Air pollution may lead to faster spread of COVID-19 infections, officials tell Parliamentary panel
New Delhi: Air pollution may lead to a faster spread of COVID-19 infections as it causes coughing and sneezing, government officials told a parliamentary panel on Friday, according to sources.
Top officials of the Union environment and health ministries and the governments of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development to find a "permanent solution" to air pollution in the national capital and adjoining areas.
In addition, officials of the Central Pollution Control Board and from other departments also depose before the panel on the ongoing situation of air pollution in the national capital and its adjoining areas.
The agenda of the meeting was to deliberate upon "steps taken for prevention of air pollution special emphasis on finding a permanent solution to air pollution in Delhi and NCR."
In a presentation before the panel, officials from the central government expressed concern over the threat of COVID-19 spreading faster due to air pollution.
"Higher air pollution may increase episodes of coughing and sneezing spreading COVID-19 faster. More particle surface for the virus to stick to and get transported over a greater distance and may potentially survive longer," the health ministry said in the presentation to the committee.
Citing a Lancet study, the health ministry said, "There is an average loss of 1.7 years of life expectancy in India due to air pollution."
Similarly, it said in Delhi there is a 1.7 times higher risk of respiratory ailments and prevalence of breathing problems and 10,000 to 30,000 air pollution deaths are reported annually.
The environment ministry, in its presentation, shared the details of the status of air quality of Delhi during four years between 2016 and 2019.
As per the presentation, the quality of Delhi air was good for only four days during this period and was very poor for 319 days.
And the quality of air in Delhi was severe for 78 days.
Delhi's air quality on Thursday dropped to its worst level since December 2019 with farm fires accounting for 42 per cent of its pollution, the maximum this season so far, according to data from central government agencies.
Experts said unfavourable meteorological conditions -- calm winds and low temperatures -- and smoke from farm fires in neighbouring states led to a dense layer of haze on Wednesday night as the air quality index entered the 'severe' category.
The haze thinned on Thursday with higher wind speed helping in the dispersion of pollutants. However, the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 450, the highest since December 30 last year, when it was 446.
All the 36 monitoring stations in Delhi recorded air quality in the 'severe' category. The neighbouring cities of Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurgaon and Noida also recorded 'severe' air pollution.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
