33,000 Indians Die Due To Short Term Exposure To Air Pollution: Study (image-twitter/Aller_MD)

A new study in the journal Lancet Planetary Health has found that nearly 33,000 deaths in 10 cities in India every year can be attributed to air pollution that is below India’s national clean air threshold.

The authors came to this conclusion using the data on PM2.5 exposure in the 10 cities and the daily counts of mortality between 2008 and 2019. Currently, India’s air norms are presently well above the World Health Organisation guideline of 15 micrograms in every cubic meter of air.

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Thus, the report suggests that India must at least reduce its clean air norms to at least match WHO to protect its citizens from air pollution.

As per the study, across 10 cities in the country including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla and Varanasi around 33,000 deaths per year can be attributed to air pollution levels that are above the WHO guidelines.

The current Indian air quality has also led to an increase in the daily mortality rate in the country, report says. “India’s national air quality standards should be made more stringent, and efforts to control air pollution redoubled,” it added.

The study says that 7.2% of all deaths that occurred between 2008 and 2019 across 10 states are linked to short-term PM2.5 exposure which was higher than WHO guideline value of 15 micrograms in every cubic meter of air.

Out of 10 states, the national capital Delhi recorded the highest number of air pollution with 12,000 deaths each year. “Every 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air increase in short-term PM.s exposure was associated with a 0.31% increase in daily deaths”.

Varanasi was lodged with second highest number of deaths during the period. Around 21,000 have died in Bengaluru, 2,900 in Chennai, 4,700 in Kolkata and around 5,100 each year in Mumbai.

The lowest air pollution levels were recorded in Shimla. However, the hill station is still at risk with 3.7 % of deaths.

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The study was conducted by researchers from Sustainable Future Collaborative, Ashoka University, Centre for Chronic Disease Control, Swedan’s Karolinska Institutet, Harvard and Boston Universities and other places.