Air pollution in India cuts life expectancy by 9 years
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
An American study clearly highlights the dramatic effects of air pollution in India, particularly in major cities.
Air pollution in India cuts life expectancy by 9 years
An American study clearly highlights the dramatic effects of air pollution in India, particularly in major cities.
Air pollution reduces the life expectancy of Indian citizens by more than nine years. This deeply alarming figure is set out in a report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (Epic). The analysis, as reported by the Reuters agency, assessed the health impact on the inhabitants of more than 480 million people across various areas throughout the Asian nation, including the capital New Delhi.
In India, hundreds of millions of people forced to breathe unhealthy air
Often, particularly those living in urban areas, people are forced to live with extremely high levels of pollution. "The concentrations of harmful agents are increasingly widespread at a geographical level, which is alarming," the report underlines.
Among the most serious deteriorations in particular are those recorded in the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. For this reason, Epic has stressed the importance of meeting the reduction targets for pollution set by the National Clean Air Programme (Ncap). These targets involve specifically reducing the presence of harmful agents to health by 20–30 per cent in the 102 cities most affected by the phenomenon. A goal that should be achieved by 2024.
Air pollution is likely to reduce the life expectancy of about 40% of Indians by more than nine years, according to a report released by a U.S. research group reut.rs/3gP4Azr
The government's plan to reduce pollution
To achieve this, the aim is to reduce both the pollution caused by industrial production and that linked to mobility. By introducing, for example, specific rules in terms of emissions and installing new air quality monitoring systems.
This would in fact lead to an increase in life expectancy of 1.7 years, on average, across India. And for those living in New Delhi in particular, the gain would be as much as 3.1 years. The metropolis itself, moreover, was considered in 2020 to be the most polluted capital in the world — a grim record it claimed for the third consecutive year.