RAS question
According to the State of India's Environment 2026 report, what percentage of India's population lives within 10 km of a continuous air quality monitoring station?
Correct answer: (C) 15%.
According to the State of India's Environment 2026 report, only 15% of India's population lives within 10 km of a continuous air quality monitoring station.
Explanation
The figure is 15% because CSE's State of India's Environment 2026 analysis measures access to continuous monitors, not the mere existence of air-quality stations somewhere in the country. The cited CSE page states that only 15% of India's population, about 20 crore people, lives within 10 km of a continuous monitor. The remaining 85%, over 120 crore people, is outside measurable range. This distinction matters because continuous air quality monitoring stations provide real-time, hourly data, while large parts of India remain outside that monitoring grid. The report therefore treats India's air-pollution challenge as a monitoring-coverage problem as well as a pollution-control problem.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 50% is too high; the report says only 15% of Indians live within 10 km of a continuous monitor, not half the population.
- (B) 30% doubles the reported coverage; CSE's analysis places coverage at 15%, leaving 85% outside measurable range.
- (D) 25% still overstates the monitoring reach; the cited report gives 15% as the population within the 10 km radius.
Concept
This tests environmental monitoring and air-pollution governance, especially the gap between reported AQI systems and actual population coverage. It recurs in RAS because environment questions often link data infrastructure with policy capacity.