Air in most Indian cities hazardous: Greenpeace -Governance Now

Air in most Indian cities hazardous: Greenpeace

The most polluted areas are spread across North India, starting from Rajasthan and then moving along the Indo-Gangetic belt to West Bengal

GN Bureau | January 11, 2017

#Delhi pollution #health #North India #air quality #greenpeace #air pollution #WHO

Air in most Indian cities hazardous

None of the Indian cities comply with standards prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said a Greenpeace report.

The report “Airpocalypse” assesses air quality in 168 cities across 24 states and union territories and pinpoints fossil fuels as one of the main culprits for the deteriorating air quality across the country.

It noted that very few cities in southern India comply with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) standards.

“Air pollution is a national public health crisis as almost none of the cities have bothered to keep air pollution in check, making them unlivable. We are facing an apocalypse right now due to unbreathable air. Deaths due to air pollution are only a fraction less than those due to use of tobacco yet authorities are laying a deaf ear to the numerous scientific reports that have set alarm bells ringing,” says Sunil Dahiya, campaigner, Greenpeace India.

The top 20 most polluted cities have PM 10 levels between 268 µg/m3and 168 µg/m3 for the year 2015. While, Delhi tops the list with 268 µg/m3, it is followed closely by Ghaziabad, Allahabad, and Bareli in Uttar Pradesh; Faridabad in Haryana; Jharia in Jharkhand, Alwar in Rajasthan; Ranchi, Kusunda and Bastacola in Jharkhand; Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, and Patna In Bihar; with PM10 levels ranging from 258 µg/m3to 200 µg/m3.

Read: Gwalior, Allahabad, Patna and Raipur among world’s 10 most polluted

The Greenpeace report mentions the sources of pollution in several cities based on review of earlier research available. The most polluted cities are spread across the north India, starting from Rajasthan and then moving along the Indo-Gangetic belt to West Bengal. A closer analysis of the data obtained through RTI and previous studies on air pollution pinpoint to continued use of fossil fuels as the main culprit for the dangerous rise in the level of pollutants in the air across the country

Dahiya adds: “India’s pollution trends have been steadily increasing, with India overtaking China in number of deaths due to outdoor air pollution in 2015. India’s deteriorating air quality demands an urgent robust monitoring system.”

“This report clearly shows that air pollution is not restricted to Delhi. Thus, our pollution reduction strategies needs to be much more ambitious, systematic and with focused targets with clear timelines. Accountability and compliance mechanism should be in place, with no leniency towards the fossil fuel dependant sectors such as, power and transport,” said a press release.

Read the complete Greenpeace report ‘Airpocalypse’

Comments

Other News

All you wanted to know about Maharashtra, Haryana elections

Fact Sheet: Maharashtra assembly elections * Date of polling: 21 October * Date of counting 24 October * Assembly Constituencies: 288 * 2014 results: The BJP contested 260 states, and won 122, with a voting percentage of

Manmohan Singh favours ‘time-tested measures’ for economy

The much hyped ‘double engine’ model of governance on which the BJP is seeking votes has utterly failed, and Mumbai and Maharashtra have had to face some of the worst effects of economic slowdown, former prime minister Manmohan Singh has said. A lot of problems facing Maharashtra

“If the oppn is weak you can’t blame the govt for that”

A three-term Rajya Sabha member, Sanjay Raut is the Shiv Sena spokesperson and its voice in parliament. He is also the executive editor of Marathi newspaper Samana, started by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Raut spoke with Geetanjali Minhas on his party’s seat-sharing agreement

Ashish Shelar of BJP says, “We are very confident of victory”

Ashish Shelar, 47, was the president of the Mumbai city unit of the BJP, before he became the minister of school education, sports and youth welfare in the Maharashta government this year. He has represented the Vandre West constituency in the state assembly and seeking re-election. In a chat with

Nobel for economics goes to `global fight against poverty`

The Nobel Prize in economics for 2019 goes to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty." The prize, known as “The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel”, was announc

Modi-Xi script a new chapter in bilateral relations

Prime minister Narendra Modi has accepted president Xi Jinping’s invitation to visit China in 2020 for their third informal summit after Wuhan and Mamallapuram, indicating both sides’ realization of the importance of the mechanism which gives the two leaders of the Asian giants an opportunity t