Lok Sabha Question No. 669 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-09
Subject: Premature Deaths due to Air Pollution
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Feroze Varun Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. - 669 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.12.2022

## PREMATURE DEATHS DUE TO AIR POLLUTION

## 669. SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details regarding the number of premature deaths caused due to air pollution, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has put in place any mechanism to deal with the same; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

- (a) to  (c):  There  is  no  conclusive  data  available  to  establish  a  direct  correlation  of death/disease exclusively due to air pollution. Air pollution is one of the many factors affecting  respiratory  ailments  and  associated  diseases.  Health  is  impacted  by  a number of factors  which  includes  food  habits,  occupational  habits,  socio-economic status,  medical  history,  immunity,  heredity,  etc.,  of  the  individuals  apart  from  the environment. While air pollution is known to be one of the aggravating factors for many respiratory ailments, specific information on the number of deaths exclusively due to air pollution is not available.

Further Government of India has taken several steps to address air pollutions issues. Such as:

-  Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aims to safeguard the health of women & children by providing them with a clean cooking fuel - LPG.
-  Swachh Bharat Mission to clean up streets, roads and infrastructure of India's cities, smaller towns, and rural areas. SwachhHawa is an integral component of Swachh Bharat.
-  Under Central Sector Scheme on 'Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for in-situ  management of  Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana,  Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi', agricultural machines and equipment for in-situ crop  residue  management  are  promoted  with  50%  subsidy  to  the  individual farmers and 80% subsidy for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres.
-  Sustainable Alternative towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) has been launched  as  an  initiative  to  set  up  Compressed  Bio-Gas  (CBG)  production plants and make CBG available in the market for use in automotive fuels.
-  A City Specific Clean Air Action Plan has been prepared and rolled out for implementation in 131 non-attainment and million plus  cities  by  Ministry  of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), with a focus on city specific short/ medium/ long term actions to control air pollution from sources such  as  vehicular  emission,  road  dust,  burning  of  biomass/  crop/  garbage/ Municipal  Solid  Waste,  landfills,  construction  activities,  industrial  emission, etc.
-  MoHFW  has  launched  National  Program  on  Climate  Change  and  Human Health  (NPCCHH)  at  National  Centre  for  disease  Control  (NCDC),  with objective to create awareness, capacity building, health sector preparedness and response  and  partnerships  related  activities  on  the  climate  sensitive  health issues in the country since 2019. Now the Programme has expanded in all the State/UTs  and  activities  are  conducted  in  the  form  of  training  on  Climate Sensitive  Diseases,  Surveillance  on  Acute  Respiratory  Illnesses  and  Heat related Illnesses, generation & dissemination of IEC on Air Pollution & Heat and its health impacts on health.

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