Over 35,000 died due to air pollution between 2006-2015

Government on Thursday said that over two crore cases are reported every year across the country due to respiratory ailments generally caused by air pollution in past nine years.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that 35,616 people have died due to Acute Respiratory Infection during the 2006-15 period.

"Air pollution is known to be one of the aggravating factors for many respiratory ailments and cardiovascular diseases. Central Pollution Control Board had conducted an epidemiological study on ambient air quality, respiratory systems and lung functions of children in association with the Chittranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata," the Minister said.

Air pollution in general causes respiratory ailments and also may affect lung function. Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, etc are the diseases caused by exposure to increasing air pollution, he said.

"To minimise the impact of environmental pollution, particularly air pollution, the government has taken measures including notification of National Ambient Air Quality Standards 2009, envisaging 12 pollutants, formulation of regulations/statutes, setting up of monitoring network for assessment of ambient air quality, introduction of cleaner/alternate fuel like CNG, LPG, etc and promotion of public transport network, amongst others," he said.

According to the figuers, West Bengal reported the maximum number of acute respiratory infections cases, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and New Delhi. Naturally, these are the states that reported higher number of ARI deaths.