A new study has suggested 13 measures, including reducing emissions from thermal power plants and cutting use of solid fuel in households, which, it said, can reduce air pollution levels by almost 40 per cent and avoid 9 lakh premature deaths in India every year.

According to a statement issued by Greenpeace India, the implementation of these measures may also lead to 50-60 per cent reduction of PM2.5 levels across North India, including Delhi during winter, when it spikes.

The study was done by louisiana State University (lSU) and Greenpeace also contributed to it. Greenpeace India said its campaigners -- Sunil Dahiya and lauri Myllyvirta -- were part of the study particularly in terms of suggesting policy measures.

"Based on our results, the policy measures with the largest potential for air quality improvements are reducing emissions from thermal power plants, instituting strong emissions standards for industries, reducing solid fuel use in households, shifting to zig-zag kilns in brick-making and introducing stronger vehicular emissions standards in an accelerated schedule," the statement said quoting Professor Hongliang Zhang, the author of report.

Zhang said, "A comprehensive set of policies, including all of the 13 measures are needed to achieve a 40 per cent reduction in air pollution levels and avoid a projected 9 lakh premature deaths per year."

According to the statement, the lSU study has re-emphasised that reducing emissions from thermal power plants and industry by instituting strong emissions standards has the highest potential to reduce air pollution levels.

Incorporating emission targets for thermal power plants was part of the recommendations given by various researchers, civil society organisations, lawyers and activists for strengthening the draft version of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) put out in public domain by the environment ministry.

"We are presenting, for the first time, a set of specific, implementable policies that can halve winter-time pollution in North India.

"We urge the Environment Ministry to incorporate these measures into the clean air plan at national level and ensure that thermal power plants implement the notification of Dec 2015 and set stricter standards for highly polluting industries industry to reduce pollution in a time bound manner," Campaigner of Greenpeace India Sunil Dahiya said.

The policy measures assessed in the report will constitute a major step towards cleaning air in India, it said.

"If the environment ministry is serious about public health, then it must ensure a stronger NCAP and with all the recommendations by Clean Air Collectives (CAC) as well as the recommendations from the current lSU study should be incorporated in the final versions to reduce air pollution from its source," Dahiya said.

The Greenpeace statement, quoting the study, said, "We identified a total of 13 emissions reduction measures that we judged feasible to implement by 2030 or earlier and that we expected to have significant air quality benefits."

"We model the full implementation and enforcement of the thermal power plant emissions standards issued in December 2015, in operating and under construction power plants.

"Full implementation requires both setting strict timelines for plant operators to meet the emission limits laid out in the regulation, with no further backpedaling, and a strong monitoring and enforcement system that ensures limits are met and excess emissions lead to punishments," the study said.

It said the same emission limits that are applied to existing coal-fired power plants in India can be implemented in all industries.

"This is an ambitious assumption, but in terms of practical implementation and enforcement, controlling stack emission is much easier than distributed sources," the study said.

According to the 2011 census, 16.6 crore households out of a total of 24.7 crore continued to rely on solid fuels (firewood, crop residue, dung and coal) for cooking and this is the single largest source of air pollution in India, affecting both outdoor air quality and indoor air quality, both being major public health concern.

"Interpolating from Global Burden of Disease (GB) Maps which assumed a virtual elimination of solid fuels in households by 2050, we model a 50 per cent reduction in use of solid fuels by 2030, even as total population is projected to increase by 20 per cent. We believe this to be an ambitious but realistic target," the study said.

The other measures in the list of 13 also include reduction of stubble burning.

It said both "in-situ crop residue management" and creation of infrastructure and market for the use and management of stubble outside of the field ("ex-situ" management) should be used.

The study said that building and improving proper waste management systems and measures to reduce, reuse and recycle waste can reduce open burning by 80 per cent.

In construction activities, it said dust control measures are assumed to reduce dust emissions by 50 per cent as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)

"We assume that these measures can be fully implemented at 5 per cent of all construction sites across the country, which will require a major training and enforcement effort," the study said.