Syllabus:
GS2: Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
GS3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
Context:
Recently, the 8th edition of the Air Quality Life Index 2025 was released, which shows the emergence of air pollution as India’s most severe health threat.
Key Findings of the Report
India-specific Findings:
- All of India lives in areas where the annual average particulate pollution level (PM2.5) exceeds the WHO annual average limit of 5 μg/m³.
- 46% of India’s people live in areas where that exceed even India’s own PM2.5 standard of 40 µg/m3.
- If pollution levels were reduced to meet this national benchmark, Indians could gain an average of 1.5 years of life expectancy.
- Air pollution is reducing the country’s average life expectancy by 3.5 years.
- This is nearly twice the years lost due to childhood and maternal malnutrition (1.6 years), and more than five times the years lost due to unsafe water and sanitation (8.4 months).
- The northern plains expose 544.4 million people or 38.9% of India’s population to polluted air.
- Delhi-NCR is the worst affected, with life expectancy reduced by 8.2 years, while Bihar lost 5.6 years, Haryana 5.3 years, and Uttar Pradesh 5 years.
- Even by India’s weaker PM2.5 standard of 40 µg/m³, Delhi-NCR residents would still lose 4.74 years of life expectancy.
- Across India, even residents in the least polluted areas could live up to 9.4 months longer with cleaner air.
- While India remains one of the most affected countries from air pollution, it shows a slight downward trend in life expectancy loss, indicating some improvement in air quality.
Global Context:
- Globally, PM2.5 levels rose by 1.5% in 2023, nearly five times the WHO limit. It is the biggest external threat to human life expectancy that year.
- USA and Canada: The U.S. and Canada recorded the largest rises in pollution among all countries in 2023, due to record-breaking wildfire seasons in both countries.
- Bolivia was Latin America’s most polluted country in 2023 and entered the global top 10 for the first time since 2010.
South Asia:
- South Asia is the most polluted region globally, with PM2.5 concentrations rising 2.8% in 2023 after a brief dip in 2022.
- Bangladesh has remained the most polluted country in the region for several years. In 2023, its PM2.5 levels were 12 times higher than the WHO guidelines.
- Reducing air pollution could increase average life expectancy in Bangladesh by 5.5 years.
- China: Despite a 2.8% rise in pollution in 2023, China’s air quality has steadily improved over the past decade, with particulate levels still 40.8% lower than in 2014.
Government Initiatives to Control Air Pollution in India
National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): Launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, it provides a national framework to reduce particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) levels by 20–30% by 2024 over the base year of 2017.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS): NAAQS aims to protect public health and the environment by setting legally binding limits for harmful air pollutants in the atmosphere.
BS-VI fuels standards: India leapfrogged directly from BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms to tackle vehicular pollution.
- BS-VI fuels have ultra-low sulphur content (10 ppm compared to 50 ppm in BS-IV).
Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT): Launched in 2018, it aims to promote Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) as a sustainable alternative fuel by facilitating the establishment of CBG production plants and their integration into the market for automotive use.
Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM): It has been established as a statutory body to address air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas.
- It has overriding powers over State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and other authorities in matters related to air quality management.
About Air Quality Life Index (AQLI)
- The AQLI is released by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).
- It is part of EPIC’s Clean Air Program, aiming to provide actionable air pollution data worldwide to drive action and inform effective policies.
- This annual report quantifies the impact of particulate air pollution on human life expectancy by converting pollution data into a metric of lost years of life.
- The researchers focused on dangerous PM-2.5 or particulate matter of 2.5-micron size that penetrates the lungs and travels to the bloodstream, triggering multiple health disorders.
- The AQLI 2025 is based on global pollution data from 2023.