Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India’s first national air quality index in Delhi on Monday. Speaking at the two-day conference of state environment and forest ministers, Modi urged Indians to bring a change in lifestyle in order to help protect the environment.
The national air quality index (NAQI) will provide information on air quality in 10 major cities across the country. It will provide a consolidated number after assessing eight pollutants and will use color coding to illustrate related health impacts. Particulate matter levels in Delhi are on the rise and have reached alarming levels. Recently, Delhi surpassed Beijing to become the most polluted city in the world.
Speaking at the event, Narendra Modi talked about how the world viewed India as a country which does not care about the environment. He urged the countrymen to change this attitude by bringing a change in their lifestyle. Modi also claimed that India’s contribution to global pollution levels was among the lowest. Interestingly though, a WHO report stated that thirteen of the world’s 20 dirtiest cities were in India.
Air pollution is a growing concern and it isn’t India specific. As per WHO, the world’s biggest environmental health risk killed close to 7 million people in 2012. NAQI is a welcome step, and the availability of concrete data, will help understand air quality levels in India. But the absence of a proper action plan, raises doubts regarding the possibility of an immediate impact on improvement in air quality.
(Main Image Credits: financialexpress.com)
