Overview
- The World Bank's report A Breath of Change estimates about one million premature deaths annually across the Indo-Gangetic Plains and Himalayan foothills due to air pollution.
- It says nearly one billion people are exposed to hazardous air each day, reducing average life expectancy by more than three years and costing roughly 10% of regional GDP.
- Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the government of living in denial and urged strict enforcement of coal power-plant emission norms with faster retirement of the oldest units.
- He called for reviewing the Air Pollution (Control and Prevention) Act, 1981, and the 2009 National Ambient Air Quality Standards with PM2.5 as the primary performance metric, alongside a major expansion of the National Clean Air Programme.
- Ramesh also pushed for legally empowered airshed governance across states, wider electrified public transport, and tighter vehicle emission and fuel standards, noting recent high AQI in New Delhi and no central response reported in this coverage.