Cities in India’s eastern states are increasingly falling into the pincer grip of toxic particulate pollution during the winter season – and the problem is spreading quickly to the smaller cities and towns of the region: says the latest assessment by the Centre for Science and Environment released here recently.

“Even as the United Nations has launched a global campaign called ‘Be the Change’, India is already showcasing real action on the ground. It is already holding up a picture of how big change is possible. And this is evident in the way states like Uttar Pradesh are tackling the challenge of providing sustainable and inclusive sanitation and water for all,” said Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment, while speaking at a national workshop.

All mega cities in India, irrespective of their locations in different geo-climatic zones, faced the challenge of worsening PM2.5 levels during the winter season of 2022-23.

“This winter has been the cleanest in New Delhi-NCR since large-scale air quality monitoring started in 2018,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research, and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, while releasing here CSE’s latest analysis of winter air pollution levels.

“The iron and steel industry is an emission-intensive sector. A new analysis shows it is possible to bring down carbon dioxide emissions from the iron and steel sector drastically by 2030, while more than doubling India’s output of steel,” said Sunita Narain, director general of the Centre for Science and Environment, speaking at a day-long stakeholder workshop organized here on ‘Decarbonising India’s Iron and Steel Sector by 2030 and Beyond’.

Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pre-poll promises to voters in Agra and the holy cities of Mathura, Vrindavan of restoring the original glory of the Yamuna river, not a single baby step has been taken in this direction to date since 2014, say activists...