India Leads the Most Death Linked to Pollution

(Photo : Reuters)
Some people are complaining about their persistent chest pain and cough due to exposure to pollution in New Delhi.

With 2.3 million related deaths, India leads the world with the most deaths linked to pollution, a new report revealed.

The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), a non-profit nature conservation group, found out that 15 percent -- or about 8.3 million -- premature deaths linked to the environment is caused by pollution.

After India, China comes immediately with 1.8 million deaths. Nigeria, Indonesia and Pakistan come after. The United States is also among the list, at number seven with around 200,000 deaths.

Rachael Kupka, acting Executive Director of GAHP, said that this report is a reminder that pollution is a global crisis, and your geographical location and economic status will not keep you safe from it.

It is noted that the United States is among the countries with the largest gross domestic product per capita. The economy of China and India were getting aggressive recently, too.

Pollution was classified into four: air, water, occupational and lead.

Air pollution refers to air contaminants that exist in both indoor and outdoor. The report said that 40 percent of the pollution-related deaths came from this category, which is led by China, India and Pakistan.

Unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation were under water pollution. Chad, Central African Republic and North Korea were the Top 3. India made it again, at number 10 with 174 deaths per 100,000 people.

The report said that industrial and vehicular pollution in the urban areas in India has increased while the problem for the poor sanitation retained in less developed community, which explains the frequent appearance of the country on the top 10 list.

Carcinogens, second-hand smoke, particulates, gases, and fumes all fall under occupational pollution, while exposure to lead deposit (usually from the by-product of leaded fuel) is lead risk.

Meanwhile, Qatar ranked at the bottom of the list, which means the country did not have much problem on pollution.

The data used by the study were retrieved from the Seattle-based Institute of Health Metrics Evaluation, which was founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Pollution in India

Earlier this year, AirVisual reported that seven out of 10 most polluted cities in the world are all situated in India. The leading is the City of Gurugram in New Delhi, which has an average air quality index of 135.8 in 2018 - about three times the level of what is considered healthy.

Then, in November, the entire New Delhi chokes as the air quality spikes up to 473 -- a level considered as hazardous and is almost five times above the healthy range.

Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of New Delhi, compared the condition of the city to a gas chamber, and blamed the states at the outskirts, Punjab and Haryana, for extensive crop burning. The said practice is a method of preparing the field for the next harvest, and has been criminalized since 2015.

The demand for air purifiers spiked up. Students were also seen protesting against the usage of fire crackers on the Hindu tradition Diwali, which coincides in the same month.

The most polluted river in the world also came from India -- the Ganges River, which is an important spiritual site for Hindus. Plastic waste and chemicals dumped from the sewage were seen floating in the sacred site.

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