Eight-fold Rise in Respiratory Diseases in Varanasi

Toxic particulate pollution in this holy city, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents in parliament and intends to make a Smart City like Kyoto in Japan, has resulted in an eight-fold increase in respiratory diseases among children in the past decade, says a new report.

The report, "Varanasi Chokes", corroborating observations from private doctors, blames abnormally high air pollution levels -- that spiked five times higher than the average this winter for several days -- for the rise in asthma cases. It highlighted an increasing trend in the particulate matter levels in the city along with the rising number of respiratory ailments.

He said that in the past 10 years, he has observed an eight-fold increase in respiratory diseases and noted that the worst affected are children. His clinical case-load has shifted drastically and 80 per cent of his cases are now respiratory related. Jindal's toxic tales were affirmed by pulmonologist R.N. Vajpayee, who runs his clinic in the Lanka area. "One of the major problems in the city is road dust that causes dust storms and high pollution levels during summer," he said, adding that bronchial allergies and chest infections have increased manifold in the past four-five years.

Read the full report @ Indian Express

For modeled air quality forecasts for the 640 districts in India everyday, see @ India Air Quality.Info




See what is happening at the regional scale, which is conducted as part of the all India air pollution forecasting program, hosted @ http://www.indiaairquality.info. The animation below is from a WRF-CAMx simulation conducted @ 0.25x0.25 degree resolution (approximately, 25km x 25km).