Air pollution claimed 12,000 lives in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: The adverse health effects of rising air pollution may already be known, but the number of deaths caused due to it could come as a shocker. According to a Greenpeace report released on Thursday, particulate matter (PM) 2.5 had claimed 12,000 lives in Bengaluru alone in 2020. In Delhi, 54,000 lives were lost in the same year. This was revealed by the Greenpeace Southeast Asia analysis of IQAir data from a live cost estimator. According to the analysis, globally, approximate 1,60,000 deaths have been attributed to PM 2.5 air pollution in the five most populous cities. 

To show the impact of air pollution-related deaths on the economy, Greenpeace employed the “willingness-to-pay” approach. The damage is equally worrying in other Indian cities. An estimated 25,000 avoidable deaths in Mumbai in 2020 have been attributed to air pollution. Chennai and Hyderabad accounted for 11,000 avoidable deaths each due to polluted air, the report said. 

An official of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) in Bengaluru said the biggest cause of PM2.5 is the ongoing construction activities. Despite Rs 279 crore being given to BBMP by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Ecology under the National Clean Air Mission to mitigate air pollution, little can be seen on ground. “The KSPCB also gave Rs 2.2 crore to BBMP for procure air sprinklers, but that is also not to be seen,” the official said.

All stakeholders, including the BBMP, transport utilities and KSPCB, had committed before the NGT and State to mitigate air pollution by listing out a 44-point action plan. But this has become difficult to implement due to shortage of funds, the official added.

PM2.5 leads  to breathing difficulty

Unlike PM10, which is filtered, PM2.5 directly enters the lungs and sticks to its walls, leading to breathing difficulty. If the pollutant is mixed with poisonous content, it affects the blood stream also, the official said. IQAir CEO, Frank Hammes, said, “Breathing should not be deadly. The fact that poor air quality claimed an estimated 1,60,000 lives in the five largest cities alone should make us pause, especially in a year when many cities were seeing lower air pollution levels due to less economic activity. Governments, corporations and individuals must do more to eliminate air pollution and make cities better places to live.”