Pollution Has Ruinous Impact on Indian Economy, $22 Billion Lost Annually: Experts

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The noxious smog smothering the plains of north India is not only choking the lungs of residents but also slowing the country’s economic growth

Team Clarion

NEW DELHI — India is grappling with an alarming rise in air pollution, with toxic smog choking major cities and posing a grave threat to public health and economic stability, experts have warned.

Noxious smog smothering the plains of north India is not only choking the lungs of residents and killing millions but also slowing the country’s economic growth.

New Delhi frequently ranks among the world’s most polluted cities. Each winter, vehicle and factory emissions coupled with farm fires from surrounding states blanket the city in a dystopian haze.

Acrid smog this month contains more than 50 times the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended limit of fine particulate matter — dangerous cancer-causing microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants, that enter the bloodstream through the lungs.

Doctors recently warned that the air pollutants, besides causing respiratory and cardiovascular issues, can also lead to weight gain, contribute to rising obesity rates, and affect hormonal health. 

The air quality in Delhi-NCR on November 22 was reported to be in the ‘very poor’ category with a thin layer of smog engulfing the region. 

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In seven areas of New Delhi, the AQI level remained above 400 and between 450. The AQI was 410 in Anand Vihar, 411 in Bawana, 426 in Jahangirpuri, 402 in Mundka, 410 in Nehru Nagar, 402 in Shadipur, and 413 in Wazirpur, reports IANS.

“Air pollution can affect weight gain by altering metabolism and can also affect hormonal health. Air pollution causes metabolic disorders that can lead to weight gain. It can also cause inflammation which leads to obesity,” Dr Shailly Sharma, Senior Consultant and Associate Director, Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, at Cloudnine Hospital, was quoted by IANS as saying on Monday.

Health experts are particularly concerned about vulnerable groups, including children and the elderly, who bear the brunt of these effects. The healthcare burden is immense, with hospitals witnessing spikes in admissions for pollution-related ailments during smog episodes.

Recent studies show that prolonged exposure to air pollution which contains particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide, could lead to systemic inflammation and metabolic disturbances — key in weight gain and obesity.

Amid concerns of worsening air pollution with noxious smog, experts say India’s worsening air pollution is having a ruinous impact on its economy — with one study estimating losses to the tune of $95 billion annually, or roughly three per cent of the country’s GDP. The true extent of the economic price India is paying could be even greater, an AFP report said.

“The externality costs are huge and you can’t assign a value to it,” it quoted Vibhuti Garg of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis as saying.

Bhargav Krishna of the Delhi-based research collective Sustainable Futures Collaborative said “Costs add up in every phase.”

“From missing a day at work to developing chronic illness, the health costs associated with that, to premature death and the impact that has on the family of the person,” Krishna said.

“India lost 3.8 billion working days in 2019, costing $44 billion to air pollution caused by deaths,” according to a study which calculated that toxic air “contributes to 18 percent of all deaths in India.”

Pollution has also had a debilitating impact on the consumer economy because of direct health-related eventualities, the study said, reducing footfall and causing annual losses of $22 billion. The numbers are even more staggering for Delhi, the epicentre of the crisis, with the capital province losing as much as six percent of its GDP annually to air pollution.

Restaurateur Sandeep Anand Goyle called the smog a “health and wealth hazard.” “People who are health conscious avoid stepping out so we suffer,” said Goyle, who heads the Delhi chapter of the National Restaurant Association of India.

Tourism has also been impacted, as the smog season coincides with the period when foreigners traditionally visit northern India — too hot for many during the blisteringly summers. “The smog is giving a bad name to India’s image,” said Rajiv Mehra of the Indian Association of Tour Operators. Delhi faces an average of 275 days of unhealthy air a year, according to monitors.

Another study published in the Lancet health journal on the direct health impacts of air pollution in 2019 estimated an annual GDP deceleration of 1.36 percent due to “lost output from premature deaths and morbidity.”

Desperate emergency curbs — such as closing schools to reduce traffic emissions as well as banning construction — come with their own economic costs.

“Stopping work for weeks on end every winter makes our schedules go awry, and we end up overshooting budgets,” said Sanjeev Bansal, the chairman of the Delhi unit of the Builders Association of India.

Pollution’s impact on the Indian economy is likely to get worse if immediate action is not taken. — With inputs from Agencies

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