Deadly air

The toll that air pollution is taking on lives in India is alarming. The Health Effects Institute (HEI) report serves as yet another warning to the country to take corrective measures. Toxic air proved fatal for over 1.2 million in 2017 in the country. India bears the notorious burden of repeatedly having the maximum number of cities on the WHO’s list of most polluted places. What compounds the concern is that concerted efforts to improve the situation have been lax. Over the past few decades, inhaling poor-quality air has been affecting the quality of lives of millions — both rich and poor - as they gasp for a breath of unsullied air. There is hardly anyone who is free from its resultant morbid problems: allergies, coughs, watery eyes, and chronic heart or lung diseases. Even those not smoking are at equal risk, with the latest report ranking polluted air as the third highest cause of death among all health risks, above tobacco use. 

Both indoor and outdoor factors are contributing to the increasingly unlivable habitat. Only a strict check and regulation on the use of wood and kerosene stoves that convert homes into gas chambers will topple India from its present top position in indoor air pollution. The outdoor pollutants most impacting the health are soot, dust particles, ozone and sulphur and nitrous oxides. Despite efforts, villains such as emissions from vehicles and industries as well as constructions have not yet been tamed to the desired levels. The PM2.5 - particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter - continue to dangerously float in the ambient air and play havoc with lives by penetrating deep into the lungs in the absence of enough counter-measures.

It is time pollution is made an electoral issue in India, beginning with the current General Election. For, the rampant failure to make our air clean has already cast dark clouds on our next generation: the HEI report predicts that the lifespan of a child born in India today is likely to be two and a half years shortened as against the life expectancy loss of 20 months in countries that have controlled pollution.