New DelhI:In 2019, 16 lakh people died due to pollution in India. This is the data from the ‘Global Burden of Disease’ report of The Institute for Health Metrics and Evolution (IMHE). The death toll in the whole world is 60 million.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 12.6 million people die every year worldwide due to environmental toxins. Just imagine, so many people do not even die in terrorist attacks and road accidents every year.
These days we are reading in the news that the AQI (Air Quality Index) of many cities of the country, including the capital, is going above 400-500. There are newspaper headlines that many cities in the country remain gas chambers. It sounds strange to hear the gas chamber.
To compare the gas chamber used for the mass murder of Jews in World War II to the air we are breathing right now is an exaggeration or a warning of the danger that is not coming, but has arrived.
We think polluted air only threatens our lungs. If we are not having any difficulty in breathing, then we are out of danger. But the reality is even more worrisome.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), polluted air not only affects our lungs, but also on the heart, brain, liver, kidneys, digestive system. The blood cells, veins and arteries of the body are also not untouched by its effect.
