Jairam Ramesh flags ‘serious public health crisis’ from PM2.5, urges stronger air pollution action

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday expressed concern over worsening air pollution in India, citing scientific studies and recent data analyses that link high levels of fine particulate matter to rising mortality and serious public health risks.

In a post on X, the Congress leader criticised the government’s position on pollution-related deaths and argued that scientific evidence clearly demonstrates the scale of the crisis. “PM56inch has been exposed, PM2.5 is for real,” Ramesh wrote, in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi while drawing attention to the dangers posed by fine particulate pollution.

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He said PM2.5 — tiny particles measuring less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter and tracked in micrograms per cubic metre of air — has emerged as a major environmental and public health challenge across the country.

Ramesh cited research published in The Lancet Planetary Health in December 2024, which analysed data from 655 districts between 2009 and 2019. According to the study, every 10 microgram per cubic metre increase in PM2.5 concentration is associated with an 8.6 per cent rise in mortality. He also referred to estimates from The Lancet Countdown indicating that around 17.2 lakh deaths occur annually in India due to PM2.5 exposure, representing a 38 per cent increase since 2010.

The Congress leader questioned the position taken by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which has informed Parliament in recent years 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 estimated that air pollution contributed to about 12.4 lakh deaths in 2017 — roughly 12.5 per cent of all deaths that year.

Ramesh also highlighted a recent analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air based on data collected from continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations operated by the Central Pollution Control Board. The analysis examined pollution levels across 238 cities between October 1, 2025 and February 2026 and found that none met the safety guidelines set by the World Health Organization for PM2.5.

According to the findings cited by Ramesh, PM2.5 levels in 204 of the 238 cities exceeded the limits prescribed under India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards introduced in 2009. He noted that India’s annual PM2.5 standard is currently about eight times weaker than the guideline updated by the World Health Organization in 2021.

He also criticised the performance of the National Clean Air Programme launched in 2019, arguing that it has had limited success in reducing PM2.5 concentrations. According to the analysis he cited, only 12 of the 96 cities covered under the programme complied with the national PM2.5 standards despite more than Rs 13,400 crore being allocated through the programme 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 a large share of the spending has been directed towards road dust management and that the programme focuses on the coarser pollutant PM10 rather than the more harmful PM2.5.

He also pointed out 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, have a significant number of cities exceeding pollution standards.

Ramesh further flagged gaps in air quality monitoring, noting that continuous data availability in 50 cities is below 80 per cent, while some monitoring stations recorded no data at all during certain periods.

Calling for urgent policy intervention, he said India’s air quality standards need immediate 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 tackle the country’s growing air pollution crisis.