Published on: May 18, 2022

POLLUTION IN INDIA

POLLUTION IN INDIA

NEWS : India topped air pollution death toll in 2019 as per a recent report by The Lancet Planetary Health

WHAT DID THE REPORT SAY

  • Globally, air pollution alone contributes to 66.7 lakh deaths, according to the report, which updates a previous analysis from 2015
  • Overall, pollution was responsible for an estimated 90 lakh deaths in 2019 (equivalent to one in six deaths worldwide), a number that has remained unchanged since the 2015 analysis
  • Ambient air pollution was responsible for 45 lakh deaths, and hazardous chemical pollutants for 17 lakh, with 9 lakh deaths attributable to lead pollution
  • The majority of the 16.7 lakh air pollution-related deaths in India – 9.8 lakh — were caused by PM2.5 pollution, and another 6.1 lakh by household air pollution
  • Although the number of deaths from pollution sources associated with extreme poverty (such as indoor air pollution and water pollution) has decreased, these reductions are offset by increased deaths attributable to industrial pollution (such as ambient air pollution and chemical pollution)
  • Air pollution is most severe in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This area contains New Delhi and many of the most polluted cities
  • Burning of biomass in households was the single largest cause of air pollution deaths in India, followed by coal combustion and crop burning
  • The number of deaths remains high despite India’s considerable efforts against household air pollution, including through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana programme
  • India has developed a National Clean Air Programme, and in 2019 launched a Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region. However, India does not have a strong centralised administrative system to drive its air pollution control efforts and consequently improvements in overall air quality have been limited and uneven
  • An estimated 9 lakh people die every year globally due to lead pollution and this number is likely to be an underestimate
  • Earlier the source of lead pollution was from leaded petrol which was replaced with unleaded petrol. However the other sources of lead exposure include unsound recycling of lead-acid batteries and e-waste without pollution controls, spices that are contaminated with lead, pottery glazed with lead salts and lead in paint and other consumer products