New Delhi: While Delhi has been ranked as the worst polluted city in the world by the World health Organisation, 13 other Indian cities have also made it to the list.
The air quality in the city and the country is also affecting the health of children. Many like seven month old Harsh have developed severe respiratory problems due to Delhi's polluted air.
A study done by Kolkata-based Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute even revealed that out of the 11,000 school going children in Delhi, 43.5% suffer from "poor or restrictive lungs", 15% complained of frequent eye irritation while 11.2% of complained of nausea and 7.2% of palpitation.
Doctors claim that they have written many prescriptions asking schools to give offs to children. As kids have smaller lungs, it is more difficult for them. There is a huge hike in the number of cases from 2014.
It is not just the children who are affected, data from major hospitals shows that Delhi has lost the gains it made after switching to CNG. The number of cases though went down initially saw a major spike after RSPM level rose to 316 in 2014 from 161 in 2007.
At AIIMS where there were 10,296 OPD cases for respiratory ailments in 2005-06 which went down to 9,519 in 2007-08 and reached an all-time high of 37,669 in 2014-15.
Even as the government has launched real time monitoring of air quality in the country, doctors feel a lot more needs to be done. "Monitoring air quality is good but there needs to be more concrete steps by the government," say doctors.
Though the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered banning of diesel vehicles older than 10 years to improve Delhi's air quality, it is to be seen whether it will be enough as around 22 lakh school children in the national capital are already growing up with irreversible lung damage. With Delhi's air quality deteriorating further, doctors are advising parents to leave Delhi to save children from fatal lungs disorders.
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