Delhiites react to 10 years reduction in life expectancy

Delhi: According to a new study by a U.S. research group, air pollution in major South Asian cities has reduced people's life expectancy by up to ten years, despite COVID-19 lockdowns slowing economic activity since 2020. According to a study commissioned by the Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) at the University of Chicago, New Delhi, India's capital, has been ranked the world's most polluted city, with people losing nearly ten years of their lives to air pollution.

To know the reaction of Delhiites, we have talked to a few people about the research.

Meghna, a resident of Delhi says, "I have spent 5-6 years in the city, and I have seen the quality deteriorate between 2017 to 2022. A lot has happened, industrialisation has happened, and the city has been suffering."

Meghna has also suggested that there are a lot of sources of energy that one can use apart from pollution-causing sources.

"I am someone who has been wearing mask since 2018, long before covid existed in the country. It's high time to change things before the life expectancy rate is cut down from 10 to 30% for humans," says Meghna.

Deepak Tenguria, 24, a jornalist working at Inshorts says, "Delhi mein jaise pradooshan ne sab kuchh apane hisse mein kha liya hai, prakriti se bhot door, usme apni sharan talaashne se bhi vanchit kar deta sheher hai yeh, prakriti aapke maansik swaasth ke liye sabse sundar sthal hai, or iska yeh matlab yeh nahi ki aap week- off k liye ek din lodi garden ho aaye, saato din saaf hawa mile to aapke bheetar ek nayi oorja rehti hai."

Riya Malhotra, a student at DU, says, "It certainly scares me to think that so many precious years of my life have been taken away because of pollution, and we cannot blame anyone. I said because pollution is a man-made disaster, we can either blame each other, or we can take the responsibility on ourselves to save the environment."

Riya thinks that we still have some scope and hope to preserve what we have. She says, "If there is a way to reverse it, if there is a way to do something about it, I think now is the high time to do something."

Shantanu Das, 26, photographer, says, "I always I would live for 80 years, but after learning that now we have less than ten years in our life expectancy, I guess 70 years is also not a bad number when it comes to living in such times. I know Delhi's pollution is harmful, an alarming situation for all to take a stand against it and start taking initiatives for our ends. But since I was born and brought up here in Delhi, I've adjusted to it eventually with the passing years".