Air pollution is no longer just another topic for conversation in parties or sloganeering by politicians. It is cutting our lives down by several years.
It was a short trip to the pristine Garo hills in Meghalaya a year ago that made me realize how bad things were in northern India. The air and sky there seemed suddenly so clear as though I had wiped my glasses clean with a lens cleaner. There were a lot more shining stars in the sky at night. In the day, I could see each tree even in the far away hills. And the colors were so much more vibrant – leaves in different glowing shades of green and flowers radiating bright red and yellow hues. The familiar haze was absent.
What was more surprising was that I felt a lot more energetic. I could walk up the hills without feeling so drained. And my once familiar sense of humor was back.
As soon as we landed back in Delhi we could “smell” the acrid air when the door of the aircraft was opened. The air here had toxins sixteen times that of the permissible level. The familiar irritation of eyes, nose and throat returned. The walk to the parking lot made us pant and the chest felt tight in contrast to the long walks we made in the Garo hills just the day before.
The polluted air across northern India is taking a slow but deadly toll. Many are suffering from chronic cough, breathlessness, stuffy nose, smarting eyes and fatigue. Smog forced authorities to close schools in some parts – children are after all, more vulnerable and have long lives ahead of them. The air in their homes could not be any better though.
Breathing polluted air is associated with a higher risk of hypertension, chronic bronchitis, allergies, heart diseases and lung cancer. Studies have shown that the risk of these illnesses double in people who live near busy roads and are exposed to fumes.
There are more subtle but disturbing aspects of chronic air pollution that we seem to overlook: impaired concentration, short-term memory and cognition – aspects of brain function that are crucial to learning, especially for school going children.
Further, it increases autism, and impulsiveness. Fits of road rage, suicides and violence common in cities could partly have their contribution from the air. Yes, people living in cities are far more impatient, impulsive and easily provoked to anger or mood swings for which we have probably ignored the “air factor”.
Many people seek to settle in cities citing easier and better medical facilities. Paradoxically, the air here could be making us ill, pushing us to hospitals more often, and killing us earlier.
Air pollution is almost entirely a man made disaster. And with no antidotes, it makes sense to make frequent trips to cleaner places to periodically ventilate and detoxify our lungs and bodies, and perhaps plan even to settle there.
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