Why India should clean its air.

• India’s air pollution crisis is a persistent issue, with hospitals overflowing with respiratory cases, schools shutting down, and cities disappearing under smog.
 • Initiatives like the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), Bharat VI, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), and targeted efforts to phase out coal-burning industries in the National Capital Region mark important progress.

 Tuning in to Ground Realities
 • Understanding air pollution is complex and shaped by governance capacity, demographic pressure, socio-economic disparity, behavioural norms, and entrenched economic systems.
 • Solutions depend on those working on the ground: municipal officers, planners, engineers, and community leaders.
 • Strengthening their capacity and aligning mandates with air quality goals is essential for sustained change.

 Proactive Programs
 • Local governments need access to high-resolution, open-source data on emissions-generating activities.
 • India’s NCAP budget is less than 1% of that of China, which came at a steep price.
 • Shifting to activity-based metrics would offer a clearer picture of impact and strengthen accountability.
 • India needs a phased, data-driven approach: build local emissions profiles, link funding directly to targeted actions based on that data, and track reductions in emissions to measure real progress.

 Guarding against Optics
 • India must avoid falling into the “Western trap”— overreliance on high-tech, urban-centric data and solutions without addressing basic pollution sources.
 • India must sequence its strategies correctly and distinguish between academic research and solution-focused implementation.
 • India must create separate funding streams: one for research and another for immediate, on-ground interventions.
 • Global examples offer guidance without imitation, such as China closing coal plants, Brazil using community-led waste systems, California reinvesting pollution revenue in poor communities, and London banning coal-use before launching sensors.