NEW DELHI: Road transport pollution is a major public health burden in India, contributing to a premature death every six minutes and a new childhood asthma case every 34 minutes in 2024, according to a new report.
It added that Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) face a disproportionate burden, with the NCR accounting for 23 pc of the country's road transport-attributable paediatric asthma cases despite housing only about 5 pc of the population.
The report, 'Health benefits of zero-emission transport through 2050', was released by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) on Wednesday.
In a statement, Linghzi Jin, senior researcher at the ICCT and co-author of the study, said, "The burden is starkly uneven. The NCR accounts for nearly a quarter of India's road transport-attributable childhood asthma cases… These are children exposed to traffic pollution during their daily routines."
The analysis also noted the outsized role of heavy-duty vehicles in India's transport emissions profile. Although trucks and buses make up a relatively small share of the vehicle fleet, they contribute disproportionately to air pollution.
In India, heavy-duty vehicles accounted for 79 pc of tailpipe NOx emissions and 64 pc of tailpipe PM2.5 emissions from road transport in 2024.
To tackle the situation, according to the report, there is a need to accelerate the adoption of low- and zero-emission vehicles and phase out older, high-emitting vehicles through regulatory measures.
This can prevent 1.7 million premature deaths in India between now and 2050, said the analysis.
"Accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles in these high-exposure regions is one of the most direct ways to protect public health," said Linghzi.