14 Indian Cities Among World’s 20 Most Polluted: WHO

Industries, households, cars and trucks emit complex mixtures of air pollutants and form ambient air pollution.

NEW DELHI: According to a new World Health Organisation report, 14 out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India.The report is being launched on the eve of WHO’s first ever Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health.

The air pollution related mortality and disease burden India faces is also the highest in the world. More than 2 million deaths occur in India prematurely every year, accounting for 25% of the global deaths due to poor air quality.

Across the world, at least 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by air pollution in 2016.

India also has one of the highest morbidity and mortality rates: at least 50 deaths for every 100,000 children due to such infections.

“Air pollution is one of the leading risk factors for the national burden of disease in India,” the report states, adding that researchers tracked more than 1,000 women in India throughout pregnancy and found a direct correlation between increased exposure to pollution and premature, underweight babies.

The average level of PM2.5 — particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameterthat can dangerously clog lungs — was 354 in the city on Monday. The WHO considers levels under25 to be acceptable for humans to breathe regularly.

The supreme court also banned old diesel and petrol fuel vehicles from plying in NCR.It ordered the traffic police to seize diesel vehicles older than 15 years and petrol vehicles older than 10 years if found plying on the road.

“The list of such vehicles should be published on the websites of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the transport departments of NCR,” the court said.

The ban was first imposed by India’s National Green Tribunal in 2015, but the Indian government had challenged it in the supreme court, calling a 15-year-old limit for diesel vehicles too high.

Since then, New Delhi’s air quality has deteriorated. The air quality index reached the 999-mark last year, more than three times the level considered hazardous.

On Oct. 29, the WHO released a report on clean air which said that exposure to ambient particulate matter of diametre under 2.5 micrometres (PM 2.5) killed 60,987 infants in India in 2016, the highest for any country in the world.

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