Context:

• WHO has released the report which that Delhi and Varanasi are among the 14 Indian cities that figure in a list of 20 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM2.5 levels. WHO reported that Delhi topped the charts of bad air quality nationally.

More in details:

• It also mentions that 93% of children below 15 years breathe polluted air on a global scale.
• India faces the highest air pollution-related mortality and disease burden in the world with more than 2 million deaths occurring prematurely every year, accounting for 25% of the global deaths due to poor air quality.
• In that 14 cities, only Delhi has enough monitoring stations to check the pollutants levels, rest of the cities have either less or no monitoring stations
• Most cities do not have emergency response plan and also no special governing body in place to issue advisories or mitigate then pollution at source except Delhi

Way forward:

• There should be monitoring stations, mitigation plans should be in place for all mentioned 14 cities and gradually increase to other cities as well.
• State agencies and municipalities should be strengthened to tackle air pollution.