India's prime minister suggested Monday the country's "age-old traditions" could be used to ease its choking smog, as he launched a new air quality index for the world's most polluted capital.
Narendra Modi proposed making every Sunday "bicycle day" and switching off street lights during a full moon, amid growing public concern over the impact of air pollution on the health of India's 1.2 billion people.
The government said the new index would initially cover 10 cities -- Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad -- each of which would have monitoring stations with Air Quality Index display boards.
The government is under intense pressure to act after the World Health Organization last year declared New Delhi the world's most polluted capital.
At least 3,000 people die prematurely every year in the city because of air pollution, according to a joint study by Boston-based Health Effects Institute and Delhi's Energy Resources Institute.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the new index could drive efforts to ease air pollution.
But he gave little indication of what the government would do except to promise new rules on disposing of construction waste.
The dust from India's thousands of industrial and construction sites adds to the fumes from millions of vehicles to create the toxic cocktail that city-dwellers breathe.
Many experts were unimpressed.
"Monitoring pollution is not a solution to stop pollution," said ecologist Vandana Shiva, adding Modi's campaign to attract foreign companies to manufacture in India would only exacerbate the problem.
Greenpeace welcomed the new index but said it had expected the government "to address the issue with more rigour and responsibility".
A new government website for the index, which will provide colour-coded air quality rankings ranging from "good" to "severe", went live on Monday morning, but could not be accessed. Officials said it had likely collapsed under high demand.
The aim is for the index to eventually cover 66 cities.
The government gave few details about the new rules on construction waste. Delhi generates up to 4,000 tonnes of construction debris every day, according to a 2014 study by the Centre for Science and Environment.
Policymakers have suggested restrictions on private vehicles, higher pollution-related taxes and stricter enforcement of urban planning laws.
PHOTO: India's government launched a new air quality index on April 6, 2015, under intense pressure to act after the World Health Organization declared New Delhi the world's most polluted capital.
CREDIT: AFP Photo/Roberto Schmidt.