India has a lethal problem with its air. As other developing nations have, it must find a way to grow its infrastructure – industrial production, power generation, refining and wastewater treatment – while balancing the social health of its citizens. With air quality technologies becoming more widely available to advanced and developing nations, it may be easier for India to manage the issue. Atmospheric pollution in India is the fifth largest cause of death in the nation – recently estimated to kill approximately 2.5 million people a year. Specifically, the World Health Organization has found that India has the world’s highest death rates from asthma and chronic respiratory illness. In Delhi in particular, suffocating air quality has irreversibly damaged the lungs of 2.2 million children (approximately 50% of the total number of children in the city) – a public-health crisis that will go on causing sickness and premature death for decades.
