India's nationwide, year-round air quality crisis requires a radical rethink. But how does parliamentary discourse frame this issue? How should India approach its air quality standards in light of the WHO making its global guidelines more stringent? What would "taking the long view" on air pollution strategy look like?
Read MoreWHO guidelines are a clear nudge from the health sector towards the deep decarbonisation of our economy necessary to achieve both climate and air pollution goals. Placing public health at the centre of air quality management, coupled with a commitment to accountability and transparency in standard-setting, is the only way to ensure that the goals we set do not remain solely aspirational.
Read MoreThe recent Working Group 1 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finds that particulate matter (PM or simply, fine particles) have ‘masked’ the impact of greenhouse gas emissions generated over the last century by about a third. If air pollution mitigation ‘worsens’ global warming, must we rethink pollution controls at all? Not quite.
Read MoreForty years ago, India passed the Air Act, 1981- the first central legislation to tackle the air pollution crisis. What has it accomplished over the last four decades? Does the Air Act have enough teeth to deal with the crisis?
Read MoreThe air pollution crisis in India can only be solved through sustained political commitment, and robust institutions. Letting the ordinance lapse reflects poorly on the Centre’s commitment, and is a significant blow to the development of air quality governance in the country.
Read MoreIn 2019, air pollution was responsible for over 16.7 lakh deaths in India, more than ten times the lives lost due to COVID-19 so far. Did the budget address clean air adequately?
Read MoreA legal precedent that concretises links between air pollution and premature death and what this could mean for India’s air pollution discourse.
Read MoreIf governments were to raise awareness and disseminate information on air pollution the way they have done with COVID-19, what might that look like?
Read MoreThe annual November smog in the NCR frames the air pollution crisis — its scale, sources and solutions — in ways that undermine the long-term efforts needed.
Read MoreIs the new CAQM the answer to the pleas of National Capital Region (NCR) citizens and an end to the winter airpocalypse?
Read MoreThe smog tower pilot project that the Government has envisaged is unjustifiably expensive, sets a bad precedent for pollution control efforts nationwide and raises questions about its evaluation.
Read MoreThis post answers why smog towers offer neither a scientific policy measure to tackle air pollution nor do they constitute an idea worth piloting.
Read MoreAs the country battles a public health crisis of staggering proportions, we must remind ourselves that we do not have the luxury of tackling air pollution at a later point.
Read MoreThis report analyses the outcomes of state actions in response to COVID-19 and its impact on the air quality discourse in India.
Read MoreCOVID-19 necessitates making health and social protection a priority. But we must not lose momentum on the strides made in tackling air pollution.
