THE Health Department of Government of Maharashtra has appealed to people in 17 major cities, including Nagpur, to avoid ordinary outdoor activities, especially morning and evening walks, on days with poor air quality index (AQI). The warning, issued in view of the unabated pollution levels in urban centres, cautions people against activities like walks, jogs, runs, physical exercises outdoors, or even opening windows during mornings and late evenings. Nagpur city is already in the non-attainment cities’ list of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).The State Government issued this advisory in view of the increased pollution level in major cities. In case, people suffer from pollution-related problems like breathlessness, cough, chest pains or discomforts, giddiness, irritation in eyes, etc, consult their physician, and have also recommended the use of N95 face-masks, stated the advisory.

 

The Health Department has also initiated a ‘Health Action Plan’, under which a districtlevel task force will monitor air pollution-related illnesses and ensure prompt treatment throughout the State. Under this initiative, all districts in the State will prepare action plans to combat air pollution within their regions. Besides Nagpur, 16 major cities in the State will have designated surveillance sites to monitor acute cases of respiratory or coronary conditions reported in emergency wards and align the data with daily Air Quality Index readings. These statistics on air pollution related illnesses or deaths would be regularly reported and districts as well as municipal authorities will identify the hotspots in their jurisdictions based on the AQI levels.

 

This is the government’s first major initiative towards battling the ill-effects of poor air quality that has been reported in many parts of the state, particularly cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, and others. The comprehensive Health Action Plan for districts and cities mention 14 critical elements. The Health Department will document month-wise average statistics of diseases linked to air pollution and will make plans to connect air pollution data with disease information and find hotspots where people are at risk.