India: Deaths due to air pollution increased by 70,000 in last 5 years

NEW DELHI, May 23 (APD) - Deaths due to air pollution have increased by 70,000 in the last five years in India, according to the recently released Environment ministry’s draft State of the Environment 2015 report.

The report states that while air pollution caused 620,000 deaths in 2005, the number rose to 690,000 in 2010. It also explained land degradation of more than 96.40 million hectare and desertification of 82.64 million hectare. Adding, “Besides the immense public health impacts of environmental pollution, there is considerable evidence that environmental pollution is impacting human productivity and economic growth”.

Though India wants 33% forest cover, currently the figure stands at 21.34%, of which only 5.07 % is recognized as protected area. The report also highlights the increasing biodiversity loss in the country. It forecasts water resource depletion, which would result in 6% loss to the Indian economy by 2050.

It lists 3,260 exceedingly polluting industrial units, of which only 929 have installed pollution reduction devices and less than 920 possess actual monitoring systems.

Meanwhile, 70% of the industrial pollution in the country is caused by micro, small and medium enterprises. However, there has been notable rise in the use of renewable energy in India from 3.7% to 14.2 % in the last seven years.

According to the report, air pollutants like Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone “routinely exceed national standards, especially in urban areas.”

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)