New Perils Of Smog

Pollution in the air is not just a depressing sight. New science is shedding light on how insidious its impact is on the human body, condemning it to a range of deadly ailments-from COPD to cancer, renal to cardiovascular disease

- SONALI ACHARJEE

Every year, as the annual poisonous haze begins to descend on the National Capital Region, Sujata Sen whisks out her N95 masks and turns on air purifiers in every room, including in the loos. She has invested Rs 1.5 lakh on a system that regulates the air quality inside the house. Indoor plants soak up the rest of the stray pollutants hanging about in the air.

Her fraternal twin Swapan couldn't have been more different. Till last year, he would even exercise outdoors without a mask. He tried doing the same this year, but couldn't. "I was walking in the first week of November and felt I couldn't breathe," he says. "My throat was dry and my chest tight." The visit to the doctor didn't bring good news. The 58-year-old retired marketing professional was diagnosed with early stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, a group of diseases that cause airflow blockage and breathing-related problems. The culprit? The beast he had defied for so long: Pollution.

The pre-winter phenomenon, which clothes the national capital in a dystopic haze, has become an annual event. The blame has been laid at many a doorstep-the landlocked geography, crop burning, vehicular emissions and construction dust. Many a solution, too, has been proposed, be it regulating traffic, banning construction activity, giving farmers incentives to not burn stubble, cloud seeding and smog towers. But year after year, the pall of gloom keeps its tryst. And humans are beginning to pay the price.