A new study published by The Lancet shows that pollution caused over 23 lakh premature deaths in India in the year 2019, of this 16.7 lakh were due to air pollution, accounting for 17·8% of deaths in the country.
Despite efforts to combat household air pollution, India recorded the highest estimated number of air pollution-related fatalities in 2019.
According to the World Health Organization, India’s air quality has deteriorated significantly during the previous two decades. Since the 1990s, and by 2017, nearly 97% of the country’s population has been exposed to harmful levels of ambient PM2.5. As a result, during the previous two decades, air pollution-related mortality in India has grown 2.5 times.
The report highlights a high burden of deaths caused by air pollution
Delhi had the highest per-capita economic loss due to air pollution. This is followed by Haryana in 2019, with 5·4 times the variation across the nation.
The report highlights a high burden of deaths and diseases caused by air pollution. The associated adverse economic effect which might impede India’s ambition to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024, as envisioned by the Indian government.
Successful reduction of air pollution in India through state-specific strategies would lead to substantial benefits for both the health of the population and the economy.
According to the Lancet report, pollution is still responsible for around 9 million fatalities every year, or one in every six deaths globally. This figure has not changed since 2015, according to the report. Air pollution (including household and ambient air pollution) was the leading cause of death in 2019, accounting for 6.7 million deaths.
According to the report, economic losses due to modern forms of pollution are increasing as a proportion of GDP between 2000 and 2019 in India, China, and Nigeria, and are now conservatively estimating to amount to approximately 1∙0% of GDP in each of these countries.
Talking about the efforts by India and China, the report finds out that both countries are dealing with pollution and have made substantial investments in monitoring and planning to support pollution reduction efforts.
Conclusion
The study says that due to comprehensive efforts by China to curb the burning of solid fuels, there is a decrease in the amount of pollution in Beijing. India, however, has developed instruments and regulatory powers to mitigate pollution sources but, there is no centralized system to drive pollution control efforts and achieve improvements. Pollution remains well above WHO guidelines in 93% of India.
Countries like India must focus on addressing the issue of air pollution and a massive rapid transition to wind and solar energy to reduce ambient air pollution, in addition to slowing down climate change for a better and sustainable future.
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