Air Pollution Killed Over 1.16 Lakh Infants In India Last Year

by GoNews Desk 3 years ago Views 9969

Air Pollution Killed Over 1.16 Lakh Infants In Ind
Air pollution is very poor in many Indian states including Delhi-NCR, where air quality is deteriorating day by day due to economic activities resuming and stubble burning in neighbouring states. The situation is so worse that each Delhite is forced to bear pollution equivalent to smoking 15-20 cigarettes. Meanwhile, the State of Global Air 2020 has published a grim report, which shows infants pay the biggest price of air pollution.

Around 16.70 lakh infants die every year in India, largely due to air pollution. The report claimed over 1.16 lakh newborns in India did not survive their first month in 2019.


According to the report, the first month of newborns is the riskiest of their lives, but scientific evidence from various countries, including the latest research from ICMR, reveals that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy causes the baby to lose weight. The incidence of premature birth is also increasing. Both of these conditions are associated with infant deaths.

Note air pollution is the fourth leading cause of overall global deaths, which has claimed 6.67 million lives in 2019.

Women are also badly affected by air pollution. Statistics show that if women are exposed to air pollution, then not only their health gets affected but their pregnancies also suffer the risk, leading to pre-mature deliveries due to which either infants are not fully developed or they die at an early age. This is the reason why 1.16 lakh newborns died in India last year due to air pollution.

According to the report, many South Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal are among the top 10 with the highest PM 2.5 exposures in 2019. All these countries witnessed an increase in outdoor PM2.5 levels between 2010 and 2019.

Moreover, 20 most populated countries account for 70% of total air pollution in the world. Although air pollution is decreasing in 14 of these 20 countries, it is a matter of concern that India is not included in these 14 countries.

At the same time, efforts are on to reduce pollution in India. Hydrogen-rich CNG is being used for the first time to reduce vehicular pollution in India’s capital, Delhi. The Central Government and Delhi Government are starting a pilot project together. Under this, Hydrogen Mix Compressed Natural Gas (H-CNG) will be used in 50 cluster buses for the next six months.

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