3 An effective anti-pollution policy should set the bar higher

According to the daily AQI bulletin of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi’s air has been in the “poor” category or worse on 52% of the days from 2016 to November 8 this year. To be sure, winter is not the only period when Delhi has an air pollution problem. In fact, even in summer months (April to June), the air has been in the “poor” category or worse on 48% of days since 2016. The ratio increases to 55% if one excludes 2020, when air quality improved drastically because of the 68-day nationwide lockdown. This “poor” threshold is important because this is when the air start affecting almost everyone exposed to it for long, and not just the people with lung or heart diseases.