India leads the list of countries with the highest annual average exposures to PM 2.5- fine particulate matter hazardous to health- and the third highest average ozone exposures in the world, with a 17% increase in the last decade. Hugely worrying health impact data follows with the report estimating that Air Pollution Contributes to more than 116,000 Infant Deaths in India and a total 1.67 Million Deaths are linked to Air Pollution- now said to be the highest health risk in India. The silver lining so far- India has seen significant progress in reducing household Air Pollution exposure over the last decade with significant gains made through the current government’s Ujjwala yojana.

Courtesyg: Google (photo)