The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, which works in coordination with the World Health Organisation, has released a report that says more than 1.7 million people died in India in 2022 because of exposure to PM 2.5, the ultra-fine particulate pollutant that can seep into the deeper crevices of the lungs and trigger a range of diseases.
The figure shows a sharp increase compared to the values recorded 12 years ago.
A senior Union environment department official, when asked about the figure, forwarded a recent Union environment ministry post on X that rebutted a social media claim of around 2 million deaths linked to air pollution in the country.
The Lancet report, released at midnight London time on Tuesday, has been prepared by 128 experts from 71 academic institutions and UN agencies, to which the WHO is a strategic partner. The report also states that in 2024, the world faced “a record-high number of heat-wave days”, with more than 300 per cent rise compared to two decades ago.
“The report showed that 13 out of 20 indicators tracking health threats have reached unprecedented levels,” said Mariana Romanello, an executive director of Lancet Countdown and a lead author of the report.
The official said that heat-related deaths had surged by 23 per cent. The trend is pronounced here as well, with every Indian, on average, having faced nearly 20 days of heat wave during 2024, about one-third of which could be attributed directly to climate change.
The deaths from air pollution, however, remain the key concern.
“There were over 1,718,000 deaths attributable to anthropogenic air pollution (PM 2.5) in 2022 in India, an increase of 38% since 2010,” the report says.
The report pointed out that “fossil fuels (coal and liquid gas) contributed to 752,000 (44%) of these deaths in 2022, while coal accounted for 394,000 deaths, primarily from its use in power plants (298,000 deaths)”, adding that “use of petrol for road transportation contributed to 269,000”.
The report has found that burning of fossil fuels, particularly by cars and in thermal power plants, played a key role in triggering the deaths from air pollution.
“India is one of the most highly affected countries in terms of air pollution,” said
a scientist associated with the report.
“The number of air pollution-linked deaths in 2022 was more than thrice that of official Covid-triggered casualties that year, which speaks to the enormity of the situation and the cost of human health linked to air pollution,” said Arup Haldar, a Calcutta-based pulmonologist.
The report also points out that “in 2022, the monetised value of premature mortality due to outdoor air pollution in India amounted to $339.4 billion, the equivalent of 9.5 per cent of the gross domestic product”.
