IIT Kanpur to review National Ambient Air Quality Standards for first time since 2009

India had last revised its NAAQS in 2009 and since WHO revised its guidelines last year, experts have been calling for revision of the standards.

IIT Kanpur to review National Ambient Air Quality Standards for first time since 2009

A one-year study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has been given a nod to review the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), a recent RTI reply from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) revealed. The reply also revealed that the current national standard will depend on the findings of the study. 

"India had last revised its NAAQS in 2009 and since WHO revised its guidelines last year, experts have been calling for revision of the standards. For instance, the annual national standard for PM10 and PM2.5 is still 60 and 40 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively, as against WHO’s the safe limit of 15 micrograms per cubic metre for PM10 and 5 micrograms per cubic metre for PM2.5," the RTI reply stated as reported by TOI.

“Any changes to the NAAQS notified in 2009 shall be subject to the findings of the study. The project shall be executed by a joint team of health and air quality experts led by IIT-Kanpur under the overall supervision of a steering committee constituted for review of the NAAQS by CPCB. Further, the draft report shall be uploaded for public and expert comments,” said RTI reply.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed between CPCB and IIT-Kanpur in December 2020, the expected outcomes from the study are health risk evaluation of pollutants, revised NAAQS, guidelines for determining non-attainment areas and cost-benefit analysis of the implementation of standards. 

Avinash Chanchal, who filed the RTI query, stated, “There is no ‘safe’ level of air pollution. There is substantial scientific evidence that even low levels of exposure to air pollution shorten lives and have serious effects on public health. Last year, revised WHO air quality guidelines also indicated that our current national ambient air quality standards are inadequate and need to be revised.”
He is also the campaign manager at Greenpeace India, which submitted over 10,000 postcards and signatures to CPCB in April demanding amendments to the air quality standards. “All non-attainment cities are still not meeting the current national air quality standards. Such cities should express the ambition to move to the NAAQS first and then should have a time-bound plan to move towards the WHO guidelines,” said Chanchal.

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