A report released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has said that air pollution is responsible for 10,000 to 30,000 deaths annually in Delhi, and is the fifth leading cause of death in India.
The publication is called Body Burden 2015: State of India's Health and has comprehensively examined vehicular pollution, industrial pollution, polluting cook stoves that cause indoor pollution, and related issues.
It states that the death toll due to uncontrolled air pollution-related illnesses alone has increased worldwide by a whopping 300 per cent in the last decade. Wow.
"It results in about 6,20,000 premature deaths which are caused by strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, lower respiratory infections and trachea, bronchus and lung cancer, among others," the statement says, adding that the report highlights the heightened vulnerability of the poor and calls for stringent actions.
"The way forward would be to reduce the source of air pollution, mainly revamping our transportation systems and forcing the industry to come up with cleaner technologies. But people are not aware of these linkages and continue to junk public transport," sais CSE DG, Sunita Narain.
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