India lags far behind on the scale on which air quality checks are conducted, according to an analysis by Greenpeace.
The NGO’s East Asia analysis of air pollution data from 360 Chinese cities revealed that air quality in coastal regions and cities such as Beijing has modestly improved in the last 12 months.
“The air-quality survey in 360 Chinese cities shows that the PM2.5 levels in Beijing has been on a declining trend, while it reveals that many Chinese cities continue to face a severe air pollution crisis.
“It is important for us to note that according to the WHO’s ranking, 13 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India. In India, unlike that of China, the air-quality data is not readily available in the public domain and we certainly lag far behind on the scale on which we conduct air quality checks in our country,” said Aishwarya Madineni, Climate and Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace India.
Observing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a National Air Quality Index recently “without” allocating sufficient funds, Greenpeace India said that many Indian cities including Delhi are facing a public health emergency and one cannot afford to be “complacent” about it.
“The government has to scale up the extent of monitoring across the country on an immediate note by providing the necessary funds and inform the people about the health of the air that they are breathing on a daily basis,” Madineni said.
