Air Pollution: A Problem We Can Solve in Our Lifetime

By Shloka NathMUMBAI, India, Mar 23 2020 (IPS) Over the past few years, worsening air quality in India—and in north India specifically—has awakened policy makers and civil society to take urgent action. There have been some efforts to address air quality, specifically the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which was launched in January 2019 with the aim of improving air quality standards by 20-30 percent over the next five years. While this has been a positive step, we not only need a more ambitious agenda, but also a strong compliance framework that ensures accountability to the targets we have set. With growing congestion in cities—a trend which is only likely to increase—we need to also look at the transport sector, especially at a time when infrastructure investments such as the Mumbai Coastal Road Project do little to factor in environmental impacts. It is no surprise that fewer cars on the road mean less traffic, less time on the road, and therefore less air pollution exposure. Air pollution, both outdoors and in households is the second most serious risk factor for public health in India, after malnutrition, contributing to 6.4 percent of all healthy years of life lost Despite how much needs to still be accomplished, we have come a long way in the past few years. We are now in a place where we are starting to get the science and technology right, in terms of monitoring air quality and understanding the impact it has on our lives. We have more data and eviden...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Asia-Pacific Environment Headlines Health Source Type: news