What is in news : Bengaluru’s air pollution, already three times above the WHO guidelines, will double within the next 10 years if the Union government goes ahead with the planned expansion of coal fleet by 28 per cent, a report by C40 Cities has warned.

Details :

• C40, a network of 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities
• India’s plans could “nearly double” the number of annual premature deaths from coal plant pollution in the city.
• The study looked into the gaps in the ambition of different countries in meeting the 1.5 degrees Celsius compliance set by the United Nations panel on climate change.
• A 1.5°C scenario requires that coal capacity in and around C40 cities decrease by 61 per cent between 2020 and 2030. However, current coal plans within 500 km of C40 cities will actually increase coal capacity by 4 per cent between 2020 and 2030
• Other cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi fared worse than Bengaluru due to multiple factors, including the presence of coal-based power plants within a radius of 500 km.
• The study suggested that India could create 1.25 lakh new jobs in the energy sector by giving a push to solar and wind energy.