Kiran Kumari Singh

Air pollution is a public health threat that requires urgent action. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of air pollution and human health in Indian cities to examine trends and the geography of the scientific literature, the evolution of research, and co-occurrence patterns of pollution sources, types, and health impacts. Furthermore, a narrative review of air pollution mitigation strategies was conducted using scholarly articles, policy documents, and reports. Relevant publications from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases were downloaded. The search identified 3307 articles published between 1987 and 2024, of which 172 met the inclusion criteria. The bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer and R software. The results indicate a steady rise in studies on air pollution and health issues in India. Initially, research concentrated on various sources and types of pollution, subsequently transitioning to the evaluation of exposure risks, risk assessment, and health implications, ultimately narrowing its focus to risk assessment concerning human health. Over the course of forty years, there has been a growing emphasis on the influence of indoor air quality, including ‘PM2.5’, ‘PM10’, dust, chemical pollutants, heavy metals, and exhaust dust, on human health. Research on pollution-related health effects has moved from examining general impacts to focusing on long-term, chronic consequences of pollutant exposure. Notably, most studies are centred in large metropolitan areas, whereas medium and small towns are underrepresented. Urban areas face severe air-quality challenges, requiring strategies such as monitoring pollution, promoting renewable energy, reusing materials, installing green walls or buffers in pollution zones, improving transport infrastructure, and reducing dust with grass covers. This study underscores the importance of implementing effective air pollution control measures across various geographic regions and integrating air pollution mitigation strategies into comprehensive urban development and planning frameworks.

Objective: The present study aims to investigate thermal comfort in two cities in Punjab, India based on land surface temperature (LST), urban hot spots (UHS) and urban thermal field variance index (UTFVI). Method: Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS data are used to derive land surface temperature (LST), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced built-up and bareness index (EBBI) for the year 2019. UTFVI reflects urban thermal conditions and demarcates comfort and discomfort zones in the cities. Findings: The results revealed that the mean LST (μ) of Ludhiana and Amritsar cities is 32.80 °C and 30.70 °C, respectively. LST shows a strong negative correlation with NDVI (-0.710 for Amritsar and -0.754 for Ludhiana) and a positive correlation with EBBI (0.531 for Amritsar and 0.541 for Ludhiana). About 57 and 52 per cent of geographical areas in Ludhiana and Amritsar city respectively are experiencing bad to worst ecological conditions. Novelty: (i) The study derived LST-based thermal comfort for the summer month in Amritsar and Ludhiana cities of Punjab which provide important information to urban planners and policymakers to design sustainable urban development policies to mitigate heat-related issues. (ii) Such information can be used to take steps to improve the situation in smart cities like Amritsar and Ludhiana. Keywords: Land surface temperature (LST), urban thermal field variance index (UTFVI), NDVI, Landsat 8, Punjab

The urban green spaces are immensely significant to ensure quality of life in a city. However, their spatial distribution is found to be inequitable. The study investigates spatial distribution of green space through remote sensing data at different times in four Indian cities. It further examines the distribution of urban parks with respect to the location of slums. The results demonstrate that green spaces in the study areas changed considerably in the last two decades. The public urban parks are far from slum areas, and their spatial distribution is inequitable. Urban green spaces should be considered a matter of environment justice.

This paper aims to investigate and map the spatial distribution of urban green spaces (UGSs) in Bathinda City, India. Since urban green spaces affect the quality of life and provide various ecological, socio-cultural and economic benefits to a city, the spatial distribution of UGSs and per capita availability deserve greater consideration in urban planning and research. The UGSs are extracted from freely available Sentinel 2 image with spatial resolutions of 10 m (blue, green, red, and near infrared bands). The result indicates that the planned urban setups have higher area under UGSs as compared to the rest of the city. Analysis and intra-city comparison (ward wise) of distribution of green spaces and per capita availability indicate that there is an inequitable distribution of UGSs in Bathinda City. The study also attempts to accentuate the scope of green initiatives in the various wards of the city to ensure the well-being of people.