Pollution May Reduce Indians’ Life Expectancy by 5 Years

Air pollution can reduce the life expectancy of Indians by about 5 years, according to the latest report from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) of the Energy Policy Institute under the University of Chicago. It is said that Delhi is the most polluted city in the country. Pollution can reduce life expectancy there by 10.1 years. On the other hand, the lives of 97.3% of the world’s citizens are at risk due to air pollution.

The report is based on data from 2020. It said 63 per cent of Indians live in areas where air pollution is above national standards (40 micrograms per cubic meter). According to the report, Bangladesh (75.8 micro g / m3) could reduce the life expectancy of its citizens by 6.9 years, followed by India. The 7th rank in the country in terms of air pollution is West Bengal. The amount of pollution in this state is 65.4 micrograms / m3. As a result, the life expectancy of the state can be reduced to 5.9 years.

Other causes of low life expectancy

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According to the report, air pollution in the world can reduce the life expectancy by 2.2 years. On the other hand, smoking can reduce life expectancy by 1.9 years, alcohol by 8 months, unsafe water by seven months, HIV by four months, malaria by three months and terrorism by 9 days.

According to the index released yesterday, India has been responsible for 44% of the world’s pollution growth rate since 2013. Contamination has increased from 53 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 55.7 micrograms per cubic meter now. 11 times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) limit (5 micrograms per cubic meter)! Last year, the WHO changed its pollution regulations. Previously, 10 micro grams per cubic meter per year was considered pollution tolerant.

Pollution rate in other cities

The National Clean Air Program (NCAP) was launched in the country in 2019 to control the pollution situation. But the situation has not improved, on the contrary, it has deteriorated. According to the Pollution Index, the level of pollution in the Gangetic plains of India has increased 21 times more than the level set by WHO (107.6 micro g / m3 in Delhi NCT area). The pollution situation in the region has been the worst in the last two decades. The situation is serious in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Pollution in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh has increased by 68.4 per cent and 77.2 per cent since 2000, respectively. Ladakh has the lowest pollution in the country. It is followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Andaman-Nicobar, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Nagaland, Karnataka. Mainly industrialization, economic development, population growth has been blamed for the increase in pollution. In addition, the number of vehicles on the road is constantly increasing. There are many urban areas on both sides of the Ganges. There is a lot of factory and farming land. As a result, dust and smoke are spreading in the air from there.