Breathing in Kolkata is injurious to Health
Smoking is a choice but breathing is not, on every cigarette packet there is a warning but there are no warnings for the toxic air you breathing. Even when the media headlines screams Kolkata Air Quality is worse than Delhi, the citizens and the government seems to turn a blind eye.
I have been monitoring Kolkata Air Quality data at regular intervals since the past one week now and there has not been a single occasion that the AQI levels were below 300 which is categorised into the “very poor” mark on the Air Quality Index.
The above data depicts the Air Quality Index on 23 November, 2018 Friday Morning at 7:00 AM near Victoria. You will also notice the Prominent Pollutant is PM 2.5. These PM2.5, also called “fine particulates,” consists of particles with diameters that are less than or equal to 2.5 microns in size. PM2.5 is of serious health concern, since these particles can travel more deeply into our lungs and cause more harmful effects.
Every morning thousands of Kolkata citizens visit Maidan area near Victoria for out door activities to keep themselves healthy totally unaware that while exercising they are inhaling more air (compared to normal breathing at rest) and these PM 2.5 particles are getting much deeper into their lungs.
Exposure to such high air pollution levels can cause immediate health problems including Aggravated cardiovascular and respiratory illness, Added stress to heart and lungs (which must work harder to supply the body with oxygen Damaged cells in the respiratory system) and Long-term exposure to polluted air can have permanent health effects such as accelerated aging of the lung, loss of lung capacity and decreased lung function, Development of diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and possibly cancer and shortened life span.
Those most susceptible to severe health problems from air pollution are:
● Individuals with heart disease, coronary artery disease or congestive heart failure
● Individuals with lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
● Pregnant women
● Outdoor workers
● Older adults and the elderly
● Children under age 14
● Athletes who exercise vigorously outdoors
People in these groups may experience health impacts at lower air pollution exposure levels, or their health effects may be of greater intensity.
A WHO report in the recently concluded WHO conference on Air Pollution and Health (to which India also was a participant) highlighted the stark fact that air pollution causes the global deaths of more than 6,00, 000 children under 5 years of age of which more than 100,000 occur only in India. Previous research reports specific to Kolkata points to as many as 70% of our citizens
suffer from some form of respiratory issues and as many as 47% of Kolkata citizens suffer from LRTI. (Lower respiratory tract Infection). A recent report also pointed towards life expectancy in Kolkata dropping by 6.1 years due to Air Pollution.
This should be treated as a very serious public health crisis and the city needs to come together to ensure breathable clean air for its citizens.
Hope that the citizens of Kolkata and the government will wake up and secure our Right To Breathe.
