Gas Chamber Delhi: 100% Families Surveyed Say Had Health Issues in Last 30 Days Due to Air Pollution

With Delhi’s air quality index continuing to range from 300-600 in the last few days, around 85% of families surveyed said they are either suffering from sore throat or cough.

Those surveyed said they have someone in their families who has suffered or is suffering from breathing difficulties.

India’s 1.4 billion people are exposed to unhealthy levels of ambient PM 2.5 – the most harmful pollutant — emanating from multiple sources. These small particulates with a diametre of less than 2.5 microns, is about one-thirtieth the width of a human hair. Exposure to PM 2.5 can cause such deadly illnesses as lung cancer, stroke, and heart disease. Ambient and indoor air pollution is estimated to have caused 1.7 million premature deaths in India in 2019.

The survey asked if the family members in Delhi-NCR experienced any ailment over the last 30 days due to air pollution. Alarmingly, 100% of the 9,740 Delhi-NCR families who responded to the query said they have had one or more members suffer due to pollution.

When asked the type of aliments that they suffer due to air pollution, 89% said sore throat and cough; 78% indicated breathing difficulty; 67% pointed to runny nose or congestion; 67% said burning eyes; while 56% of respondents said they experienced anxiety or difficulty in concentrating, 44% had headache; and 22% admitted to difficulty in sleeping.

New survey shows in three weeks, the percentage of Delhi-NCR families with one or more individuals suffering from sore throat or cough has risen from 75% to 89% due to continuing high air pollution.

Similarly, in the case of Delhi-NCR families with one or more individuals suffering from congestion and/ or runny nose the percentage has risen from 38% to 67% in just three weeks.

While people continue to experience short, medium and long term impact on their health due to toxic air, stubble burning in neighbouring states continues and so does manual road cleaning and garbage burning in Delhi and NCR cities with many wondering if those in administration are still on the job and addressing root causes.

The survey received over 9,000 responses from residents of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad. 67% respondents were men while 33% respondents were women.