‘How long will Modi govt live in denial?’ Congress flags ‘one million premature deaths’ from air pollution

New Delhi: Congress on Sunday asked how long will the Modi government "live in denial" on the issue of tackling air pollution, amid a World Bank report saying that there are now around one million premature deaths annually in India and its four neighbours.

Citing World Bank’s latest report on air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic Plains and Himalayan Foothills (IGP-HF) titled ‘A Breath of Change’, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said that it has spelt out what must be done, including enforcing coal power plant emission norms and accelerated retirement of the oldest units.

The report said that air pollution in IGP-HF, which comprises parts of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan comes from five key sources, which include households burning solid fuels for cooking and heating and industries burning fossil fuels and biomass inefficiently and without appropriate filter technology.

The pollution sources also include motorists using inefficient internal combustion vehicles, farmers burning crop residues and inefficiently managing fertilizers and manure and households and firms burning waste, according to the report.

"Nearly one billion people in the IGP-HF breathe unhealthy air resulting in around one million people dying prematurely every year. Economic losses are estimated at close to 10 percent of regional GDP annually," it said.

Ramesh said the report has suggested shifting away from city-centric plans to legally empowered airshed-based governance that cuts across states and expansion and electrification of public transport and tightening of vehicle emission and fuel standards among other things to fight air pollution.

Keeping in view the "deepening AQI health crisis that has become so very real in recent years", he said the Congress has repeatedly been suggesting a review of the Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act of 1981 and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), 2009 with focus on PM 2.5.

He said there should also be a vast expansion of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) both in terms of financial outlays and geographic coverage with measurement of PM 2.5 levels as the yardstick for performance as well as a tougher and uncompromising enforcement of air pollution norms and standards without any relaxations or dilutions. "How long will the Modi Govt live in denial?" he asked.