Shankkar Aiyar, Visiting Fellow at IDFC Institute, documents how the Indian government has repeatedly questioned the increasingly mounting scientific evidence on the negative impacts of air pollution in India instead of starting to accept the severity of the problem.

"How did the government respond to the latest studies? Anil Madhav Dave, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, said, Indians “seem to be far more influenced by things out of India”, and added, “We have several of our own organisations and experts… and I trust them as much as I do our Army”. Dave said the government would get its own study done to assess the health impacts of air pollution.

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Findings were based on data from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) along with satellite-based estimates. Arguably, there could be a case for indigenous validation of findings. Moot point is, what is it that needs validation—for instance, is there a need to validate the fact that pollution claims lives."

Full article on the New Indian Express here.