In 2015, pollution caused 9 million deaths of 16 per cent global mortality, which is three times more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined! The study, Commission on pollution and health was published in the Lancet.

The study found that rising air pollution in metropolitan cities such as Delhi and smaller cities such as Ranchi are seeing rising incidents of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), cancer, diabetes and many other pollution-related diseases.

In December 2017, a cricket match between Sri Lanka and India had to be halted several times as Sri Lankan players complained of breathing difficulties while some also vomited on the ground due to the "poor air quality" of Delhi.

Pollution and non-communicable diseases are linked

• As per the study, as many as 27 per cent deaths in India were caused due to pollution, making India the country with the highest number of pollution-related deaths

• India is followed by China when it comes to pollution-related deaths

• Low and middle income groups are seeing the worse effects of pollution

• According to a report by IndiaSpend from November 14, 2017, 92 per cent of pollution-related deaths occurred in this income group

• In 1990, non-communicable diseases amounted for 30.5 per cent of disease burden, which has risen to 55.4 per cent in 2016, as per the 2017 report India: Health Of Nation's States, by the Indian Council of Medical Research

Diabetes and heart diseases are the leading causes for India's increasing disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which is a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death - with diabetes registering an 80 per cent increase and heart diseases 34 per cent since 1990.