Explore Business Standard
The Congress on Sunday cited a report to claim that air quality is a nation-wide, structural crisis for which the government response is "exceedingly ineffective and inadequate", as it demanded a thorough reform of the National Clear Air Programme. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the NCAP propagated as the National Clear Air Programme is actually another type of NCAP - "Notional Clear Air Programme". The former environment minister said a new analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has now confirmed what was always India's "worst-kept secret that the air quality is a nation-wide, structural crisis for which the government response is exceedingly ineffective and inadequate". Using satellite data, the study found that nearly 44 per cent of Indian cities that is 1,787 out of 4,041 statutory towns assessed have chronic air pollution, with annual PM2.5 levels consistently exceeding the national standard over five years ...
Beijing was shrouded in heavy smog on Thursday with AQI climbing to very unhealthy levels of 215, a rare spike in pollution in the Chinese capital after years of expensive cleaning up. China's national observatory on Wednesday issued a yellow alert for heavy fog in some parts of the country, saying that thick fog is expected to shroud parts of Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, the Sichuan Basin and Chongqing on Thursday. The smog with polluted air quality is rare these days in Beijing, which used to witness very heavy pollution before the government initiated a series of steps, including closure and relocation of heavy polluting industries in 2016, spending billions of dollars. Officials say the city's switch to natural gas or electric public heating in winters from the coal-fired ones, spending over USD 1 billion, has helped reduce pollution levels. Beijing's efforts to tackle heavy pollution were in the news in recent days in the backdrop of New Delhi witness
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday said while the No PUC, No Fuel' rule may cause inconvenience to people, it is a collective moral responsibility to ensure that all vehicles are tested and certified for pollution. Speaking at a public event here, Gupta said no vehicle would be allowed to refuel in the city without a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate, stressing that strict enforcement is necessary to curb worsening air quality. "People are facing inconvenience, but every vehicle running in Delhi must operate without causing pollution. It is our collective moral responsibility to ensure our vehicles are PUC-certified," she said. She added that strengthening the public transport system is the most effective solution to tackle pollution, and appealed to people to avoid using private vehicles for solo travel. "Carpooling and public transport should be preferred. Improving the transport system is the key to improving air quality," she said. Gupta said the governm