New Delhi, March 8 (UNI) Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday raised concerns over rising air pollution levels in India, citing multiple scientific studies and data analyses that link fine particulate matter to increased mortality and public health risks.
In a post on X, the Congress leader criticised the government’s stance on pollution-related deaths and said the scale of the crisis has been well documented by scientific research. “PM56inch has been exposed, PM2.5 is for real,” Ramesh wrote, in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while highlighting the dangers posed by fine particulate matter.
He explained that PM2.5—particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers measured in micrograms per cubic meter of air—has become a major environmental and public health challenge across the country.
Ramesh cited a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health in December 2024 which analysed data from 655 districts between 2009 and 2019. According to the study, he said, every 10 microgram per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 concentration leads to an 8.6 per cent increase in mortality. He also referred to estimates from The Lancet Countdown that suggest about 17.2 lakh Indians die annually due to exposure to PM2.5, marking a 38 per cent rise since 2010.
The Congress leader questioned the position taken by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which has told Parliament on multiple occasions that deaths due to air pollution “cannot be conclusively established.” In contrast, he pointed to findings endorsed by the Indian Council of Medical Research, which attributed 12.4 lakh deaths in 2017—around 12.5 per cent of all deaths that year—to air pollution.
Ramesh also referred to a recent analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air based on data from continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations operated by the Central Pollution Control Board. The data, covering 238 cities from October 1, 2025 to February 2026, showed that none of the cities complied with the safe guidelines set by the World Health Organisation for PM2.5 levels.
According to the analysis, PM2.5 concentrations in 204 of the 238 cities exceeded the limits set by India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards introduced in 2009. Ramesh noted that India’s annual PM2.5 standard is currently eight times weaker than the guideline issued by the World Health Organisation in 2021.
He also criticised the effectiveness of the National Clean Air Programme launched in 2019, stating that it has made limited progress in reducing PM2.5 levels. According to the analysis he cited, only 12 of the 96 cities covered under the programme complied with the national PM2.5 standards, despite over Rs 13,400 crore being released under the initiative and related finance commission grants.
“PM2.5 concentrations complied with the NAAQS safe level only in 12 of the 96 NCAP cities,” Ramesh said, adding that most spending had gone toward road dust management and that the programme benchmarks itself against PM10 rather than the more harmful PM2.5 pollutant.
He also noted that while many of the most polluted cities are located in the National Capital Region covering Delhi and parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, several other states—including Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh—also have a high proportion of cities exceeding pollution standards.
Ramesh further highlighted gaps in monitoring, saying that in 50 cities the availability of continuous pollution data is below 80 per cent, while some monitoring stations recorded no data at all for certain periods.
Calling for stronger policy action, he said the National Ambient Air Quality Standards require urgent revision and stricter enforcement. “The National Ambient Air Quality Standards, 2009 need urgent review and upgradation,” Ramesh said, adding that the National Clean Air Programme must adopt a “laser-like focus on PM2.5” to effectively address the growing pollution crisis.
