New Delhi: India has topped the list of most deaths due to pollution according to a report. The study found pollution was linked to around nine million deaths in 2015. Dirty air caused by everything from transport and industry to indoor fires was the biggest contributor linked to 6.5 million deaths, it said. The next biggest was polluted water that spread gastrointestinal diseases and parasitic infections and killed 1.8 million people.
The greatest numbers of deaths linked to pollution in that year were in India with 2.5 million, and China with 1.8 million. Several other countries such Bangladesh, Pakistan, North Korea, South Sudan and Haiti also see nearly a fifth of their premature deaths caused by pollution.
Environmental pollution from filthy air to contaminated water is killing more people every year than all war and violence in the world. More than smoking, hunger or natural disasters. More than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. The report marks the first attempt to pull together data on disease and death caused by all forms of pollution combined.