Recently, India was in the news again as a world leader – but this time for the wrong reason. According to the Swiss firm IQAir’s assessment of the air quality of world cities 2023, New Delhi is…
Question and options
Recently, India was in the news again as a world leader – but this time for the wrong reason. According to the Swiss firm IQAir’s assessment of the air quality of world cities 2023, New Delhi is back to being the world’s most polluted capital. New Delhi’s annual air quality rating is 19 times the World Health Organization’s annual limit recommended in 2021 for its pollutant level. The picture is no better as far as the larger Union Territory of Delhi is considered – its annual record of pollutant levels makes it the third most polluted region globally.
Delhi may have hogged the headlines on air pollution, but the problem is far from unique to metropolises. IQAir’s findings reveal that even lower-tier cities and towns in India are choking because of very poor air quality. Indeed, Begusarai in Bihar is the world’s most polluted city. Partly industrialized, housing among others an oil refinery, Begusarai is primarily agrarian. And Begusarai is not an outlier: Mullanpur in Punjab, which is transitioning to an urban settlement, and Siwan in Bihar are among the 42 Indian cities/towns that are among the 50 most polluted globally.
Many judicial pronouncements have upheld “the right to clean air” as a corollary to the fundamental right to life and pushed governments to act. But Delhi’s bad air is despite the introduction of CNG in public transport and the building of a metro network in the early years of this decade, and in spite of the presence of a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) that kicks in when the air quality turns bad and becomes more stringent as the air quality worsens.
Improving air quality across Indian cities requires three fundamental changes. One, governments must turn to science to understand, measure, and monitor the problem. Two, they have to understand that the response will have to include behavioural changes and use a combination of incentives and penalties to achieve this. And three, clean air has to be seen as a common public good. To be sure, it is not just the responsibility of the Centre or a battle for courts to wage, but a fight that states and municipal governments have to be a part of. This is the battle for our future.
Based on the information in the passage, which one of the following statements is correct?
Delhi may have hogged the headlines on air pollution, but the problem is far from unique to metropolises. IQAir’s findings reveal that even lower-tier cities and towns in India are choking because of very poor air quality. Indeed, Begusarai in Bihar is the world’s most polluted city. Partly industrialized, housing among others an oil refinery, Begusarai is primarily agrarian. And Begusarai is not an outlier: Mullanpur in Punjab, which is transitioning to an urban settlement, and Siwan in Bihar are among the 42 Indian cities/towns that are among the 50 most polluted globally.
Many judicial pronouncements have upheld “the right to clean air” as a corollary to the fundamental right to life and pushed governments to act. But Delhi’s bad air is despite the introduction of CNG in public transport and the building of a metro network in the early years of this decade, and in spite of the presence of a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) that kicks in when the air quality turns bad and becomes more stringent as the air quality worsens.
Improving air quality across Indian cities requires three fundamental changes. One, governments must turn to science to understand, measure, and monitor the problem. Two, they have to understand that the response will have to include behavioural changes and use a combination of incentives and penalties to achieve this. And three, clean air has to be seen as a common public good. To be sure, it is not just the responsibility of the Centre or a battle for courts to wage, but a fight that states and municipal governments have to be a part of. This is the battle for our future.
Based on the information in the passage, which one of the following statements is correct?
- Delhi’s air quality is the poorest in the entire world.
- The problem of air pollution is limited to the major cities in India.
- The 50 most polluted cities in the world are in India.
- Begusarai, though primarily agrarian, is the most polluted city in the world.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D - Begusarai, though primarily agrarian, is the most polluted city in the world.
Delhi is the most polluted capital, but Begusarai is the most polluted city, so Delhi's air is not the poorest in the world. Pollution is not limited to major cities: lower-tier cities and towns are also choking. Only 42, not all 50, of the most polluted cities are Indian. The passage does say Begusarai, primarily agrarian, is the world's most polluted city.
Practice for these exams
-
IPMAT Indore
-
Supreme Court Law Clerk and Research Associate
Subject revision
Related question papers
Related exam syllabi
More solved explanations in Reading comprehension
- Directions: Read the passage carefully to answer the question that follows. Passage-IV It is said that once three old men set out on a journey together. One of…
- Read the passage and answer the question. Over the years legal scholars have attempted to define privacy but it is only in the last century this word has been used…
- Read the passage and answer the question. Many of the underdeveloped countries will promote the growth of their economies in one way or another no matter whether…
- Read the following poem and answer the question choosing from the given options : The wind began to rock the grass With threatening tunes and low,- He threw a…
- Read the sentence: “Mr. Kapoor was astonished and incensed at not receiving a direct answer; and Seema suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever…