In the Indo-Gangetic plains of Northern India, 510 million residents, nearly 40% of India’s population, are on track to lose 7.6 years of life expectancy on average, if current pollution levels persist, warns a new study. Since 2013, about 44% of the world’s increase in pollution has come from India.

As the population of the Ganges river dolphins declined alarmingly, a 60-kilometre stretch along the river in Bihar's Bhagalpur district was notified as Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in 1991. But, three decades later, the endangered species continues to face the threat of extinction and in the last six months three dolphins were found dead in the sanctuary.