Budget 2018-19

  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 acc...

  More than 480 million people living in the vast swathes of central, eastern and northern India, including the capital, New Delhi, endure significantly high pollution levels, a report said Air pollution is likely to reduce the life expectancy of about 40 per cent of Indians by more than nine years, according to a report released by a US research group on Wednesday. More than 480 million people living in the vast swathes of central, eastern and northern India, including the capital, New Delhi, endure significantly high pollution levels, said the report prepared by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). “Alarmingly, India’s high levels of air pollution have expanded geographically over time,” the EPIC report said. For example, air quality has significantly worsened in the western state of Maharashtra and the central state of Madhya Pradesh, it said. Lauding India’s National Clean Air Program (NCAP), launched in 2019 to rein in  dangerous pollution ...