Home emissions cause 25% pollution deaths

What is the News?  

A study in Nature Communications analysed the number of deaths due to exposure to air pollution from specific sources, between the period of 2017 and 2019.  

Key Findings of the Study Related to India:  

• The total attributable deaths in India due to PM2.5 are estimated at around 8.6 lakhs in 2017 and 9.5 lakhs in 2019.   
• Among them, 1/4th of air pollution-linked deaths in India are due to residential emissions from biofuels burning (indoor air pollution due to emission from cooking, heating).  

Other key Findings:  

• The study claimed that globally around 1 million deaths were avoidable in 2017 by eliminating fossil-fuel combustion with coal contributing to over half.  
• China and India with 58% of total global ambient PM2.5 mortality burden together accounted for the largest numbers of attributable deaths.  
• Moreover, the study also said that residential emissions are the largest source of average PM2.5 exposure and attributable mortality in China and India.  
• However, areas surrounding Beijing and Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh) have relatively larger contributions from the energy and industry sectors.  

 Initiatives by India to combat Indoor Air Pollution:  

• In 2016, Indian Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY).  
• The scheme aims to provide deposit free LPG (cooking gas) to replace the unclean cooking fuels mostly used in rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG(Liquefied Petroleum Gas).  
• The scheme has been recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the decisive interventions by the government to address the issue of residential emission.  

Source: TOI