While it is great that the government has initiated a National Air Quality Index, it is also paramount that India makes haste in implementing preventive measures as well. The average man in urban India does not need such an index to understand that the air he breathes is unhealthy (“Govt. moves to clear the air,” April 8). Government and local authorities should collaborate to develop standardised and stringent pollution control measures to curb peak pollution levels similar to the administrative controls established in China and France.
As we move towards greater industrialisation for economic growth, employment and ‘development’, we are also shooting ourselves in the foot by destroying the environment with policies and standards that lack teeth.
Similar to this initiative, the BJP government should also call for action in the completion of the National Chemical Policy which was initiated by the Congress. India is the only country of its league not to have a national chemical policy or chemical inventory system to monitor the import, export and disposal of chemicals. Without this policy, we are blind to the amount of chemical pollutants being vaporised into the air and dispersed into soil and water ecologies.
Ramaseshu Botu,Yellamathota, Andhra Pradesh
