Delhi: Smog shortening lives, say docs; hospitals see huge spike in patients

Agencies
November 12, 2017

New Delhi, Nov 12: In the emergency ward of a Delhi hospital, men and women gasp for breath as they wait to be treated for symptoms triggered by the choking blanket of smog that descended on the city this week.

Doctors at the government-run Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute say patient numbers have more than tripled since pollution levels spiked amid a change in weather conditions and the annual post-harvest burning of crop stubble in surrounding areas.

Shopkeeper Manoj Khati said he initially dismissed his heaving cough but it grew gradually worse and he has now been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis.

"For three days I haven't stopped coughing, I felt as though I would die," the 46-year-old said as he waited to undergo further tests.

Levels of PM2.5 -- the fine pollution particles linked to higher rates of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease -- regularly topped 500 this week, at one point going over 1,000.

Levels between 301 and 500 are classified as "hazardous", while anything over 500 is beyond the official index.

The World Health Organization`s guidelines say 25 is the maximum level of PM2.5 anyone can safely be exposed to over a 24-hour period.

Emergency ward doctor Mansi Verma said the hospital had seen a huge spike in patients suffering from respiratory problems.

They are treated with steam inhalation or using nebuliser machines, which provide immediate relief by administering drugs directly to the airways.

"Beginning this week, we are seeing between 250-300 patients, more than three times the usual," Verma said.

"Most of them suffer from intense coughing and inflammation of the respiratory tract."

Despite the rise in emergency cases Arvind Kumar, a respiratory diseases specialist at the private Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi, said many of the worst health effects would not be seen for years to come.

"Pollution kills you slowly," he said.

"Whatever toxins levels we are exposed to today, suppose it continued for 10 days, this would have shortened the life of each one of us by several days or several weeks. But that effect will be noticed many, many years later, so it`s not an immediate killer. And that`s why its potential lethal value is not immediately appreciated, but nonetheless, it`s a lethal killer."

Delhi is now the world`s most polluted capital according to a World Health Organization survey conducted in 2014, with levels regularly exceeding those in Beijing.

Large swathes of north India and Pakistan see a spike in pollution at the onset of winter due to crop burning and the fact that cooler air traps particulates close to the ground, preventing them from dispersing -- a phenomenon known as inversion.

In Delhi, local industry, coal-fired power plants and a growing number of cars on the roads have added to the crisis.

In response, authorities have temporarily closed all schools in the city and announced restrictions on all private cars -- an estimated 3 million -- from Monday.

But with current levels of pollution, Kumar said, he would not recommend living in the city at all.

"If you worry about your health, you want to have a healthy life... then with the current levels of pollution, I would say Delhi is not a place to live," he said.

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News Network
November 21,2024

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Hamas says the Israeli regime’s sole objective lies in “erasing” the entirety of the Palestinian population from across the Palestinian territories.

Khalil al-Hayya, a ranking official with the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement, made the remarks to the Palestinian al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

“The occupation targets everyone—it strikes hospitals, civil defense, women, children, and the elderly,” he said, adding that the regime sought to “empty Gaza of its residents, and displace the Palestinian people to fulfill its dreams of building a Zionist Jewish state across all of Palestine.”

The remarks came amid the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide on the coastal sliver that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“This unprecedented aggression in modern times evokes scenes from the dark ages of human history, having crossed all red lines and exceeded every expectation of brutality in the modern era,” the Palestinian official lamented.

He also regretted that the regime had added “systematic and dangerous starvation to its aggression, falsely claiming before the world that it allows 250 [aid] trucks into Gaza daily. In reality, the number of trucks is far fewer.”

Hayya, meanwhile, regretted that “scenes of children torn apart, women screaming over their children, and heart-wrenching destruction have failed to stir enough humanity to stop these crimes.”

He decried the United States for vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that are aimed at bringing about a potential ceasefire in the war, saying this indicated Washington’s “partnership in the aggression” and a simultaneous siege that the Israeli regime has been enforcing on Gaza.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official asserted that, despite what the Israeli official is after, Hamas would not hand over the regime’s captives “without [the regime’s] stopping the war.”

He called Netanyahu “the main obstacle” in the way of cessation of the aggression, saying the Israeli premier “blocks any progress for political reasons,” and citing his preventing conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in July.

Hayya also warned that the regime sought to expand the war beyond Gaza, but asserted that its goals are “impossible and will never happen.”

“Today, the enemy exposes its true intentions of extermination and displacement, but it will fail,” he stressed.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and will not surrender, as they believe in their humanitarian and political cause. The enemy and its allies will not succeed in achieving their goals. This steadfast people will endure, and the occupation will not prevail against them.”

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News Network
November 11,2024

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Udupi, Nov 11: The Karkala town police in Udupi have arrested Krishna Naik, the sculptor responsible for installing a 33-foot Parashurama statue at Umikkal Hill in Bailur, Karkala taluk. 

Naik, the owner of Krish Art World and a resident of Bengaluru's Visvesvaraya Layout, was apprehended in Mahe, part of the Union Territory of Puducherry, for allegedly substituting a look-alike statue in place of a genuine bronze figure at the Parashurama Theme Park in Karkala.

Udupi Superintendent of Police Dr. Arun K confirmed the arrest, stating that Naik faces charges under Sections 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code. 

This legal action followed a complaint lodged in June by Krishna Shetty, a resident of Nallur village, Karkala. Shetty claimed that Naik had received a payment of ₹1,25,50,000 from Udupi Nirmithi Kendra for the installation of a bronze Parashurama statue. However, Naik allegedly deceived the government by installing a replica instead.

The statue was unveiled on January 27, 2023, by then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. Current Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has since ordered a CID investigation to probe deeper into the alleged fraud surrounding the statue's installation at the theme park.

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News Network
November 14,2024

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday backed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his claim that the BJP had offered Rs 50 crore each to 50 Congress MLAs in an attempt to "topple" the state government.

Addressing reporters here, Shivakumar, also the Congress state president, said, “The BJP indeed lured 50 Congress MLAs with Rs 50 crore each.”

He defended Siddaramaiah’s statement and said the Congress MLAs were briefed about the BJP’s alleged 'Operation Lotus', a term used to describe the BJP's attempts to destabilise ruling governments through horse-trading.

“Some of our MLAs informed the Chief Minister about this matter, and he, in turn, shared it with the media,” Shivakumar said.

At an event in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah reiterated the claim that "none of the Congress MLAs had accepted the offer".

He also accused the BJP of filing false cases against him in a bid to "remove him and overthrow his government".

The BJP has yet to respond to the allegations.

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