Life expectancy of people living in the Indo-Gangetic Plain has reduced by up to seven years due to poor air quality, a new study of the region from 1998-2016 has said and underlined that pollution is nearly three-times deadlier in north India as compared to rest of the country.
More than 480 million people or about 40 per cent of India’s population, reside in the seven States and union territories comprising the bulk of the Indo-Gangetic Plain region of north India namely Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, UP, and West Bengal.
From 1998-2016, the Indo-Gangetic Plain region experienced particulate pollution that was about twice as high as the rest of the country, a new analysis of the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) produced by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) said.
“By 2016, a 72 per cent increase in pollution in the region further shortened the lives of residents by 3.4 to 7.1 years,” the study said. It said pollution is nearly three times deadlier in north India as compared to rest of the country.
In comparison, lower concentrations of pollution in the rest of the country are allowing residents to live longer than those in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the study said.