India's air quality deteriorated faster than ever from 2010 to 2015, says report

India’s air quality deteriorated faster than ever over five years to 2015, compared to the period before 2010, according to the State of Global Air 2017 report, recently released by the US-based Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent global health research organisation.The report also said a million Indians die from the effects of air pollution every year, a link that the government has rejected.

Although the rate of death and disability adjusted life years (DALY) has been reducing at more than 1% a year (as we explain later) in India, the indicators slowed between 2010-15, indicating a rise in air pollution over the period stalled improvement, according to our analysis of IHME data.Deaths per 100,000 population in India due to air pollution reduced from 165 in 1990 to 135 in 2010, according to the IHME data.

But, the rate remained almost the same in the five-year period under consideration: 2010-15.Source: State of Global Air 2017; *Average annual population-weighted PM 2.5 concentration India has better air quality than Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, but its air quality is about 50% worse air than China, two times worse than South Africa and five times worse than the United Kingdom. In the six countries considered for analysis, India reported the worst deaths-per-population ratio: 135 dead per 100,000 people.

Source: State of Global Air 2017; *Average annual population-weighted PM 2.5 concentration Note: The five countries were chosen for analysis on this basis; China: Fastest developing country along with India; Saudi Arabia: Worst polluted air; South Africa: Part of BRICS, a developing country; United Kingdom: Developed country; Bangladesh: Subcontinental neighbour

As the chart explains, air quality in Saudi Arabia has been improving since 2010, at a rate faster than the rate of deterioration in India. Air pollution due to particulate matter—fine particles made up of oxides of sulphur, nitrogen and carbon—especially PM 2.5, is the fifth biggest killer in the world, after the diseases related to the heart and diabetes, according to the IHME report.

PM 2.5 refers to particulate matter known to pose the greatest threat to human health, smaller than 2.5 micrometers, or roughly 1/30th the thickness of a human hair. These particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs, causing heart attacks and strokes, which account for three-quarters of 3.3 million deaths–including 645,000 in India–every year globally, according to this 2015 study from Harvard University.