New Delhi: Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh has cleanest air in India while the national capital has most polluted air, reveals a study conducted by the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.
According to the report published in a leading daily, levels of particulate matter (PM) less than 2.5 microns in size were taken into consideration during the study.
These small sized air pollutants are not consumed by human body well and can lead to some serious diseases like bronchitis, allergies, persistent coughs and other breathing problems.
According to National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), those who are not able to breathe fresh air suffer from heart attacks, lung infection, stroke, worse asthma and die earlier as compared to people who breath fresh clean air.
About 2.79 lakh Indians die too early due to COPD, 1.1 lakh die of IHD whereas 88,700 and 14,800 die due to stroke and lung cancer, respectively, suggested a study conducted by IIT.
The study further disclosed the fact that 2.5 P.M level in Kinnaur was found to be 3.7+-1 microgram per cubic metre (g/m³) annually, which is less than 10% of the national air quality target of 40g/m³. On the other hand, Delhi’s PM 2.5 level stood at 148+-51g/m³ annually, which is much more than the safe limit.
It was also found out that if India sets an yearly target of completing a yearly target of 40g/m³ for PM 2.5, the precious lives of about 45,000 individuals can be saved.
Many of the individuals die and the reason being indoor air contamination that is caused by burning of biomass powers in country zones.
“At present, just 0.06 percent of the populace is breathing safe air as characterized by WHO.”
A United Nations report said that 7.3 million deaths occurred due to contaminated air in South-East Asia and the Western Pacific regions in 2012, whereas due to unhealthy environments about 12.6 million people die every year.
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