Delhi Most Polluted, Residents Could Lose Almost 12 years Of Life: Study
A new study has found that Delhi has become the most polluted city in the world. The study also said that, with the present pollution level continuing, residents could lose 11.9 years of their life. The fine particles air pollution can bring down an average Indian’s life expectancy by 5.3 years.
The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago released the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), which says that India’s 1.3 billion people live in places which exceeds the pollution levels of 5 µg/m3 limit prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Tribune reported.
India’s national air quality standard is 40 µg/m3. In India, 67.4 percent of people live in places which exceeds this level.
The AQLI study has said that, the 18 million residents of Delhi, which is the most polluted city, could lose 11.9 years of their life on an average, relative to the 8.5 years of the WHO, relative to the national guidelines if the present levels of pollution continue.
“Even in the least polluted district in the region — Pathankot in Punjab — particulate pollution is more than seven times the WHO limit, taking 3.1 years off life expectancy if current levels persist,” the study said.
In the northern part of the country, the particulate pollution is intensified by geologic and meteorological factors. The AQLI, after removing dust and sea salt, PM 2.5 data shows that human activity has a key role in causing particulate pollution. This could be because, the regions population density is large, almost three times than the rest of the country, which means there is more vehicular pollution with residential and agricultural pollution too contributing to it.
“Three-quarters of air pollution”s impact on global life expectancy occurs in just six countries — Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and Indonesia — where people lose one to more than six years of their lives because of the air they breathe,” the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and creator of AQLI, Michael Greenstone said.
