CLEAR THE AIR
BMC Report Finds Significant Percentage Of Respiratory Ailments In City Pockets Maravli Is Mumbais Most Polluted Place, Borivli Cleanest ………Sharad Vyas | TNN
Mumbai: Stop hoping if you are looking at the end of monsoon for some respite from that nagging cough or a bad bout of asthma. Data that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has come up with in its latest environmental status report indicates that the end of the rains will bring even worse times for people suffering from diseases of the respiratory tract.
The situation, according to the report, is already bad in the city. A significant percentage of people, in four of the five city pockets that were surveyed (see graphic), complained they were suffering from diseases of the respiratory tract or other air pollution-linked problems (like irritation in the eyes). Doctors from all over Mumbai corroborate this; the city, they say, is in the middle of a bad cough-and-cold season right now.
But doctors and health experts say you should expect more trouble after the rains go away; monsoon ends with September in Mumbai and the weather will be largely dry from October throughout whatever winter Mumbai has till February. These dry months will see even more respiratory ailments because the rains which wash away much of the pollutants in the air during the monsoon months are not going to be there, say doctors. Weather experts say the turbulence that is there in air during monsoon helps as well by blowing away pollutants like suspended particles, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and lead.
The data collated by BMC officials between April 2007 and March this year gives a clear indication of how air pollution rises in Mumbai as soon as the rains stop. October, November, December and January are the months when air pollution peaks in the city, the report shows. The pollution index more than doubled immediately after September 2007. The pollution index figure for that month was 34; the figure was 74 in October.
The BMC study, conducted with help from Neeri and MPCB, also tells you where you should be staying if you value your fresh air. Borivli is the cleanest part of the city, with the level of pollutants being much lower than the standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board. And Maravli is the neighbourhood you should avoid if you already have respiratory disorders or would like your lungs to stay fit for some more time.
The health survey (to find out the incidence of respiratory diseases) was done in five neighbourhoods in Colaba, Parel, Wadala, Versova and Bhandup; the first four showed significant incidence of respiratory diseases or problems that could be linked to air pollution.
Lungs have the largest surface area among all the organs in the body and are affected by the type of air we breathe. The research was done to identify areas susceptible to the ill effects of air pollution, a member of the BMC research team said.