Ramesh asks environment ministry to clarify air quality standards review

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked the Environment Ministry on Sunday to clarify the results of the review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards-2009 that IIT-Kanpur was tasked to carry out on the orders of the Central Pollution Control Board in 2021.

The Congress general secretary in-charge communications said the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) covering 12 major pollutants were last promulgated in November 2009.

That was widely hailed at that time, even though it was well understood that they would have to be kept under periodic review, the former environment minister said in a post on X.

IIT-Kanpur had been intimately involved with this initiative, he said.

In December 2021, IIT-Kanpur was tasked by the Central Pollution Control Board to review NAAQS, 2009, Ramesh said. "Meanwhile, there seems to be an effort to relax standards like those relating to emissions of sulphur dioxide from power plants."  "Till today, even as the country chokes, we have no idea of the results of this review even as it has become clear that the standards need tougher enforcement and in some cases further tightening," Ramesh said.

Tagging Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, he asserted the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change must clarify. Ramesh also shared the 2009 NAAQS notification by the then Central Pollution Control Board.