"Policy Chaos": Jairam Ramesh Calls For Budget Action Amid Air Pollution Crisis

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh blamed the central government’s “poor policymaking” for the increasing number of deaths due to the growing air pollution. On Sunday, the party leader called for the upcoming Union Budget to address and equip local, state, and central bodies to face the “grave public health crisis.”

Citing recent reports that revealed that 7.2 percent (34,000) of all deaths per year in the country were related to air pollution in ten cities, Ramesh stated that a new study by the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi evaluated the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and concluded that poor policies were the primary reason behind the health crisis.

Read Also: 33,000 Indians Die Due To Short Term Exposure To Air Pollution: Study

Describing the current budget of the NCAP as “desperately underfunded” with Rs 10,500 crores for 13 cities, Ramesh highlighted that only 64 percent of the funds were actually utilized on road dust mitigation instead of controlling combustion-linked emissions from industries, vehicles, and biomass burning, which are “far more dangerous for human health,” the Congress leader said in a statement.

NCAP’s performance assessments are heavily focused on PM 10 rather than PM 2.5, which is more hazardous, said Ramesh. He claimed that out of the 131 cities under NCAP, the majority of the cities did not have the data to track air pollution. Of the 46 cities that do, only eight meet the NCAP’s “low target,” while 22 cities recorded air pollution getting worse.

Here’s What The Opposition Leader Suggested As Steps For The Government

• He called for a review and a “total revamp” of the Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act, 1981, and the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), 2009.
• Ramesh demanded that the funding for NCAP should be increased to Rs 25,000 crore, and it must adopt measurements of PM 2.5 levels as the yardstick.
• A reorientation of the key sources of emissions, such as burning solid fuels, industrial emissions, and vehicular emissions, he said.
• A regional/airshed approach that provides municipal and state authorities with the governance architecture and resources to collaborate with other jurisdictions, stated Ramesh.
• Legal backing, data monitoring capacity for every city in India, and an enforcement mechanism for the NCAP must be provided, argued Ramesh.
• Ramesh further suggests that all power plants must install a Fluoride Gas Desulfurizer (FGD) by 2024 and enforce strict air pollution norms for coal power plants.
• He also calls for a rollback of “anti-people environmental law” amendments made in the last ten years and to restore the independence of the National Green Tribunal.

India’s air pollution crisis is a result of policy failure. Our statement on the failed National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and necessary steps moving forward: pic.twitter.com/d5IFNuRInX

“Policy Chaos”: Jairam Ramesh Calls For Budget Action Amid Growing Air Pollution Crisis

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 21, 2024

Read Also: Jairam Ramesh Lists Policy Failures As Report Shows 21 Lakh Air Pollution Deaths In India In 2021

According to the Health Effects Institute (HEI), an independent US-based nonprofit organisation, PM 2.5 pollution, largely from fossil fuels and biomass combustion, represents the largest contributor to the global burden of air pollution-related diseases, accounting for 78 lakh deaths.