India Launches AQI System

Amid growing concerns over deteriorating air quality in India’s major cities, the government on Monday launched the National Air Quality Index (AQI) that will put out real time data about the level of pollutants in the air and inform people about the possible impacts on health.

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Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the two-day conference of Environment and Forest Ministers, the new index will initially cover 10 cities — Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — each of which would have monitoring stations with AQI display boards. The aim was to eventually deploy the index in all cities with a population of over one million.

“The Air Quality Index may prove to be a major impetus to improving air quality in urban areas, as it will improve public awareness in cities to take steps for air pollution mitigation,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said at the conference.