As dust storms brew, India breathes toxic air throughout the year
In 2018 alone, there have been 50 severe storms across 16 Indian states
that have led to more than 500 deaths, compared to 22 storms between 2003 and
2017
Current
Affairs News: Deadly dust storms sweeping over the
densely-populated north Indian plains are part of a "new normal" of
disruptive weather events worsening the country’s already-lethal air pollution and causing disruption in
the $2.3-trillion economy.
In recent months, dust clouds and storms have
killed hundreds of people, destroyed thousands of homes and farmers’ crops and
led to flight cancellations. The government in New Delhi, a city of more than
20 million people, ordered a halt to construction activities as the airborne
sand significantly worsened north India’s air quality, far outside the winter
months that usually herald the region’s descent into a months-long toxic haze.
"It’s definitely a new normal -- the frequency and intensity of these
storms is unprecedented," said Sunita Narain, director general of New
Delhi’s Centre for Science and Environment, who added that recent weather is
related to desertification, deforestation and an over-extraction of
groundwater.
In India, extreme weather events can quickly lead to dozens
of deaths and cause economic hardship, with the World Bank estimating that
environmental degradation costs India roughly $80 billion each year. At the
same time, soaring levels of tiny, deadly particulate matter have prompted
concern about a brewing public health emergency in the politically-gridlocked
capital, where doctors warn of rising lung cancer and heart disease cases.
In 2018 alone, there have
been 50 severe storms across 16 Indian states that have led to more than 500
deaths, compared to 22 storms between 2003 and 2017, and only nine between 1980
and 2003, the CSE said. Nearly 5,000 houses collapsed, while livestock were
killed and crops were ruined across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Bihar and others, according to a report by the CSE.
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