No conclusive data establishes correlation of deaths with air pollution: Govt
In a written response in Rajya Sabha, minister of state Kirti Vardhan Singh said pollution is one of the factors for respiratory ailments and associated diseases
No conclusive data establishes a direct correlation of deaths, including by lung cancer, exclusively with air pollution, the Union environment ministry has told Parliament.
In a written response, minister of state Kirti Vardhan Singh said pollution is one of the factors for respiratory ailments and associated diseases. “Health is impacted by a number of factors which include food habits, occupational habits, socio-economic status, medical history, immunity, heredity, etc, of the individuals apart from the environment,” he said in response to Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Ashok Shankarrao Chavan’s questions.
Chavan referred to studies published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine Journal on the rapid increase in lung cancer cases and the association of exposure to PM2.5 pollution with 1.5 million deaths annually in the country. He asked whether people in metro and tier 1 and tier 2 cities face severe pollution, and is it the main reason for increasing lung cancer cases.
Singh said the studies were conducted using statistical models that have limitations. He cited daily Air Quality Index (AQI) data for 2024 of 291 cities where it is monitored. Singh said only 25 cities have severe air quality days (AQI over 400) ranging from 1-17 days in a year.
In a separate response on human-wildlife conflict, Singh said Kerala has requested declaring the wild pig as vermin in the state. The Union government has requested Kerala to consider utilising the provisions in section 11 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which empowers the state chief wildlife wardens to permit hunting animals falling in Schedule I posing threats to human life.
Section 11 (1) (b) of the Act empowers the state chief wildlife warden or any authorised officer to grant permits for hunting of wild animals falling under Schedule-II of the Act if they have become dangerous to human life or property.
Singh was responding to Communist Party of India (Marxist) lawmaker V Sivadasan’s query on whether Kerala requested to declare the wild boar as vermin, the details of the requests states have made to amend the Wildlife Protection Act and Rules, state-wise, year-wise details since 2020. Sivadasan said whether the Union government intends to amend the Act to provide more autonomy to the states in dealing with wild animal attacks.
Singh said protection of wildlife, management of human-wildlife conflicts, is primarily the responsibility of the concerned state/Union territory governments.
