Pollution may cut life expectancy of 40% Indians: Report
NEW DELHI: 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 on Wednesday.
More than 480 million people living in the vast swathes of central, eastern and northern India, including the capital, New Delhi, endure significantly high pollution levels, said the report prepared by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).
“Alarmingly, India’s high levels of air pollution have expanded geographically over time,” the EPIC report said.
For example, air quality has significantly worsened in the western state of Maharashtra and the central state of Madhya Pradesh, it said. “Compared to a couple of decades ago, particulate pollution is no longer a feature of the Indo-Gangetic plains alone.
Pollution has increased so much in the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. For example, the average person in those states is now losing an additional 2.5 to 2.9 years of life
expectancy, relative to early 2000,” the report said.
Lauding India’s National Clean Air Program (NCAP), launched in 2019 to rein in dangerous pollution levels, the EPIC report said “achieving and sustaining” the NCAP goals would raise the country’s overall life expectancy by 1.7 years and that of New Delhi 3.1 years.
The NCAP aims to reduce pollution in the 102 worst-affected cities by 20%-30% by 2024