New Delhi, November 18
India has revised its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), discontinuing the old practice of different air quality standards for different land-use classes like residential and industrial areas. The country will now have uniform health-based NAAQS with uniform standards for all areas, whether residential or industrial.
Till now, there were lower standards for air quality in industrial areas as compared to residential ones. By removing the distinction between industrial and residential areas, air quality standards have been made uniform.
Revised after a gap of 15 years, new air quality standards also provide legal framework for controlling air pollution and protecting public health, meaning that any citizen can now approach the court demanding better air quality.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who announced NAAQS-2009, said revised standards included initiatives that had been developed in consonance with globally best practices and in keeping with latest advancements in technology and research.
The big question, however, is of enforcement, which Ramesh admitted could prove to be a difficult task. “Announcing is one thing, but enforcing would be a tougher job. However, enforcement agencies, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the National Environment Protection Authority (NEPA), are being formed to ensure effective enforcement of standards,” he said.
The new guidelines have the approval of Sunita Narian led-Centre for Science and Environment, which in the recent past led a long battle for their enforcement. Narain said with air pollution levels going up in almost every Indian city, such steps were urgently needed.
The standards have brought two new deadly pollutants, PM 2.5 and ozone, within the ambit of regulation. The standard for nitrogen oxide (NO2) has been made more stringent, from the existing 60 micro-gm per cubic metre, it has been tightened down to 40 micro-gm per cubic metre. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) as parameter has been replaced by fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), which is more relevant for public health.
