Morning walk may do more harm than good in these times

NEW DELHI: If you think morning walks are the best way to get some fresh air in Delhi, you are wrong.

Though health minister Satyendar Jain, who heads the special task force on environment constituted by the Delhi government, on Thursday said air quality plunges after midnight and not early morning, data suggests otherwise.

Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s (DPCC) data of last week showed pollution levels in the city remained the highest between 4am and 8am, when morning walkers and school children step out.

The level of particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometer (PM2.5) was recorded to be above 300 micrograms per cubic meter (umg/m3) throughout last week.

This level of particulate matter is categorized in the ‘very poor’ category by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The permissible levels of PM 2.5 in India are 60umg/m3, four times the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard.

The situation worsened after Diwali, when the levels hovered around the 500-mark. This is categorised as ‘severe’, and leads to a shutdown in cities such as Beijing.

Weather experts said the pollution levels during morning hours are the highest because of lack of wind movement.

“The wind speed in this period is minimum and pollutants get trapped in the air,” said a weather expert.

On Thursday, the particulate level touched 955 umg/m3, almost 16 times higher than the acceptable level, at 5:30am in southDelhi’sRKPuram. InPunjabi Bagh the levels touched 842 at 6am and in Anand Vihar, it was 830.

Health experts and doctors said the most vulnerable to such high toxins are children, whose lungs can be severely affected by exposure to pollutants.

Morning walkers and runners too can damage their respiratory and other functions with prolonged exposure to pollutants.

According to doctors, people should avoid physical activity during early mornings or late evenings, when the pollution levels are high.

“Strenuous activity at this time leads to people inhaling greater volumes of minute pollutants, which get lodged in the lungs,” said Dr GC Khilnani, professor, department of pulmonary medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

“Shift workout time from early mornings to 11 am to 4 pm when the air a bit clearer,” he said.

Overnight truck movement inside the city and the early morning sweeping activities contribute to the high level of pollution.

Over 1lakh commercial diesel-belching trucks enter the city every night after 10pm, adding to the already worse pollution levels. Along with this, all the civic agencies in the city, except the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), start sweeping the roads and other public places after 5am, when human activities resume.

Despite several petitions and orders by the high court to implement night sweeping, no action has been taken by authorities. Night sweeping gives time for the dust to settle down before people start flocking to public places.

“In India the concept of night sweeping or mechanised sweeping is yet to gain popularity. When sweeping happens at night, the particles have time to settle down before human movement resumes in the morning,” said Aseem Khan, an environment lawyer.

DELHI POLLUTION CONTROL COMMITTEE’S DATA OF LAST WEEK SHOWED POLLUTION LEVELS IN THE CITY WERE THE HIGHEST BETWEEN 4AM AND 8AM