印度政府審查實時空氣污染數據

NEW DELHI — This megacity’s modest effort to warn residents about unhealthy spikes in air pollution levels in real time may soon end, after a decision to first send the data to be authenticated by the central government.

新德里——這座特大城市採取了一些頗爲保守的舉動，空氣污染水平飆升到影響健康的水平時，實時向居民發出警告。但這一舉措可能很快就要走到盡頭了，因爲當局決定，要先將數據發給中央政府進行覈實。

Some experts and activists immediately questioned the need for such checks, accusing the government of trying to hide — or worse, alter — data that show Delhi’s air to be the world’s most toxic at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pushing for greater industrialization. Recent high readings, in many cases exceeding Beijing’s pollution readings, have alarmed the city’s Indian elites and expatriate community.

一些專家和活動人士立即對進行這種檢查的必要性表示了質疑，指責政府試圖隱瞞——甚至篡改——數據。相關數據顯示，當前在總理納倫德拉·莫迪(Narendra Modi)推動進一步工業化之際，德里的空氣是全世界污染最嚴重的。最近居高不下的讀數多次超過北京的污染數據，引起了該市的印度精英和外籍人士的警覺。

Although the government says it will release the checked data daily, at least one official questioned whether that would happen consistently. Any delay in the release of the information deprives people of the opportunity to protect themselves against bad air by limiting their time outdoors.

儘管政府表示將每日發佈覈查後的數據，但至少一名官員質疑這一安排能否始終如一地執行。信息發佈過程中的任何延誤，都會影響人們減少戶外活動，進而保護自己不受糟糕空氣危害的機會。

Five officials contacted by telephone on Wednesday refused to answer questions about the new policy.

記者週三通過電話聯繫到的五名官員，均拒絕回答關於這一新政策的問題。

A statement issued on Tuesday by India’s environment ministry said, “The unified system, expected to be in position in maximum two weeks’ time, will ensure authentic air quality information of Delhi to public at large.” The change is intended to ensure that the many government departments monitoring Delhi’s air “follow a uniform scientific calibration protocol and validation process.”

印度負責環境事務的部門週二發表聲明稱，“統一的系統預計最多兩週後即可就位，該系統將確保全體民衆獲得德里空氣質量的真實信息。”這一變化旨在確保，監測德里空氣的許多政府部門“遵循統一的校準規範和驗證程序”。

But B. Kumar, who retired in 2013 as an official of the Delhi pollution committee and who helped create the present monitoring method, said on Wednesday that the system had worked well.

但曾參與創建當前監測手段的B·庫馬爾(B. Kumar)週三表示，該系統一直運行良好。他曾在德里污染委員會供職，已於2013年退休。

“It’s totally automatic, and the data is transferred directly from the machines to the website, so there’s nothing to authenticate,” said Mr. Kumar, who like many Indians uses an initial for his first name. “If they feel there is a problem, they could just check the equipment and see what needs to be solved.”

“完全是自動的，數據直接從機器傳輸到網站上，所以沒什麼可驗證的，”庫馬爾說。“如果覺得存在問題，他們只需檢查設備，看需要解決什麼問題。”和很多印度人一樣，他用首字母代替自己的名字。

The new policy requires that Delhi’s data be sent for authentication to the Central Pollution Control Board, overseen by the national government, Mr. Kumar said.

庫馬爾稱，新政策要求將德里的數據發送給中央政府領導下的中央污染控制管理委員會(Central Pollution Control Board)，進行驗證。

“They just don’t want people to see the actual data,” Mr. Kumar said.

“他們就是不想讓公衆看到真實的數據，”庫馬爾說。

Mr. Kumar said no one works at the central board at night or on weekends, which he said would result in long delays before the information was made public.

庫馬爾說，中央委員會在夜間和週末都沒人值班，這會導致信息發佈的嚴重滯後。

Sarath Guttikunda, director of Urban Emissions, an independent research group based in Delhi, also criticized the government’s decision, saying that instead of taking measures to improve Delhi’s air, officials are trying to suppress information about it.

設在德里的獨立研究機構“城市排放”(Urban Emissions)的負責人薩拉斯·古提昆塔(Sarath Guttikunda)，也譴責了政府的這一決定。他說，政府不僅沒有采取措施改善德里的空氣質量，還試圖封鎖相關的信息。

The city’s data is “not that reliable to begin with,” Dr. Guttikunda said. “And blocking that data from coming out in real time and somehow correcting it in some back office will only make it even more unreliable.”

這座城市的數據“本來就不那麼可靠”，古提昆塔博士說。“阻止數據實時發佈、在某個幕後的辦公室進行修改，只會讓它更加不可靠。”

Among the existing problems, Dr. Guttikunda said, are frequent, unexplained gaps in the data.

古提昆塔說，目前的問題包括，經常出現不明原因的數據空白。

During a visit in January by President Obama, India signed an agreement that would bring to the country a system called AirNow, which is used in the United States to measure and quickly disseminate data about air quality. The United States Embassy in Delhi publishes information on its website from an air monitor on embassy grounds, although the data is averaged over a 24-hour period and does not provide a good snapshot of the air quality at any given moment.

奧巴馬總統1月訪問印度期間簽署了一份協議，在印度引進了一種叫做Airnow的系統。這一系統在美國被用來測量並快速分析空氣質量數據。德里的美國大使館在其網站上發佈使館空氣檢測器獲得的信息。不過，它發佈的數據是24小時內的平均值，不能良好地反映某個給定時刻的空氣質量。

An estimated 1.5 million people die annually in India, about one-sixth of all Indian deaths, as a result of outdoor and indoor air pollution, a problem caused in part by the widespread use of cow dung as cooking fuel.

印度每年約有150萬人死於室外和室內的空氣污染，佔全部死亡人數的約六分之一。室內空氣污染的一個原因是，印度普遍使用牛糞作爲做飯的燃料。

The country has the world’s highest death rate from chronic respiratory diseases, and more deaths from asthma than any other nation, according to the World Health Organization. Air pollution also contributes to both chronic and acute heart disease, the leading cause of death in India.

世界衛生組織稱，這個國家由慢性呼吸系統疾病導致的死亡人數居世界首位，哮喘導致的死亡人數也高於其他國家。空氣污染還會促成慢性和急性心臟病，這是印度人的主要死亡原因。

“People have the right to know whether the day’s air quality is good enough to go outside,” said Dr. Sundeep Salvi, director of the Chest Research Foundation in Pune. “If they don’t trust their monitors to provide good data, they should get new monitors. What they shouldn’t do is stop releasing the data.”

“人們有權知道外面的空氣是否好到可以到戶外活動，”浦那胸科研究基金會(Chest Research Foundation)的主任桑蒂普·薩爾維(Sundeep Salvi)說，“如果他們不信任自己的監測設備能提供準確的數據，就應該採用新的監測設備，而不是停止發佈數據。”