Greenpeace analysis of NASA’s data revealed that India has overtaken China’s air pollution levels in 2015 and the average particulate matter exposure was higher for the first time in the 21st century.

Greenpeace India said “China’s strong measures to curb pollution have contributed to the biggest year-on-year air quality improvement on record while in contrast, India’s pollution levels continued a decade-long increase to reach the highest level on record”.

Greenpeace research noted that 23 out of 32 National Air Quality Index (NAQI) stations in India had recorded more than 70% exceedance of the national standards, which puts public health at risk. Furthermore, as many as 15 cities showed levels of air pollution that greatly exceeded the prescribed national standards.

Greenpeace researchers believe that the NAQI system will only be effective in protecting citizens from air pollution if efforts are made to communicate pollution levels through radio and TV channels, as well as through the internet.

Greenpeace also stressed the for India to lay down a focused and time bound action plan to mitigate air pollution crisis. The study found India has a dearth of online monitoring systems in place in its cities, only 39 such stations compared to 1,500 in China, 770 in the United States and 1,000 in Europe.