An evaluation of the National Air Quality Index (NAQI) data maintained by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) released on Tuesday has revealed that as many as 15 out of the 17 cities that are being monitored fail to meet the ambient air quality standard by a considerable margin. The evaluation, done by Greenpeace India, also found that infrastructure to monitor air pollution is abysmal in India despite such severe levels of pollution.
For instance, compared to an average of four real-time air quality monitoring stations in all big cities in the US, around 5 stations in the major cities across Europe and 8 stations in major Chinese cities, India has an average of just 2.5 stations across the only 17 cities that are being monitored.
The evaluation also found Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Faridabad among many others to be extremely polluted — between July and November for instance, Jaipur was below the desired air quality standards on 100% of days, Delhi on 93% days, Faridabad on 69% Patna on 98% of days.
The evaluation, that also compares PM 2.5 concentrations between July to November 2015 among some Chinese cities like Jinan, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Indian cities monitored by AQI, showed most Indian cities to have exceeded China's levels.
Greenpeace is calling for an ambitious and systematic Clean Air action plan with focused targets, clear timelines and demonstrable accountability towards public health.
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