Delhi’s toxic air tied to over 200,000 respiratory illness cases in three years

Delhi recorded more than 200,000 cases of acute respiratory illnesses at six state-run hospitals between 2022 and 2024, according to figures shared in parliament on Tuesday, showing the health impact of the capital’s toxic air.

Delhi is regularly ranked among the world’s most polluted capitals. India’s health ministry told parliament that air pollution was one of the triggering factors for respiratory ailments.

“Analysis suggests that increase in pollution levels was associated with increase in number of patients attending emergency rooms,” junior health minister Prataprao Jadhav said in a written reply.

More than 30,000 people with respiratory illnesses had to be hospitalised in the three-year period.

Each winter, acrid smog blankets Delhi’s skyline as cooler air traps pollutants close to the ground, adding to emissions from crop burning, factories and heavy traffic. Levels of PM2.5 — tiny, cancer-causing particles that can enter the bloodstream — sometimes rise to as much as 60 times the UN’s daily health limits.

A study in The Lancet Planetary Health last year estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to air pollution.

The United Nations children’s agency has also warned that polluted air heightens the risk of acute respiratory infections in children.

The health ministry, however, said air pollution alone could not be attributed to the hospitalisations.

“Health effects of air pollution are synergistic manifestation of factors which include food habits, occupational habits, socio-economic status, medical history, immunity, heredity, etc,” it said.

(With inputs from AFP)