8 people per day on average die in Delhi due to pollution: SC

At least 3,000 pre-mature deaths take place annually in Delhi due to air pollution

 

Every day eight people on an average are dying in Delhi due to air pollution-related diseases, the Supreme Court today said even as it directed the Centre to consider banning the use of fuels high in sulphur content-- furnace oil and pet coke -- by industries in NCR.

A bench of Justices M B Lokur and P C Pant quoted a study of a Boston-based institute which said that every year around 3000 people die in Delhi pollution-related diseases.

"A 2010 study of the Boston-based institute on health effects estimates that at least 3000 pre-mature deaths take place annually in Delhi due to air pollution-related diseases.

"The World Allergy Organisation's journal published a report in 2013 on the high respiratory disorder symptoms which says that students living in Chandni Chowk in north delhi have 66 per cent such symptoms, west Delhi's Mayapuri (59 per cent) and south Delhi's Sarojini Nagar (46 per cent).

"Heavy traffic movement has been found to be the factor responsible for the relative difference between the localities," the bench said while quoting the report in the order.  (read more...)

Delhi tops most polluted megacity list, says WHO

Delhi's air is the worst among world megacities, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed recently, even as IndiaSpend's #breathe network of air-quality sensors reported fine-particulate-matter (PM2.5) levels were almost four times above daily safe levels, on average, for the seven-day period from September 22 to 28, 2016.

For long-term exposure, these 24-hour levels are nearly 11 times above the WHO health standards. Over the monsoons, Delhi's air was relatively cleaner because the rain and wind diminished the impact of pollutants. But with the season changing, three of our five sensors in the National Capital Region (NCR) registered "poor" to "very poor" air-quality levels from September 22 to 28, meaning prolonged exposure affects healthy people and "seriously impacts" those with existing disease. In December 2015, week-long analysis of data from #breathe devices showed Delhi's air pollution was one-and-a-half times worse than in Beijing, IndiaSpend reported.

In 2012, with one million deaths, China reported the highest toll from PM2.5 and PM10 pollution. At the time, India followed, reporting 621,138 deaths, nearly 10 per cent of the global toll (6.5 million deaths) associated with outdoor and indoor air pollution.

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