Experts ask Centre to finalise national clean air programme

New Delhi: Days after a study suggested that air pollution shortens an average Indian’s life by over 1.5 years, environmental experts have asked the government to urgently finalise a national clean air programme with specific time-bound and sectoral targets for pollution reduction.

Claiming that the government has not published any concrete study on the issue for many years now, experts said that it is high time that the government comes out of its “denial mode” of international studies which quantified the number of deaths caused by air pollution.

In a recent study, scientists said ambient air pollution shortens an average Indian’s life by over 1.5 years.