India has 9 of 10 most polluted cities, but few air quality monitors

Research shows that the number of air quality monitors in India per million people is lower than other highly populated countries. This prevents it from gauging the true extent of various pollutants

With its size, population and aggravating air pollution, India needs 1,600 to 4,000 air quality monitors but has only 804 as of September 16, 2021, most of which are concentrated in urban areas, shows research. This, experts say, prevents India from knowing the true extent, scale and geographical spread of various pollutants, and limits the government’s ability for preventive public health measures.

India has nine of the 10 most polluted cities in the world, but with 200 particulate matter (PM) 2.5 monitoring sites in operation during the 2010-2016 period, India’s air quality monitor density–about 0.14 monitors per million people–is below China (1.2), the United States of America (3.4), Japan (0.5) and Brazil (1.8), according to research from 2019.

As a consequence, India does not accurately know the spread of pollutants, including sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrous dioxide (NO2), respirable PM 10, the finer particulate matter or PM 2.5, lead, carbon monoxide (CO) and ammonia. Chronic exposure to these pollutants contributes to the risk of developing ailments such as cardiovascular, respiratory diseases, as well as of lung cancer, according to the World Health Organization….Read More

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