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November 13, 2017

Toxic smog shrouding New Delhi draws attention

Gulf News cites EPIC Director Michael Greenstone on the impact of air pollution on life expectancy.
By
Sadiq Shaban

The Hindu called for addressing the problem in the right earnest. In a trenchant editorial, the paper noted, “Delhi’s air quality deteriorates with unfailing regularity at this time of the year, with large swathes of north India in the grip of a suffocating smog, but the State governments that can make it easier for millions to breathe do not act with any sense of urgency. That it has turned into a public health emergency in the capital, with the air quality index touching extremely hazardous levels in some parts, necessitating the closure of primary schools, has further lowered its standing. It is unconscionable for governments, through indifference and inaction, to subject citizens to such toxic air, and cause extreme suffering especially among people with respiratory ailments and impaired lung function. The smog that envelops the region is exacerbated by the burning of biomass in Punjab and Haryana, and the winter atmosphere is marked by weak ventilation. An analysis of local sources point to construction dust, vehicular pollution, and domestic and industrial emissions as other major factors. A comprehensive solution demands that the governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, assisted by the Centre, address farm residue burning and construction dust.”

A new study on the impact of air pollution on life expectancy by Michael Greenstone, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, has found people in Delhi could live six years longer if India just met its national PM2.5 standards of 40 micrograms per cubic metre. They could live nine years longer if the country met the World Health Organisation standard, which is 10 micrograms per cubic metre. That is a most damning indictment of India’s efforts to tackle air pollution.”

Continue reading at Gulf News…