Authorities in the National Capital Region (NCR), despite various formulas like car-free day and the proposed odd-even formula have not been able to check the rising air pollution in the region leaving several people's lungs affected.
Over one lakh cases of asthma and various other respiratory diseases emerged in Gurgaon from January to October 2015. These include over 53,000 cases registered in the out-patient department of the city civil hospital alone. Besides this, around 46,000 patients, who were suffering respiratory ailments, consulted different private hospitals.
An alarming five per cent of the city's 20 lakh population suffers from shortness of breath, below par lung capacity and obstructive airway diseases like asthma. The quality of air in the Millennium City has deteriorated owing to the huge volume of vehicular movement and large number of industrial units that release toxic effluents into the air leading to a variety of respiration-related ailments.
According to available data, in 2014, there were 26,149 respiratory patients who came to the civil hospital and this number rose sharply in the past 10 months to 27,291. There was a 25 per cent rise in the number of such patients in private hospitals.
"It has been observed that there is a 20 per cent increase of respiratory patients in last two months and with winter setting in and the fog intensifying, the frequency of patients is expected to rise in the next 40 days," said Kanta Goyal, PMO of Gurgaon civil hospital. She added that people will have to avoid morning walks as the quantity of smoke is much higher during the time in winters.
Air pollution or traffic-related air pollution and indoor air pollution caused by passive smoking and biomass fuel combustion is associated with the development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The situation is particularly bad in NCR, where the recent pollution levels have been reported to be much higher than the acceptable limits on most days of the year, sometimes as high as 35 times the normal limits.
Though, the Gurgaon civil hospital is generally frequented by patients belonging to the lower income group and labourers for respiratory problems, the situation in people of the elite class is not different.
Recently, a city-based pulmonologist Dr Himanshu Garg and his organisation Avis Health conducted a survey to check the lungs of officials, bureaucrats and business honchos. The study revealed that 68 per cent of them had respiratory problems. The findings were shocking considering the fact that majority of these people live either indoor and travel in vehicles with air conditioners.
"From Diwali to Holi, a sharp rise in number of patients with respiratory diseases has been observed. The chilly weather combined with air pollution make a deadly combination. Particles such as PM 2.5 and PM 10 directly enter into the lungs of patients, especially children and senior citizens. They need extreme precaution and medication.
Besides, yoga is the evergreen remedy for respiratory deceases," Garg said.
'Foul air kills 30K a year'
As many as 10,000 to 30,000 Delhiites may be meeting a fatal end due to air pollutionrelated causes annually, a report from top environmental watchdog, Centre for Science and Environment, has revealed.
Foul air has emerged as the fifth leading cause of death in India, it added. The publication, titled 'Body Burden 2015: State of India's Health,' released on Tuesday, also said climate change is leading to greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
The report has thrown light on areas such as vehicular pollution, industrial pollution, polluting cook stoves that cause indoor pollution and related other issues. The report states that the toll due to uncontrolled air pollution-related illnesses alone has increased worldwide by a whopping 300 per cent in the last decade - from 800,000 in 2000 to 3.2 million in 2012.
In Delhi, which was named as the most polluted city of the world by WHO in 2014, air pollution results in about 6,20,000 premature deaths from stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, lower respiratory infections and trachea, bronchus and lung cancer among others, the statement said. The report highlights the heightened vulnerability of the poor and calls for stringent actions.
