Short-Term Exposure To Air Pollution Kills 33,000 Indians Annually:

New Delhi: Nearly 33,000 deaths in 10 cities in India every year can be attributed to air pollution levels that are below India’s national clean air threshold. The report has been published in Lancet Planetary Health.India’s clean air norms are presently well above the World Health Organisation guideline of 15 micrograms in every cubic meter of air. The report makes the point that India must drastically reduce its clean air norms to at least match WHO guidelines to protect citizens from the dangers of polluted air.The authors used data on PM2.5 exposure in the 10 cities and the daily counts of mortality between 2008 and 2019.Even levels of air pollution below current Indian air quality standards lead to increased daily mortality rates in the country, the study found.”Across 10 cities in the country – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla, and Varanasi, around 33,000 deaths per year can be attributed to air pollution levels that are above the WHO guidelines.