India had most deaths caused by pollution in 2017: new report

News: Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) 2019 has released Pollution and Health Metrics: Global, Regional and Country Analysis.

Facts:

Key takeaways:

• In 2017, pollution was responsible for 15% of all deaths globally.
• India had the most pollution-related deaths (about 2.3 million) followed by China and Nigeria.

Additional Information

State of Global Air 2019 (published by Health Effects Institute (HEI))

• Air pollution led to 5 million deaths in 2017
• South Asian region (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan) accounted for over 1.5 million deaths.

Indian Govt Initiatives to combat Air Pollution:

1. National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): launched in 2019, it is a five-year action plan. it aims at 20%–30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024, taking 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration. The program targets 102 non-attainment cities.
2.  Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna: It seeks to replace unclean cooking fuels used in the most underprivileged households with clean and more efficient LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas). A major objective of the scheme is to ensure smoke-free houses and thus curb indoor air pollution.
3. The Indian government has also decided to skip BS-V and directly move to BS-VI from 2020. It has further agreed to advance the proposed date for Euro-VI from 2026 to 2020.