · Energy and Environment Impacts · Engineering · Environmental Science · Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability · Pollution