The environment ministry, however, admitted that at present it had no data or study by any Indian authority estimating the number of deaths due to air pollution. The ministry released a list of 94 major Indian cities that had poor air quality during 2011-2015. The State of Global Air 2017 report, released last week by the US-based Health Effects Institute, said about 1.1 million people die in India every year due to air pollution. Environment minister Anil Madhav Dave said Indian authorities are beginning a study to investigate deaths from air pollution. He said the ministry has repeatedly issued guidelines to local urban bodies to take necessary action to control air pollution.

Source: Mint February 21, 2017 19:49 UTC