HELICOPTERS ‘VIOLATE’ NORMS IN KEDARNATH, SAYS REPORT
DEHRADUN: Five years after the then divisional forest officer (DFO) raised an alarm about choppers ferrying pilgrims in Kedarnath were flouting aviation norms, a similar report has been sent to the Forest and Wildlife department by the current DFO in October.
Amit Kanwar, DFO Kedarnath wildlife division sent a report to the department earlier this month which stated that choppers were flying below the permissible height of 600 metres (2000 ft) while flying above the sensitive Kedarnath wildlife sanctuary.
The DFO along with his team had set up two monitoring stations at Bhimbali and Lincholi and collected data of the level at which the choppers were flying on a random basis from April, 2018 to June 2018. The report states that as per norms set by National Green Tribunal (NGT), helicopter companies are required to send altimeter data to DFO Kedarnath bi-weekly but the data was not sent regularly and some companies did not send the data at all.
A total of eight companies violated the NGT directions, affecting the wildlife with the high noise pollution. High noise levels are likely to increase stress levels in animals, disturb their hormonal balance and lead them to shift from the forest zone, as noted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in a detailed study in 20162017. The report sent by DFO Kedarnath has now been sent to the state government by the forest and wildlife department. “The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) only mentions the norms that the helicopters companies must follow, but no serious monitoring has been done by them,” said Kanwar.
R Rajesh Kumar, additional secretary of UCADA said, “We have not received any report of chopper companies violating the regulations.
However, companies cannot fudge the data because the noise level and height is measured in devices installed in the choppers.” NEW DELHI: India recorded the highest number of air pollutioninduced deaths of children below five years in 2016, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report that analysed the impact of toxic air on the health of children in 194 countries.
At least 100,000 children below five years died that year in the country due to health complications associated with high outdoor and indoor air pollution, according to the report titled ‘Air Pollution and Child Health’ released in Geneva on Monday.
Nigeria (98,001), Pakistan (38,252), Democratic Republic of Congo (32,647) and Ethiopia (20,330) followed India, completing the list of the worst five countries in child mortality in the study. Death rates, or the ratio of deaths to population during a particular period, were higher in these four countries than that of India.
Of the countries surveyed, India recorded the highest premature deaths among children under five years due to outdoor air pollution in 2016 and the second highest number of deaths due to exposure from indoor air pollution — only after Nigeria.
About 98% of the children in that age group in India are exposed to PM2.5 levels that exceed WHO’S annual standard of 25 micrograms per cubic metres. PM2.5 pollutants are particulate matters that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers.
These tiny particles are so fine that they can enter the bloodstream and lodge deep into the lungs.
Half of all deaths due to acute lower respiratory infections, which include pneumonia and influenza, in children below five years is caused by exposure to high air pollution levels in lowand middle-income countries, estimates WHO.
Across the world, at least 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by air pollution in 2016.
India also has one of the highest morbidity and mortality rates: at least 50 deaths for every 100,000 children due to such infections.
Globally, premature birth is the only other factor that kills more children below five years than acute respiratory infections. In the African region, however, acute respiratory infections are the leading cause of death of children in that age group.
When asked about the details of the methodology for the country-wise mortality figures, WHO said the sources to assess PM2.5 exposure was scientific modelling, ground measurements (provided by the likes of the Central Pollution Control Board in India) and satellite data.
The methodology to assess risks associated with PM2.5 exposure is the one used in the Global Burden of Disease, a study on health impacts from various sources.
WHO has also put together a list of health effects that children may be facing from air pollution, taking into account significant research studies published in the past 10 years and inputs from experts around the world.
Poor birth outcomes like low birth weight and a rise in preterm births and stillbirths due to the mother’s exposure to high air pollution levels have been mentioned in past research.
WHO’S review has established that air pollution can also lead to behavioural disorders such as autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; adverse metabolic outcomes such as obesity and insulin resistance; occurrence of otitis media (an inflammatory disease of the middle ear); and higher risk of retinoblastoma (cancer of retina) and leukaemia (blood cancer) in children.
The report says that there is substantial evidence that exposure to road traffic-related air pollution or diesel exhaust is associated with childhood leukaemia.
Authors of the study have listed why children are the most vulnerable to air pollution exposure and the various pathways through which air pollution affects their health — which include inhalation and ingestion of pollution particles.
As children breathe at twice the rate that adults do, they inhale larger amounts of air pollutants. Pollution particles are also moved through the respiratory system faster, allowing them to reach the lungs, the alveoli and the bloodstream more rapidly, according to the study.
Children are also more physically