Extensive efforts should be made to deal with air pollution

Our country is setting records in terms of pollution. Due to this, people in the country are falling prey to deadly diseases and dying untimely. Despite millions of claims by the government, pollution is not being controlled. According to the recent report of IQ Air, our country is ranked among the most polluted countries in the world and is at third position in the world. The capital Delhi is the most polluted capital of the world. In fact, while increasing pollution is making environmental challenges more dire, it is also playing an important role in increasing health risks for the population, due to which there is a huge increase in untimely deaths. PM 2.5 particles play an important role behind this, whose size is around 2.5 microns.

It is considered safe to breathe only when the amount of PM 2.5 in the air is 60 and the amount of PM 10 is 100. Gasoline, oil, diesel fuel, vehicle exhaust, coal, garbage, stubble and wood smoke emit large amounts of PM 2.5. Due to their small size they easily reach the lungs. These are more harmful than PM 10. IQ Air’s recent report is a serious warning for South Asian countries India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, whose dependence on fossil fuel-based energy is high. However, the government is not only promoting the use of solar energy in our country, but is also trying to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels by giving relief on it. If India achieves its green energy targets in the coming 10 years, the share of solar and wind energy in the country’s total energy growth will reach two-thirds and we will depend on clean energy sources instead of conventional energy sources. .

But at present the reality is that India is continuously struggling with poor air quality in which the concentration of PM 2.5 is 10 times more than the annual level of the World Health Organization. About 1.36 billion people in our country are exposed to high concentrations of PM 2.5, which exceeds the WHO recommended annual level of five micrograms per cubic metre. It is also a matter of concern that even trees and plants are not able to breathe due to increase in temperature. The trees which were helpful in combating climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, are now finding themselves unable to do so. Recent research is proof of this.

Air pollution has now become a permanent problem. Due to this, while the age of the people of the country has decreased by 5.3 years, the average age of the people of the capital Delhi has decreased by 11.9 years. According to a study by the University of Chicago, there is not a single place in the whole of India which meets the standards of the World Health Organization. Also, cardiovascular diseases reduce the average life expectancy by about 4.05 years. Whereas child and maternal malnutrition reduces life expectancy by 1.8 years. 52.2 crore, i.e. 38.9 percent of the population lives in the most polluted northern region of the country. If current levels of pollution continue, the life expectancy of this population is at risk of being reduced by an average of eight years relative to WHO guidelines and 4.5 years relative to the national standard.

In India, 67.4 percent of the population lives in places where pollution exceeds India’s own standard of 40 micrograms per cubic meter. Research by the University of California has revealed that better air quality can also reduce suicide rates. Not only this, if you stay amidst air pollution even for two hours, then there may be disturbances in the functioning of your brain. It has now become clear that just as air pollution has a bad effect on the brain, smoke emanating from forest fires also has adverse effects on health. It is also true that due to the construction going on in the open and the dust on the roads, breathing is in greatest danger.

Dr. Karan Madan, senior doctor of the respiratory diseases department of AIIMS, says that both small and big pollutants are present in the dust. Larger sized pollutants PM 10 cause irritation to the upper respiratory tract, eyes and nose, while smaller sized pollutants PM 2.5 cause asthma, throat infection, cough, skin diseases and bronchitis. These are of such small size that they reach other parts of the body through blood. Due to which the risk of heart disease also increases.

There is no doubt that air pollution has become the biggest environmental threat to human health. Incidents of increasing neurocognitive disorders are also coming to light day by day. In view of this, there is a need for massive efforts by the policy makers in this matter, only then some change in the situation is possible.
(These are the personal views of the author.)