Smog does affect health but there is no data on the problem’s magnitude | The Indian Express

Smog does affect health but there is no data on the problem’s magnitude | The Indian Express

Written by Soumi Roy Chowdhury, Sanjib Pohit |Updated: October 1, 2019 10:47:16 am

Soumi Roy Chowdhury Roy Chowdhury is associate fellow.

Sanjib Pohit is professor at National Council of Applied Economic Research New Delhi. Views expressed here are personal.

Smog does affect health but there is no data on the problem’s magnitude

While we do not question the basic premise that air pollution has adverse health impact, we are sceptical about the figures quoted and the methodology adopted in estimating the cost.

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The availability of data has no doubt improved significantly in recent years, with an increase in number of nodes where such data is now being collected 24×7. (Representational image)

In the past three years, several studies have linked air pollution with health effects. For instance, the State of Global Air 2019, published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI), claimed exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to over 1.2 million deaths in India in 2017. Another study conducted by researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and partner institutes peg the economic cost of exposure to air pollution from crop residue burning at $35 billion, or nearly Rs. 2.35 lakh crore annually, for the three north Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.