Air pollution claims more lives in cities

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

 Bengaluru recorded 12,000 avoidable deaths due to air pollution in 2020, according to a Greenpeace Southeast Asia report. Health Minister K Sudhakar too has observed that air pollution causes silent death.

According to the Greenpeace India report, Bengaluru’s pollution level is seven times more than WHO standards, despite the recent pandemic-induced lockdowns.

 The study suggested that Bengaluru’s air pollution level fell from 40 micrograms per cubic meter of air in 2019 to 30 micrograms per cubic meter of air in November 2021. Bengaluru is not the only city facing the problem of severe air pollution.

The report also reveals that India is home to 18 of the 20 cities in the world with the most severe increase in fine particle pollutants (PM2.5) from 2010 to 2019. “It’s suffocating to be in Bengaluru now. I can recall the air quality was not this bad ten years ago when I came here. Earlier, we used to compare it with Delhi, but now I think it’s equally bad.

 You can’t stand in traffic for long without a mask. At times, I suffer terrible bouts of cough because of prolonged exposure to the pollution,” said Harish, a Rapido driver. Experts say that traffic congestion is one of the main reasons behind the increasing air pollution.

 Avinash Chanchal, Campaign Manager, Greenpeace India, said, “Making urban transport networks accessible and sustainable can play a major role in solving the issue. A majority of the population is already using public transport or sustainable ways of transportation.

But the infrastructural focus is still on private vehicles, which is the major cause of pollution.” Another study published by Down to Earth, which analysed air pollution deaths in major cities in India between 2005 and 2018 shows that in 2005, Kolkata had recorded 39,200 premature deaths, Ahmedabad 10,500, Surat 5,800, Mumbai 30,400, Pune 7,400, Bengaluru 9,500, Chennai 11,200 and Hyderabad 9,900. The figures rose to 54,000 for Kolkata, 18,400 for Ahmedabad, 15,000 for Surat, 48,300 for Mumbai, 15,500 for Pune, 21,000 for Bengaluru, 20,800 for Chennai and 23,700 for Hyderabad in 2018.

In a recent event organised for awareness about diseases caused by air pollution, Health Minister Sudhakar said, “People are dying more from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) in urban areas than in rural ones.

Infections of the lungs are much higher in urban areas, and COPD across the nation is increasing. Medically speaking, there are silent deaths due to air pollution. We must have a multi-dimensional approach to address air pollution, or the future will curse us.”