35 Indian cities have recently been listed among the 50 most polluted cities in the world. What's worse, 16 of these cities received nearly Rs 1,000 crore over the past eight years to tackle air pollution. This disturbing finding has placed India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) under intense scrutiny. NCAP is the costliest air pollution control programme ever taken up in India, and one of the biggest globally. But it appears to be non-existent in 19 of the Indian cities that are part of the ‘most polluted’ top 50 list.

As air pollution becomes an alarming issue that can no longer be snoozed, let us take a deep breath and study about its major pollutants and sources across the country. Five years back itself, in 2019, air pollution was alone responsible for about 16.5 lakh deaths in India. This was disclosed by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), published by some very credible organizations—the Lancet Planet Health and the Indian Council of Medical Research. Their stat is believable as 24 out of 50 most polluted cities in the world are already in India, which we know from nothing but the World Health Organization’s data released …

Recapitulating the prestigious Green Schools Awards and felicitating the commendable and inspiring work of all the awardees in different categories. ********************************* Ater a three-year hiatus, the Green Schools Programme (GSP) of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) was back with a bang in February this year – as its annual audit drew to a close, a one-and-a-half day national Green Schools Carnival was announced. The cornerstone of the event was – of course – the GSP Green Schools Awards, but...