Studies On India’s Air Quality Flawed, Says Environment Ministry

In an internal newsletter last year, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) wrote that the World Health Organisation uses "arbitrary conversion factors to measure the prevalence of different pollutants". According to the CPCB, the international practices that measure the air quality in India and is linked to the diseases and death in the nation are not compatible with the ethology, personnel immunity and demography of India.

An online publication, Matter-Fine Particulate: An Environmental Challenge, helps in understanding how particles of dust are responsible for degrading health.

"The size of these particles determines the ease with which they can be lodged within the body. Those smaller than 2.5 micron (PM 2.5) are generally implicated for respiratory and cardiovascular ailments."

Source: The Hindu

The size 2.5 micron has been acknowledged to be a problem by the Indian environment agencies but they have not linked this to any deaths or diseases that are caused by these dust particles (which are caused by road dust, fossil fuels, or even kitchen smoke). Just earlier this month, Environment Minister Anil Dave had disregarded a report that revealed the harmful effects of increasing air pollution in India that leads to deaths of many pre-born babies. Sunita Narain, an environmental expert, in a FB live session challenged the Environment Minister for his disregard of a report that could not be questioned.

Last year, Delhi's CM Arvind Kejriwal had introduced the Odd-Even rule to try and combat the problem of pollution in the capital city which was recorded to be at the highest ever. The rule applied to all private vehicles where days were assigned to number plates that were odd/even and could be taken out on alternate days. This attempt was only experimental and could not be applied as a permanent rule in the
state.

The pollution level had grown to such an extent that Delhi was recorded to be one of the most polluted cities in the world, and it was even compared with the rapidly increasing pollution in China. Many environmental agencies came together to look for solutions to combat this situation.

Also Read: Sunita Narain Slams Minister For Disregarding Air Pollution Deaths