‘Air pollutants 10 times high in Rohtak than WHO norms’
ROHTAK : A person living in Rohtak could live up to eight years longer if the air quality is kept within the standards prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), according to noted US environmentalist Michael Greenstone.
Greenstone, also an economist who had served as chief economist on the council of economic advisors under the former US President Barack Obama’s administration, was speaking at a lecture organised by Maharishi Dayanand University’s Ranbir Singh chair in Rohtak on Sunday.
The lecture by Greenstone, a professor in economics and director of Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, was also attended by former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda.
Addressing the gathering, Greenstone said air pollution was a bigger threat to life than smoking and drug abuse, but its long-term impact is often ignored.
“Our study indicates that the average PM (particulate matter) of 2.5 concentration in Rohtak was 95, which is almost 10 times higher than limits prescribed by the WHO (10) and only marginally lower than the 114 for the national capital of Delhi. The national average for India is 54, which is more than five times the WHO standards,” he said.
Greenstone was in Rohtak on the invitation of local MP Deepender who had met the expert when he delivered a lecture on his private member’s bill on right to clean air at University of Chicago.
“My colleagues and I developed the AQLI (air quality life index) to address these shortcomings. It takes particulate air pollution concentrations and converts them into perhaps the most important metric that exists—life expectancy,” he added.