While flying into Delhi these days, one usually struggles to identify any discernible outline or landmarks, as the city is usually covered in a thick brown haze. This ever-present haze, that is especially dense in winters, is a constant reminder, to Delhiites, of the noxious mix of gases they breathe on a daily basis. As someone who moved to Delhi only two years ago, I have also been a victim of its gas chamber, contracting bronchitis during the two winters that I’ve spent here.
As per the Global Burden of Disease comparative risk assessment of 2013, air pollution exposure was the second most important risk factor for ill health in India, resulting in approximately 1.5 million premature deaths (700,000 of those from ambient air pollution), outranking malnutrition and smoking tobacco.
The impacts include, but are not limited to, respiratory illnesses such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Lower Respiratory Infections and Bronchitis. The GBD exercise reveals that around half the burden of diseases is attributable to cardiovascular outcomes such as Ischemic Heart Disease and Strokes.