Pollution in Delhi reducing life expectancy

• Air pollution could shorten the life of India’s capital, Delhi, the world’s most polluted city by about 10 years, according to a US research group.
• The study added that life expectancy in India will be reduced by five years to current air quality levels.
•  He said the 1.3 billion people in India live in areas where “average annual levels of fine dust pollution” exceed the WHO safety limit of 5 μg / m³.India’s bad weather kills millions every year.

Air pollution could shorten the life of India’s capital, Delhi, the world’s most polluted city by about 10 years, according to a US research group.

The study added that life expectancy in India will be reduced by five years to current air quality levels. He said the 1.3 billion people in India live in areas where “average annual levels of fine dust pollution” exceed the WHO safety limit of 5 μg / m³.

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India’s bad weather kills millions every year. The smoky air that covers most Indian cities during the winter contains dangerously high levels of a particle called PM2.5, a small particle that can clog the lungs and cause many diseases.

According to the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) Air Quality Index, approximately 510 million people in northern India (40% of India’s population) live an average of 7.6 years, adjusted for pollution. level. However, reducing pollution according to WHO standards would increase the life expectancy of about 240 million people in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh by 10 years. According to EPIC, about 44% of global pollution in 2013 comes from India, which is now the second most polluted country in the world.

According to the report, more than 63% of Indians live in areas that exceed Indian air quality standards (40 μg / m³ is safe). However, in 2019, the average particle concentration in India was 70.3 μg / m³, the highest in the world.

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Michael Greenston, one of the authors of the report, said: “It would be a global emergency if a Martian came to Earth and sprinkled something that could live on an ordinary person for more than two years.” “This is similar to the situation in many parts of the world, except that we are removing dust from space and not invaders,” he added.

EPIC said particulate pollution is “the biggest threat to human life” in terms of life expectancy in India, with particulate pollution rising by 61.4% since 1998. It is more lethal, about 2.5 years shorter than smoking.

The increase in air pollution in India over the last two decades is mainly due to industrialization, economic development and strong growth in the use of fossil fuels. The statement said that the number of cars on the country’s roads has almost doubled.

He acknowledged the government’s efforts to combat air pollution. The National Clean Air Program (NCAP) aims to reduce emissions by 20-30%. “If India maintains this decline, health will improve dramatically,” the report added.