POLLUTION

40% of Indians Are Losing Nearly a Decade of Their Lives Due to Air Pollution, Alarming Report Reveals

Thick smog engulfs Delhi after Diwali (Tarun Rawat/BCCL) — Representational image
(Tarun Rawat/BCCL)

Walking into Delhi during the winter can feel like entering a real-life sepia filter at times. With rust-red haze inflicting a constant itch on your throat, one can only imagine the internal scars the city's poor air quality accumulates in our bodies over the span of weeks, months and years. A new study has actually managed to quantify the damage, and it equates to nearly a decade-worth of damage.

A new study by the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago paints a chilling picture of the impact of air pollution in India. It states that nearly 40% of Indians, or over 480 million people from Central, East and North India, could lose more than nine years of their life expectancy, if we allow 2019 levels of air pollution to continue.

According to the report, India's average particulate matter concentration lingered around 70.3 micrograms per cubic metre in 2019. These exceed the World Health Organisation's (WHO) air quality guidelines by a whopping ten times.

The aforementioned regions of concern, which includes Delhi, experience significantly higher pollution levels compared to other parts of the country. The situation is particularly concerning in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, where residents are estimated to lose an additional 2.5 to 2.9 years of life expectancy on average due to air pollution, the report revealed.

However, India's air pollution problem is not isolated. Housing nearly a quarter of the world’s population, the entire South Asian region encompassing Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, consistently ranks among the top five most polluted regions globally.

Even more concerningly, a staggering 58% of the total life years lost worldwide due to particulate matter pollution comes from this part of the world. An average South Asian would live nearly six years longer if we just managed to bring air pollution down to WHO-guided levels, the report insists.

Amid such hazardous times, India's 2019 National Clean Air Program (NCAP) must clamp down harder than ever before. The NCAP aims to tackle the air pollution crisis by reducing pollution in the 102 worst-affected cities by 20%-30% by 2024. This involves measures such as better monitoring, curbing industrial emissions and vehicular exhaust, implementing stricter regulations for transport fuels and biomass burning, and minimising dust pollution. Achieving these targets could translate to a significant increase in life expectancy, with an estimated gain of 1.7 years for India as a whole and 3.1 years for Delhi residents.

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