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A cracking Diwali night gave way to a morning full of haze in and around Delhi. While the haze has become a permanent fixture once winter sets in the northern parts of the country, what does data say about how pollution is affecting citizens? Multiple studies have come with different numbers. But all of them point out one thing — it is killing us slowly.
According to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health in December 2024 titled Estimating the effect of annual PM2·5 exposure on mortality in India: a difference-in-differences approach, researchers directly attributed close to 17 million deaths due to exposure to PM2.5 from 2009 to 2019.
According to the study, “1·1 billion of 1·4 billion (81·9% of the total population) lived in areas above the Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards for annual mean PM2·5 not exceeding 40 μg/m3”.
The study also observed that an increase of 10 μg/m3 PM2.5 concentration leads to an increase of close to nine per cent increase in mortality.
While there are no coherent data or quantitative studies on how air pollution disproportionately affects women and children more than men, experts have highlighted indoor air pollution and by extension household chores like cooking on firewood, coal etc. as the biggest cause of exposure for women.
According to National burden of disease in India from indoor air pollution published in 2000 in the journal PNAS, women who have been exposed to biomass-using households for over 20 years are three times more likely to report tuberculosis cases compared to households which use cleaner cooking fuels.
The study also found out that in Ahmedabad, women who were exposed to biomass fuels during pregnancy had a 50 per cent more chance of reporting stillbirth.
But it is not only the household where women are disproportionately more exposed to air pollution. According to a World Bank report, a little over 45 per cent of women walk to work as compared to over 27 per cent of men. While the numbers are yet to be quantified, it further contextualises how women are more exposed to ambient air pollution compared to men as over 80 per cent of their trips are plied over public and non-motorised transport.
As for children, they are more susceptible to long-term respiratory problems due to air pollution, as per the State of Air 2024 report. Deaths due to lower respiratory infection among children in India ranged from 23 to 44 for every 100,000 children.
While there is enough data to highlight how many lives are at stake, it remains to be seen for how long we as citizens and every stakeholder can turn a blind eye to this menace rather than act responsibly.