New Delhi: The government on Wednesday rejected the studies of WHO and Yale University which talked about India and its cities being among the most polluted.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said pollution is caused by many factors and the survey took cognisance of only air pollution and that is why India’s ranking in Yale University report has come down.
Javadekar said, “Actually, there are 20 indicators to judge pollution like access to drinking water, access to sanitation, waste water treatment, agricultural subsidies, pesticides regulation, change in forest cover, coastal shelf forest pressure, fish stalks, etc.”
He said the country needed upgradation of diesel, which is a different decision, besides required to give more emphasis to public transport and such other things.
“So, formation of a new Committee at this stage is not required because it will just kill time. Instead, whatever is already established we must go ahead on that part and we are committed to that,” he said.
Javadekar said the government is measuring pollution, particularly air quality, in at least 240 cities and is giving emphasis on use of public transport.
“Air pollution is caused by many factors. Roadside dust is a major pollutant in many cities, the number of vehicles and vehicular traffic causes air pollution. Apart from that, industries, construction work, secondary particulate, domestic and diesel generator sets cause pollution,” he said.
