‘Dusty city roads create major health problems to the commuters’

Srinagar—The unending construction work coupled with apathy of authorities, have aggravated the woes of commuters in Srinagar city here.

It is been seen that dusts lying scattered over several roads in the city. “When a vehicle passes through the roads, suddenly a cloud of dusts appear and leave the passerby gasp for fresh breath. Mostly street roads are dustier than the major roads like VVIP roads Gupkar, Airport road in Srinagar,” one of the commuters in Lalchock told this KNS correspondent.

People said that even the national highway passing through the city has dusts and sands at both sides of the road.

“Though the SMC is claiming that it cleans the road regularly, but real situation is different. Areas like City centre Lalchock, Batmalloo, Bemina, Qamarwari, Jawharnagar witness dusts on its roads. Due to the bad roads, potholes and ill maintenance of street roads, dusts and sands get deposited on it creating health problems, Said Uman Umar of Jawharnagar.

Dusts in the roads contribute to air pollution. It is a main component of the suspended particulate matter (SPM) that pollutes air. It has been seen that the SPM, a dangerous particle which degrade the air quality, has been increased in the air of the city atmosphere and has not only pollutes the city’s air, but also poses health threat to people residing here.

“Polluted air makes a person’s lungs weak. Constant exposure to these dusts will create respiratory problems, said one of the doctors at SMHS hospital.

One of the officials of SMC told KNS that though they use vacuum cleaner vehicle to clean some major roads, but it can’t be used in other roads due to uneven surfaces. “Sweepers have been engaged to clean those roads. We are trying to keep clean all the roads which have dusts,”he said.

The doctors here said that the number of patients with respiratory problems has increased in the OPD’s of various hospitals and other health centers over the past few months. “Continuous exposure to the dust has resulted in cough and allergy of many people. We are also receiving many patients who suffer from Bacterial growth, Asthma, Bronchitis, and other respiratory problems,” one of the senior doctors of SMHS said.

One of the senior doctors at Chest Diseases hospital said that the dust which the roads are emitting in Srinagar can lead to many respiratory diseases. “Diseases like lower respiratory tract infection can become common besides asthma attacks among the people who are already suffering from it,” he said

He said that the hospital was receiving many patients who are complaining about the chest infections due to the intake of polluted air. “We are receiving huge number for patients. The polluted air can lead to complication among TB patients also,” the doctor said and added that people should adopt precautionary measures as the conditions could worsen in coming months if roads are not cleaned.

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