Urgent Call for Air Quality Reform in India

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh highlights rising PM 2.5 levels and urges a review of India's air quality standards. Ramesh references a Lancet study showing India's entire population lives with levels exceeding WHO guidelines. He calls the issue a top public health priority.

Jairam Ramesh, a prominent Congress leader and former environment minister, has raised alarms over the rising levels of PM 2.5 pollution across India. He urged an immediate reassessment of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), last updated in 2009.

Ramesh cited a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health, stating that every person in India is exposed to PM 2.5 levels above the WHO's recommended limit. Emphasizing its severity, he described air pollution as the foremost public health crisis the nation faces, linking 6.6 million deaths from 2009 to 2019 to PM 2.5 exposure.

While acknowledging the likely governmental skepticism towards the study, Ramesh insists that dismissing it could be significantly detrimental. He urges for a prompt revision of the policies and guidelines to address this escalating environmental and public health challenge.

(With inputs from agencies.)