Exposure to poor air can not only cause respiratory diseases like asthma, COPD, and lung cancer, but it is also a leading risk factor in diabetes, heart ailments, and even premature deaths in children. Several studies have quantified the health-related costs of pollution in India. Last year, for example, a paper in the Lancet Planetary Health estimated that the failure to follow the WHO’s recommendations on limiting particulate matter and other toxins is responsible for about 1.5 million deaths in the country. While policymakers are now aware of the perils of inaction on pollution, what is also needed is research that highlights the public health benefits of cleaning up air. A new study by scientists at IIT-Delhi and experts at the research agency Climate Trends does that. It reveals that slashing pollution levels by up to 30 per cent can substantially reduce the burden of heart disease, diabetes, anaemia, and low birth weight among women and children. It draws on information from the National Family Health Survey 5, epidemiological studies, and pollution data to underline the co-benefits of adhering to the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Several cities, including the national capital, have compounded their problems by not adhering to the NCAP’s basic tenets. The programme’s funds have not been adequately utilised, pollution monitoring stations have not been installed — or placed in low population density areas, instead of congested localities, construction-heavy zones, and industrial belts — and officials do not join the dots between environment and public health. The IIT-Delhi Climate Trends study shows the NCAP’s potential to make a meaningful difference. It’s now up to the government to take the right lessons from the study and tweak the programme.
