II. Read the passage given below :
(1) Air pollution is a major threat to human health. The United Nations Environment Programme has estimated that, globally, 1.1 billion people breathe in unhealthy air. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that urban air pollutionis responsible for approximately 800,000 deaths and 4.6 million people lose their lives every year around the globe.
(2) Traffic and transportation problems, inadequate drainage facilities, lack of open spaces, carbon emission, and the accumulation of waste aggravate the problem. Air pollution is associated with increased risk of acute respiratory infections(ARI), the principal cause of infant and child mortality in developing countries.
(3) Urban air quality in most mega cities has been found to be critical and Kolkata is no exception to this. An analysis of ambient air quality in Kolkata was done by applying the Exceedance Factor (EF) method, where the presence of listedpollutants' (RPM, SPM, NO2 , and SO2 ) annual average concentration are classified into four different categories; namely critical, high, moderate, and low pollution. Out of a total of 17 ambient air quality monitoring stations operatingin Kolkata, five fall under the critical category, and the remaining- 12 locations fall under the high category of NO2 concentration, while for RPM, four record critical, and 13 come under the high pollution category. The causes of high concentrationof pollutants in the form of NO2 and RPM have been identified in earlier studies as vehicular emission (51.4%) , followed by industrial sources (24.5%) and dust particles (21.1%).
(4) Later, a health assessment was undertaken with a structured questionnaire at some nearby dispensaries which fall under areas with different ambient air pollution levels. Three dispensaries have been surveyed with 100 participants. It showsthat respondents with respiratory diseases (85.1%) have outnumbered waterborne diseases (14.9%) and include acute respiratory infections (ARI) (60%), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) (7.8%) , upper track respiratory infection(UTRI) (1.2%) , Influenza (12.7%), and acid-fast bacillus (AFB) (3.4%).
(5) To live a healthy life and have better well-being, practising pollution-averting activities in one's day-to-day activities is needed. These pollution - averting practices can only be possible when awareness among the masses is generated thatthe air, they breathe outdoors, is not found to be safe.
Pollution in India
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any six out of the eight questions by choosing the correct options :