India tops list with 2.5 million pollution-related deaths in world : Study

New Delhi: As many as 2.5 million premature deaths occurred in India in 2015, a study revealed. All the deaths were linked to illnesses caused by environmental pollution. Whereas, China stood second with 1.8 million pollution-related deaths.

Ths total number of pollution-related deaths in India is more than the total number of deaths due to smoking, hunger, and natural disasters, the major study published in the medical journal The Lancet said. The figure of 2.5 million is even more than deaths due to AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.

According to the report by 40 international scientists, the number of pollution-related deaths stood at 9 million, and the vast majority occurred in developing countries, mentions Times Now.

“With globalisation, mining and manufacturing shifted to poorer countries, where environmental regulations and enforcement can be lax,” said Karti Sandilya, one of the authors and an adviser to environmental group Pure Earth.

Adding to that, she said that people in poorer countries, such as construction workers in New Delhi, are more exposed to air pollution, as they walk, bike or ride the bus to workplaces that may also be polluted. In contrast, many people in developed countries commute to air-conditioned offices in air-conditioned cars, he told the news agency Reuters in an email.

Continuous exposure to high level of air pollution can affect human respiratory and inflammatory systems and can cause heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.

Over the past 20 years, there was a 150 percent rise in deaths in the country from ozone pollutants, the State of Global Air 2017 report revealed, earlier this year.

The Supreme Court imposed a ban on firecrackers this Diwali in Delhi-NCR region to curb the toxins level in the air. Up to some extent, the air quality as compared to the previous year was found better, but the Air Quality Index was found at 319 by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Friday. CPCB put the Air Quality in a ‘very poor’ category.