Context
The latest findings from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report, published by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, highlight that persistent air pollution could lead to an average loss of 3.4 years of life expectancy for Indians if current pollution levels persist.
Overview of Air Pollution in India
- Air Quality Status: In 2022, this city experienced a 19.3% decrease in the level of particulate pollution compared to the previous year, thus adding 51 days to the life span of its citizens. Even after this reduction, the average PM2.5 concentration stands at approximately 41.4 µg/m³, significantly above the WHO guideline value of 5 µg/m³. This means that more than 1.4 billion Indians are living in areas where the air quality is unsafe to breathe and poses a serious health hazard-reducing life expectancy.
- Regional Inequalities: The implications of air pollution are heterogeneous in nature across the country. The Northern Plains, with a population of more than 540 million, face the maximum brunt, and people in this part of the country specifically are expected to lose around 5.4 years of life expectancy at these continued levels of pollution. Other states, such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, also have important problems, with the average life loss of an individual being 2.9 years.
Health Implications of Air Pollution
- Reducing Life Expectancy: Indeed AQLI report suggests that if India has to avoid the annual PM2. 5 Concentration standard according to whom, the average Indian will lose 3.6 years of adverse health effects on respiratory and cardiovascular systems because of air pollution. Some of them include; For the same reason, it highlights that policy interventions are required with an emphasis on the fact that even a small decrease in air pollution will substantially contribute to an increase in life expectancy.
- Vulnerable Populations: The population categories that are most affected by pollution mainly include the underage, senior citizens and other individuals who have other health complications before the effects of pollution. This will be because constant exposure to hazardous air pollutants exacerbates other diseases like asthma, copd and heart diseases, which in turn lead to reduced life expectancy in these populations.
Factors Contributing to Air Pollution
- Meteorological Conditions: This is further complicated by the favorable meteorological conditions that was experienced in the year 2022 with increased precipitation and reduced thermal inversions that helped reduce the level of air pollution. These conditions helped in the dispersion of pollutants hence enhancing the quality of air in so many parts. These improvements, however, are not guaranteed to remain sustainable and should little be done then the levels creep up again.
- The NCAP mandates a national goal of a 20-30 per cent reduction in particulate pollution by the year 2024 relative to the base year of 2017. On the contrary, the report puts the average PM2. 5 thereby reducing the program districts by 19% and the non-program districts by 16% thus showing the growing need to widen the air quality regulation and enforcement system to protect the people.
Positive Trends and Future Outlook
- Areas of Improvement: However, there has been some improvement observed in some of the domains as will be explained next. Some of the districts such as Purulia and Bankura in West Bengal, and Dhanbad in Jharkhand, have recorded a reduction in PM2.5 readings above 20 µg/m³ were achieved at five distinct intensity levels. This is somehow an indication of the fact that if this is persisted, then there can be serious gains in terms of additional years to be gained from the hands of its residents.
- The Role of Innovation: As a measure to come up with what the experts regard as novel approaches, interventions including; the market for particulate pollution in Gujarat have shown that air quality can be enhanced without any compromise on economic development. It was expected that the success of these initiatives would set examples for other states to follow and would create a path for inter-state cooperation for dealing with air pollution, country-wide.
Conclusion
The evidence presented in this AQLI report helps the Indian population and authorities to wake up from complacency towards the air pollution issue. With the risk of 3. With 4 years life expectancy hanging over the population it becomes critical for policy makers to work towards its execution of defined strategies that conform to the WHO standards. Therefore by committing itself to improving air quality and fostering sustainable development, India would help protect the welfare of its population and extend life expectancy. There is now a need for expanded partnership to address this major public health issue starting from the very next path, the government, industry and civil society.
Source: Livemint