Delhi, the most polluted city in the world, is grappling with a severe air pollution crisis that is resulting in a staggering reduction of life expectancy by 11.9 years, as revealed by a recent study.
The findings based on PM2.5 data for 2021 derived from satellites showed that pollution in India has increased from 56.2 µg/m3 of air in 2020 to 58.7 µg/m3 of air in 2021. This exceeds the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guideline of 5 micrograms per cubic metre of air by more than 10 times.
As a result, all of India’s 1.3 billion people live in areas where the annual average particulate pollution level.
About 67.4 per cent of the Indian population live in areas that exceed the country’s own national air quality standard of 40 µg/m3 of air.
In 2021, Delhi’s annual average PM2.5 level was found to be 126.5 µg/m3 air, which is more than 25 times the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m3 of air, according to the report. In 2020, this figure was found to be a little lower at 107 µg/m3 of air.
“If India were to reduce particulate pollution to meet the WHO guideline, residents in Delhi would gain 11.9 years of life expectancy. In North 24 Parganas — the country’s second most populous district — residents would gain 5.6 years of life expectancy,” the study said.
Further, their findings showed that particulate pollution has increased over time. From 1998 to 2021, average annual particulate pollution increased by 67.7 per cent, further reducing average life expectancy by 2.3 years. From 2013 to 2021, 59.1 per cent of the world’s increase in pollution has come from India.