New Delhi: The nation’s capital city reported more than 15,000 premature deaths in 2016 due to air pollution.
A study in 13 mega cities of south Asia and China attributed the deaths to particulate matter, particularly PM 2.5. It will soon bee published in Elsevier’s Process Safety and Environmental Protection journal.
Mumbai stood 4th in the number of such deaths. Over 5000 people had died of air pollution in Chennai and Bengaluru the same year.
Exposure to particulate matter increases chances of heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, lung cancer among adults and upper respiratory tract illnesses in children.
“Chinese cities report higher mortality numbers, despite lower pollution levels because the population is more,” explained Kamal Jyoti Maji, a co-author of the study.
“Also there is a higher burden of elderly people who are disproportionately affected by air pollution exposure,” he added.
The Environment Ministry has come up with a plan to deal with Delhi’s pollution.
Road sweepers: Road dust being a major contributor to air pollution, the govt has decide to increase the number of road sweepers from 32 to 74 by September-end.
Green: Green walls to be grown on 262 metro pillars and roadside pavings by September-end.
Water sprinkling: More water tankers to spray water to prevent dust from flying around.
Municipal solid waste: Capacities of waste-to-energy plants to be increased. Landfills to be revamped within 10 months.
An IIT-Bombay and Health Effects Institute report said that deaths due to air pollution in India can increase to 3.6 million by 2050 if action isn’t taken.
Last November, the air pollution levels in Delhi led to a health emergency kind situation.
“The current policy is not enough to protect public health in any mega city in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The future also looks bleak if current policies continue,” Maji, an activist said, adding that “China has stronger regulatory mechanisms and time-bound specific targets.”
The Environment Ministry had drafted a National Clean Air Programme policy, but that was met with criticism from activists for not having specific pollution reduction targets and also for not addressing health impacts.
“It’s good that the environment ministry is finally thinking of implementing the much anticipated National Clean Air Programme. NCAP should be the ultimate framework to ensure compliance to our commitment towards tackling air pollution from all the sources,” Sunil Dahiya, an air pollution campaigner with Greenpeace India, told Hindustan Times.
“Without time-bound emission and sectoral targets, the National Clean Air Programme will be ineffectual,” he added.
