India is one of the worst affected countries, with many areas often covered in smog with dangerous particles of dust floating around. The Lancet Medical Journal’s “Global Burden of Disease” study estimates that pollution caused about 1.7 million premature deaths in India in 2019 – almost 18 percent of all deaths. in this country. New Delhi capital sinks in air pollution – Photo: AFP Based on this study, a new analysis by consulting firm Dalberg Advisors shows that air pollution reduces productivity, reduces consumer and tourist spending, costs Indian businesses $ 95 billion. each year, equivalent to 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. Director of Dalberg Asia – Gaurav Gupta said: “Clean air is a prerequisite for businesses to thrive. Industry leaders should take more ownership and become advocates of the movement for cleaner air. According to a report by the Clean Air Fund, a charity, the estimated number of years of work lost due to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths is estimated to have cost India’s economy $ 44 billion in 2019 because air pollution. In addition, Dalberg says the effects of pollution on the health of Indian workers cost them 1.4 billion sick days a year, or about $ 6 billion in lost revenue.

“We have to race against time, work at 100% capacity to cremate bodies in time,” said Kamlesh Sailor, president of the organization that operates a cremation facility in Surat City, Gujarat state. Data from cremation facilities, media to the government show that the number of people buried or cremated by major cities is much greater than the number of Covid-19 deaths recorded by the authorities. official health announcement, according to Reuters . The difference in the number of deaths Reliable data is central to every nation’s anti-pandemic efforts, experts say. Without reliable data, such as vaccine preparation and medical essentials supply are extremely difficult. On April 19, India recorded 273,810 new infections, along with 1,619 deaths. The total number of Covid-19 cases in India is now more than 15 million, ranking second only to the United States. But it is more likely that the above statistic is much lower than what is actually happening. The bodies are cremated according to Covid-19 defense regulations in India. Photo: Sentinel. Indian authorities say the discrepancy in death data could be caused by a variety of reasons. Many corpses are cremated according to the Covid-19 prevention “even if there is only a 0.1% chance that the person is positive for the virus,” said a health official. “There are many cases where patients are hospitalized in a very critical condition and die before being tested. There are cases where patients died prior to admission, we don’t know if they have Covid-19 or not”, the official said to be anonymous. There are many areas in India where reliable data cannot be collected, said Bhramar Mukherjee, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Michigan. “Things are messed up, I feel like no one understood the situation,” Mr. Mukherjee said. Surat is the second largest city in the state of Gujarat. At the cremation facilities Kurukshetra and Umra, more than 100 bodies are cremated every day according to Covid-19 regulations. This figure is four times higher than the official statistics of the number of people dying from Covid-19. Prashant Kabrawala, representative of the Narayan Trust, which runs the Ashwinikumar cremation facility, refused to provide the number of bodies cremated under anti-epidemic regulations. However, he says the number of cremations has tripled in recent weeks. “I’ve never seen so many cremated bodies over the years,” Kabrawala said. An Indian government spokesman in Gujarat declined to comment ahead of the difference in the number of deaths and cremations associated with the epidemic. India is not the only country where corona virus statistics have been questioned. But scientific literature and cremation staff testimony show that the disparity in officially reported deaths in India is much higher than in other countries. Professor Mukherjee’s study against the first wave of epidemics in India showed that the number of viral infections is 11 times more than officially reported, which is similar to research in other countries. However, the difference in officially reported deaths ranges from 2-5 times, much higher than the global average. The incinerator burned non-stop In Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh, data from the largest cremation facility called Baikunthdham, which only processed the bodies of Covid-19 patients, showed that the number of bodies brought in was twice as high. The death of corona virus is reported by the government. That’s not to mention data from other cremation facilities, or cases of the Muslim customary burial – the community that makes up a quarter of Lucknow’s population. Azad, the Baikunthdham facility manager, said the number of bodies cremated under anti-epidemic regulations has increased fivefold in recent weeks. “We work day and night. The furnace is burning red continuously, but many bodies still have to line up,” Azad said. The state government of Uttar Pradesh declined to respond to a request for comment on Covid-19 death data. Cremations many times greater than the number of Covid-19 deaths have also been reported in many other parts of India. Cremation facility staff in New Delhi are exhausted from a work shift. Photo: QZ. In Bhopal, the state capital of Madhya Pradesh, it was recorded during 4 days of April that 187 bodies had been cremated according to anti-epidemic regulations. However, the number of corona virus deaths officially announced by the authorities is only 5. Last week, the sheet Sandesh 63 bodies were reported to a hospital for Covid-19 patients only in the city of Ahmedabad. However, that same day, the city authorities only counted 20 people died from the corona virus. Medical Journal Lancet says less than 25% of all deaths in India are confirmed medically, meaning that the exact number of deaths from Covid-19 in many regions cannot be determined. “Most of the deaths are not reported, so it is impossible to have a reliable calculation,” said Professor Mukherjee.