Serious questions have been raised on the stand of the Central Government regarding deaths due to air pollution. The government said in the Rajya Sabha that there is no concrete or conclusive data available regarding deaths due to air pollution, but the data from ICMR, an organization of the same government, tells a completely different story. These figures revealed through RTI show a clear contradiction between government statements and government research.
The information given in response to RTI on January 27, 2026 is very important for the country. It has been said that there will be more than 12 lakh deaths in a year. According to ICMR, ‘In the year 2017, about 12.4 to 12.5 lakh deaths in India were related to air pollution. This is about 12.5 percent of the total deaths in the country that year.
These figures show that air pollution is not a small or future problem, but a current and serious crisis.
Not only the elderly, but also the young are victims
What is even more worrying in the report is that more than 51 percent of those who died were below 70 years of age. This means that air pollution is not a threat limited only to the elderly, but the working and relatively young population is also becoming vulnerable to it.
outdoor air and indoor poison
According to the study, about 6.7 lakh deaths were caused by outdoor air pollution, especially fine particles like PM 2.5 and PM 10. At the same time, about 4.8 lakh deaths were related to household air pollution. This shows that the danger is not limited to roads and cities, but people’s health is at stake even inside homes.
Published in international journal, yet ignored
The study was conducted in collaboration with PHFI and IHME and was published in the prestigious international journal The Lancet Planetary Health. Despite this, denial of such figures in Parliament raises many questions.
Truth revealed through RTI
Software engineer Amit Gupta played an important role in exposing this entire matter. He asked questions to ICMR through RTI whether any study has been done on air pollution and whether it has caused deaths. In its reply received on January 27, ICMR clarified that the study was conducted in 2017 and its results were also published.
‘All the blame is put on the farmers’
Amit Gupta says that he has been working on the issue of pollution for the last 10-11 years. According to him, even today AQI is being recorded above 300 in many cities, while even conditions like rain are not providing relief. Despite this, the responsibility for pollution is often placed on farmers and no new public data after 2017 has been brought forward.
Big question still remains
ICMR data clearly shows that air pollution has become a deadly problem in India. Now the biggest question is what clarification does the government give on this apparent contradiction and what further concrete and effective steps are taken to deal with air pollution.
