India Air Pollution Causes Over 1M Premature Deaths
Air pollution in India is getting worst. The country could now be considered as China's rival regarding air pollution. A newly published study indicates that the level of air pollution in India will surpass those of China, making the country as the most polluted place in the world.
According to The Economic Times, the government is still denying that the air pollution in India was the primary reason for many premature deaths in the past years. India is now considered as China's rival in the highest air pollution health burdens in the world.
Beijing, on the other hand, has taken several measures to reduce its carbon emissions and to stabilize the level of dangerous air particles known as PM2.5 in the country. Air pollution in India is becoming worst yet the government has not yet taken any steps to prevent it.
The United States Health Effects Institute or HEI found out that air pollution in India caused more 4.2 million early deaths in the world in 2015. Air pollution in India and China becomes the highest cause of 2.2 million deaths.
Air pollution in India and China were responsible for almost half of the total global attributable deaths. India this year has registered an alarming increase with nearly 50 percent in premature deaths from 1990 and 2015.
Aside from the data analysis about air pollution, the new study also highlights that 92 percent of the world's population resides in the countries with unhealthy air. 1.1 million deaths were accounted due to air pollution in India.
HEI president Dan Greenbaum that India has still a long way to go because there are ministers who still believe that there is no strong connection and proof between air pollution in India and mortality despite the evidence of death in the past.
According to Thompson Reuters Foundation News, the government of China has become reluctant when it comes to drawing direct links between air pollution and mortality. India's spokesman for environment ministry could not be reached for now, but Minister Anil Madhav Dave stated last week that there are not final data available to prove the link between air pollution in India and mortality.