While addressing the participants at the India Clean Air Summit 2021 which was organised virtually yesterday, Rajya Sabha member and former Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu stated that the country needs to tackle air pollution through better management.
“Air pollution can be tackled through better management. To solve this public health crisis, we must change the way we use energy, transportation and reduce industrial pollution,” he said.
“But it will happen only with dedicated and concerted efforts we can achieve clean air,” he said in his keynote address.
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Also, Daniel S Greenbaum, president of the United States-based non-profit organisation Health Effects Institute (HEI) stated at the event that the government needs to control emission in order to control the air pollution levels in the country.
“They should be acting upon source not on ways in which these emissions can be captured. Emission reduction at source is the key,” Greenbaum said.
The event was organised by the Center for Air Pollution Studies (CAPS) at the Center for the Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) and was held on August 26-27.
Meanwhile, organiser of the event, Pratima Singh said, “The narrative for addressing Air Pollution needs to shift, and include the co-benefits of climate change and health impacts for making our air pollution policies stringent”.
The press statement of the event mentioned that the key aspects that came out of the summit was the fact that while clean air and water were the basic rights of every citizen, the ground situation was getting worse.
Arvind Kumar, Chairman, Institute of Chest Surgery; Co-Chairman, Medanta Robotic Institute; Founder and Managing Trustee, Lung Care Foundation said at the event — “Majority of my patients are so-called “non-smokers” now. (In reality) There is no true non-smoker in India. Everyone, including a new-born, is a smoker. The high PM2.5 (particulate matter) levels are responsible for this.”
