Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, June 14: Air pollution is the greatest threat to human health in India, with the average Indian resident losing five years of life expectancy if WHO rules are not followed, According to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago’s (EPIC) Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) issued on Tuesday.
Residents of Delhi, the world’s most polluted megacity, might lose 10 years of life expectancy if current air pollution levels persist, according to the report, with average annual PM2.5 levels reaching 107 micrograms per cubic metre or more than 21 times the WHO standards.
The average yearly PM2.5 concentration should not exceed five micrograms per cubic metre, according to new World Health Organization (WHO) standards released last year. Previously, the concentration was 10 micrograms per cubic metre.
The AQLI indicates that ambient particle pollution is continuously the world’s largest harm to human health when measured in terms of life expectancy.
Globally, air pollution affects life expectancy by 2.2 years when compared to a world that follows WHO guidelines. This effect on life expectancy is comparable to smoking, more than three times that of drinking too much alcohol and drinking contaminated water, six times that of HIV/AIDS, and 89 times that of violence and terrorism.
“Of all the countries in the world, India faces the highest health burden of air pollution due to its high particulate pollution concentrations and large population,” said the report.
Since 1998, India’s average yearly particle pollution has increased by 61.4 percent, resulting in a 2.1-year fall in average life expectancy.
The report ascribed India’s rising air pollution to the country’s industrialisation, economic development, and population increase over the last two decades, all of which have resulted in soaring energy demand and fossil fuel consumption.
The WHO standards for annual average particle pollution are exceeded in all of India’s 130 million inhabitants. According to the report, more than 63 percent of the population lives in places where air quality exceeds the country’s own official threshold of 40 micrograms per cubic metre.
With an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 76.2 micrograms per cubic metre in 2020, the Indo-Gangetic plains, which are home to more than 50 crore people or roughly 40% of the country’s population, are India’s most polluted region.
Notably, the Indian government proclaimed a “war on pollution” in 2019 and began the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), with the goal of lowering particle pollution levels by 20 to 30 percent by 2024, compared to 2017.
