"Air Pollution Poses Threat To Right To Life": Human Rights Commission

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognizance of media reports quoting an external survey that air pollution is a great threat to human health in India, reducing life expectancy overall by 5 years and 9.7 years for the people in Delhi.

The Commission has observed that the contents of the media reports, if true, raise a serious issue of the Right to Life, said a press release on Saturday.

The Commission has issued notice to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change calling for a report on the matter within four weeks, including the status of the National Clean Air Program launched in 2019.

The report has further categorized Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Tripura among the top polluted Indian states.

The Commission has also expected state authorities to take the issue with utmost sincerity in a time-bound manner.

According to the media reports carried on June 15, 2022, the residents in Delhi would gain 10 years of life expectancy on average if the annual average PM 2.5 levels did not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic metre, as per WHO standards.

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