uttarakhand news

Air pollution reducing life span of people in Uttarakhand claims research

According to the Air Quality Life Index, the age of Dehradun people is being reduced by 4.2 years due to pollution. Not only this, the lives of the people of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar are getting reduced by 6.6 and 6.1 years.

This has been suggested by the new analysis of the ‘Air Quality Life Index’ prepared by the research institute ‘EPIC’ (Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago) of the University of Chicago, USA.

In this research, it has been found that the air pollution in Uttarakhand is reducing the age of people by 4.2 years on average. But if the density of pollutants and dust in the atmosphere is relative to 10 micrograms per cubic meter (the safe standard stated by the World Health Organization), then the people of the state can live longer.

The research claimed that according to the Air Quality Life Index in 1998, meeting the same air quality standard would have increased life expectancy by 1.9 years. Dehradun does not top the list of polluted districts in the state. People of other districts and cities of Uttarakhand are losing their lives and getting sick.

Similarly, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Champawat and Almora are not behind this list. If people here breathe clean and safe air, then their age increases by 6.1, 4.2, 3.2, 2.3 and 2.1 years respectively.

Air pollution is a major challenge across India, but it is clearly a major issue in the Gangetic plains of northern India (where major states and union territories like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi and West Bengal come).

Air pollution in the Gangetic plains increased 72 percent in 2016

In 1998, when air quality conformed to the World Health Organization standard, people living in states outside the Gangetic plains would have seen a decrease of about 1.2 years in their lifetime compared to people in northern India. Now this figure has increased to 2.6 years and is declining. But compared to the current situation in the Gangetic plains, it is a little better.

According to the Air Quality Life Index, the life expectancy of people living in the Gangetic plains is expected to decrease by around seven years. The reason for this according to research studies is that from 1998 to 2016, air pollution in the Gangetic plains increased by 72 percent. Where more than 40 percent of India’s population lives. The impact of air pollution on people’s lives in 1998 would have been half of what it is today and there would have been a 3.7 year reduction in people’s life expectancy at that time.

Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at Chicago University and Dr. Michael Greenstone, Director of the Energy Policy Institute (EPIC), said during the release of the Hindi version of this research that with the introduction of the Hindi version of the Air Quality Life Index, millions of people will be able to know how Particulate Pollution affects their lives.

They will be able to know the most important how policies related to air pollution can make a big difference in increasing life expectancy. The Hindi version of this research was released in Delhi today.

If India succeeded in achieving its’ National Clean Air Program ‘goals and managed to maintain a nearly 25 percent reduction in air pollution levels,’ AQLI ‘indicates that Indians’ life expectancy will increase by an average of 1.3 years. . At the same time, people living in the Gangetic plains of northern India will get the benefit of about two years time in their lifetime.

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