'India sets own air quality norms...WHO guidelines only advisory': Centre
What's the story
The Indian government has clarified that it sets its own air quality standards and that global air quality rankings released by various organizations carry no official sanction. Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines are only advisory in nature. He said these guidelines are meant to help countries develop their own standards based on local geography and environmental conditions.
Response
Global ranking 'being conducted by official authority'
Singh said the WHO's guidelines are "recommended values for air pollutants to help countries achieve air quality." The Centre's reply came in response was to a question in the Rajya Sabha about India's standing in global indices like IQAir's World Air Quality Ranking, the WHO Global Air Quality Database, the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) metrics. The minister said the global ranking of cities on pollution levels "is not being conducted by official authority."
National standards
India notifies National Ambient Air Quality Standards
Singh also mentioned that India has already notified its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 12 key pollutants. He said these standards are in place to protect public health and environmental quality. The minister added that while no global authority conducts official rankings, the government assesses air quality through its annual Swachh Vayu Survekshan program. The Swachh Vayu Survekshan ranks 130 cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) based on their efforts to improve air quality, he said.
Air quality assessment
India was ranked fifth globally for smog levels
This comes after IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring firm, revealed that India didn't meet WHO's strict air quality standards for 2024. The report stated that India was ranked fifth globally for smog levels, with Byrnihat in Assam being the most polluted city and Delhi the most polluted capital. On Tuesday, the Union government had also informed Parliament that there is no definitive data available in the country to establish a clear correlation between death or disease and air pollution.