Rising deaths connected to increase in air pollution, says Greenpeace; slams govt for taking no action

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New Delhi: Is the increase in air pollution responsible for the rising deaths in India? The debate surrounding this question is heating up as Greenpeace has slammed the Centre's day-old claim of there being no conclusive data to link the two.

Greenpeace, on Tuesday, said that the government should not waste time on debating the "already established" link and should take "urgent and corrective" action.

A Greenpeace study had earlier claimed that nearly 12 lakh deaths take place every year due to air pollution in the country. The green body now says that they would like to see a "little less" conversation and a greater determination towards resolving the problem.

"Greenpeace has responded by urging that the Environment Ministry to waste no more time on debating the already-established links between increasing deaths and ill-health due to air pollution while stressing the need for urgent, corrective action instead," a statement said.

Dave, in written reply to a question in Parliament yesterday, said that there is no conclusive data available in the country to establish direct correlationship of death exclusively with air pollution.

Health effects of air pollution are synergistic manifestation of factors which include food habits, occupational habits, socio-economic status, medical history, immunity, heredity etc of the individuals. Air pollution could be one of the triggering factors for respiratory associated ailments and diseases, he had said.

"We are well past the stage of discussing what may have caused this nation-wide epidemic of poor health and compromised childhoods – instead of picking at the data, and the sources for it, government agencies need to come up with a clear, national action plan.

"We are glad that the Airpocalypse report was discussed in the Rajya Sabha, but we would like to see a little less conversation, and a greater determination towards resolving the problem," said Sunil Dahiya, Greenpeace India campaigner.

The Greenpeace India's report 'Airpocalypse' had said Delhi tops the list of 20 most polluted cities in the country where 12 lakh deaths take place every year due to air pollution. It also claimed that none of the 168 cities it assessed complies with air quality standards prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Bhargav Krishna of People Health Foundation of India and one the authors of the Health Ministry's steering committee report on air pollution and health related issues said the health evidence necessary to take policy action has already been well documented by the Health Ministry's committee.

"What is necessary at this stage is to chart the road ahead to address what is a national issue that threatens to deflate India?s demographic dividend," the Greenpeace India statement quoting him said.

"Airpocalypse" which came out in January this year was based on secondary information on air quality collected through RTI, annual reports of state pollution control boards and literature review.

Greenpeace India clarified that the data in the 'Airpocalypse', attributing 12 lakh deaths due to air pollution, was quoted from a study by the Global Burden of Diseases.

A report by the steering committee on air pollution and health related issues set up by the Health Ministry in 2015 has also highlighted several studies conducted in India documenting the best available evidence of the impact of air pollution on death and disability, it said.

The committee also comprised representatives from the Environment Ministry as well as other relevant Ministries.

"The need of the hour is for the government to implement strict and inclusive action plans to curb air pollution not just in Delhi but across the country.

"In doing so, we should also be able to identify why we have made such poor progress on the implementation of emission standards for thermal power plants, and realise the need for a national policy to combat air pollution through addressing the root causes for the problem," Dahiya said.

He said, "We already have all the evidence we need to see - now we need to respond to it urgently and decisively, before the Airpocalypse claims more victims."

(With PTI inputs)