That's A Bit Harsh, Mr Vardhan! Delhi Is Wheezing But Environment Minister Says Air Pollution Isn't A Killer

"I don't think we can generalise and say that millions of people are dying only due to pollution,"

Updated on: 11 November 2017 9:58 am

Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan seems to have discredited global reports on pollution-related deaths that has placed India on number 1, going so far to say that to attribute deaths to pollution may be 'far too much' .

As Delhi turns into a 'gas chamber' with air pollution level reaching 'severe' levels and the city engulfed in heavy smog, the High Court termed it an 'emergency' and health ministry directed all the central government-run hospitals to take measures to deal with the increasing number of patients, but Harsh Vardhan, who holds the portfolio of Science, Technology and Earth Sciences, is not worried.

"Certainly if you have a diseased lung and if the pollution is continuously damaging your alveoli (air sacks) then one day when you die, you can attribute the cause of death, to some proportion, to maybe pollution. But I don't think we can generalise and say that millions of people are dying only due to pollution," he told news channel NDTV.

Unfortunately, global reports seem to contradict him.

According to a report by The Lancet Commission on pollution and health, India tops pollution-related deaths in the entire world, leaving China behind. India has reported 2.5 Million deaths due to air pollution in the country in 2015, the most in the world, followed by China.

India also accounted for about 28 per cent of an estimated nine million pollution linked deaths worldwide in 2015.

But the Environment minister seems to have discredited the report saying , "Ultimately these studies have to be India centric. To attribute any death to a cause like pollution, that may be too much. "

Air pollutant touched calamitous levels in Delhi as a thick grey smog hung low across the region, prompting the government to declare schools closed till Sunday, halt construction activity and ban the entry of trucks in the city. Harsh Vardhan had earlier said that it is however, no reason to panic.

"There is no reason for anyone to panic. We should be taking adequate amount of precautions to ensure that we by and large stay indoors and do not expose our children to too much of polluted air," he had said.

"Things have become better (on the air pollution front in Delhi). All this actually got precipitated because of weather conditions." he added.