The Delhi has been famous
for its status as the capital city of India and now it is also famous for its
pollution. According to a study conducted on this topic it was found that
people who are living in Delhi their life expectancy may drop by 6.4 years while
Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are likely to account for the highest number of
premature deaths in India and this study was conducted by the Indian Institute
of Tropical Meteorology.
This study was jointly done
by the scientists of IITM and National Centre of Atmospheric Research,
Colorado. These findings have further ignited the concern over the need to
improve air quality of Delhi air on urgent basis or no one can stop Delhi being
the most polluted and unhealthy city in the World.
The study was conducted on
the data compiled in the 2011 census to arrive at the figures of premature
mortality due to exposure to particulate matter across the Country.
In Maharashtra the life
expectancy dropped by 3.3 years due to exposure to pollution. The report has
title "Premature Mortalities due to PM2.5 and ozone exposure in
India". According to this report in Maharashtra alone 10% of the Country's
deaths occur due to pollution with Uttar Pradesh topping at around 15%.
One of the scientists of
IITM, Sachin Ghude who was also involved in the study said "Although these
results are in line with other global estimates, such as the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD), there's no physical
way to tell who has actually been killed by air pollution. The methods used in
this study rely on statistical algorithms to construct estimates about a
population's response to pollution exposure using previous concrete
observations on pollution and public health. The problem is that most of these
observational studies have taken place in regions with comparatively low
pollution levels, such as Europe or the US, and we don't have any
epidemiological studies in India that look at the long-term effects of air
pollution on mortality."
What causes pollution and PM
increase?
Obviously the emission from
vehicles, experts say that mostly pollution is emitted from vehicles and it is
the cause of chronic pulmonary diseases.
Ghude further added "Premature mortality due to PM2.5 is 5.7 lakh and from ozone 12,000 for 2011. Exposure
to these led to an economic loss of approximately $640 billion. Exposure to
fine particulate matter in the air also reduces life expectancy by about 3.4
years."
Doctors have told that
regular exposure to pollution drastically affects people's health as finer
matter of air pollution also enters the heart apart from the lungs through the
blood stream and causes ischaemic heart diseases, heart attacks and blood
pressure problems.
