Mumbai: Bad air is hitting those with pre-existing conditions worst

The cityrsquos air quality has deteriorated earlier ahead of winter than expected leading to a rise in the number of people visiting hospitals and health centres complaining of respiratory illnesses Doctors foresee an increase in the frequency of hospitalisation in patients with preexisting conditionsConstruction activities have increased unchecked over the past two years noted Dr Lancelot Pinto a pulmonologist at PD Hinduja Hospital who has been observing a clear increase in patients as the air quality index AQI rises Several construction sites in the city are known to flout preventive norms so much so that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC recently identified 6000 such sites responsible for worsening air pollutionOne of the civic bodyrsquos vehiclemounted mist machines in action on SundayAccording to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research SAFAR data at 830 am on Sunday the citys AQI stood at 132 Meanwhile AQI for Andheri Colaba and Mazagaon was 101 180 and 156 respectively But some of these areas have experienced worse days For instance earlier this month the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB recorded Vile Parlersquos AQI at 342lsquoSome are strugglingrsquoldquoChronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD patients have increased This air is worsening the condition of people who have preexisting conditions In the coming days there will likely be an increase in the frequency of hospitalisation in such patientsrdquo said a doctor from BMCrun Cooper Hospital in the areaCOPD is a chronic lung disease that makes it difficult to breathe and includes obstructed airflow from the lungs The symptoms include cough and shortness of breath ldquoPeople who have respiratory problems are clearly struggling right nowrdquo said Dr Pinto This largely includes people with asthma COPD and other chronic respiratory illnesses ldquoSuch patients were doing fine a couple of months ago but are now suddenly visiting the hospital needing higher doses of inhalersrdquo Dr Pinto saidMeanwhile the situation is no different in areas like Ghatkopar Dr Chetan Jain a pulmonologist with Zynova Shalby Hospital said he sees about 40 to 50 patients a day and out of them at least 25 complain of a persistent cough ldquoThis is also making it worse for patients with diabetes who are always prone to infections It is a dangerous situation for those who have both diabetes and some sort of lung infectionrdquo he saidInsidious correlationA paper recently published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal established a correlation between particulate matter PM25 and an increase in antibiotic resistance PM25 has been shown to contain diverse antibioticresistant bacteria and antibioticresistance genes which are transferred between environments and directly inhaled by humans causing respiratorytract injury and infection the paper noted The research published in August is based on data from more than 100 countries over nearly two decadesMeanwhile SAFAR director Dr Gufran Beig noted that such early prewinter deterioration of air quality can also be attributed to the late withdrawal of the monsoon ldquoStagnation winds have become very prominent and construction activities are making it worserdquo he said He added the situation will improve in the next couple of months only if authorities act right now in implementing pollution control measuresldquoThis needs to be done by both the local municipal corporation and transport officialsrdquo he said The BMC recently issued guidelines for construction sites making it mandatory to use green cloth or jute sheet coverings regardless of the construction stageIt has also asked for the immediate deployment of a sprinkler system on the site and regular misting during construction It has also deployed mist machines at Worli Sea Face Haji Ali Pedder Road Girgaon Chowpatty Nariman Point Fashion Street Badhwar Park and World Trade Centre ldquoGovernment and private agencies shall be treated at par and any violations shall be dealt with by issuing stopwork notices at the site itselfrdquo the civic body said132Cityrsquos AQI on Sunday morning