India might not want to admit it, but there is an element of
truth in the University of Washington and University of British
Columbia report that air pollution in the country is killing
two people every minute. This means about 10.51 lakh persons
died every year in the country due to toxic air. Minister of state
for environment, Anil Dave declined to confirm the figures and
instead hinted, that they were erroneous and lacked a firm scientific
basis. What India admits is that 35,616 persons died between
January 2006 and May 2015. This completely reduces the
scope of the problem and allows the government to sweep it
under the carpet. However, it is impossible to ignore the fact
that the air over most Indian cities is becoming increasingly
polluted with New Delhi on top of the list. There is a growing
concern in cities about the quality of air and India does not
seem to have ready answers to the problem. As the minister
admitted, tackling air pollution is not rocket science, but it
requires political will, awareness and a sense of urgency. The
Centre can act as a facilitator, but the real task lies with State
governments which have to implement the norms and unless
a sense of urgency is brought to the anti-pollution table Indian
cities could be heading for darker skies.
