Lucknow: It's time for Kanpur residents to ditch city Diwali and escape to a hill station as the air quality seems to be dipping continuously in town with the industrial city topping the list of most polluted cities of the country.
After breaching the 400 mark, which is considered severe, Kanpur figured in the polluted cities list for the fourth time in the last seven days.
According to the data released by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Friday, the toxic air in the industrial city was seven times more than the permissible limits set by National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
The content of pollutant PM2.5 was also at alarming levels in the air that people of Kanpur breathed on Friday. With AQI levels soaring, Kanpur has left behind New Delhi which has been witnessing pollution problems for the last few days. The pollution level has risen 53 points in Kanpur in the last days so far.
Previously on 28th and 29th October also Kanpur was tagged as the most polluted city in the country with AQI levels at 422 and 420 respectively. Not just in India but Kanpur had also earned the tag of most polluted city in the world too. As per the database released by World Health Organisation in May this year, India had 14 out of 15 most polluted cities in the world, and Kanpur was topping the list with the concentration of PM2.5 as high as 173 micrograms per cubic metre of air.
However, with Diwali around the corner and pollution level all set to increase even further, there might be issues with patients dealing with breathing and lung ailments.
Speaking on the issue, Chest Specialist at Apollomedics Super Speciality Hospital Lucknow, DR AK Singh said, “With pollution level already at an alarming level, the impact of fireworks could further deteriorate the situation. During such period patients with with rhinitis, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) or asthma or chronic respiratory diseases tend to have acute attacks requiring medications or even requiring hospital admissions. It is also harmful for even people with no prior respiratory ailments resulting in coughing, wheezing and breathlessness from smoke emission due to crackers.”
According to health experts, the rise in AQI also may lead to symptoms of decreased smell, nasal blockage, increased nasal secretion (with or without associated inflammation) and alterations in local immunity, predisposing to influenza infection. It may also result in inflammation in lungs, causing breathlessness, cough or chest pain.