India is home to 63 of the world's 100 most polluted cities. That includes Mumbai which, as a coastal city, ought to have a better climate. Toxic air can pose a serious risk to our health – more than previously realized.
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00:00Environmentalist Stalin D. is measuring the level of emissions in the air.
00:08He is at a cement compound in the eastern part of India's megacity, Mumbai.
00:13The gauge shows 195.
00:15The Mumbai Air Quality Index rates that as unhealthy.
00:20Simple comparison is that anyone who is living in Mumbai is smoking five cigarettes a day,
00:23whether he is doing it with tobacco or without tobacco.
00:27That is the question.
00:28But you don't have a choice.
00:29I am also a smoker today.
00:30The lungs of the children of Mumbai are like the lungs of smokers.
00:35A problem that Rohini Banerjee understands all too well.
00:39Her son has had a recurring respiratory infection.
00:45His symptoms display every time the pollution levels go up.
00:51For the past two years now, a major construction project has been underway, less than 300 metres
00:57from their home.
01:01We started feeling the impact of the pollution when my son was around two and a half.
01:08When we'd have any outdoor activity and stuff like that, we'd get back, when he'd run around
01:13and stuff and come back.
01:15He would definitely that night, you know, have a cough.
01:18We started having more frequent trips to the doctors.
01:21We were put on cough syrups and there have been instances when he was given inhalers.
01:29Mumbai's local government estimates over 6,000 construction projects are currently underway.
01:36Air pollution is extremely high.
01:39Fine dust particles, PM2.5, are so minuscule that they are not visible to the naked eye.
01:46They can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
01:50In December 2024, levels exceeded the 200 mark in some areas, making the air extremely
01:57unhealthy.
01:58A recent study by the Centre for Chronic Disease Control found that even moderate exposure
02:04to these pollutants increases the risk of diseases like diabetes by 23% in urban centres.
02:12Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when blood sugar levels are high and the pancreas
02:16secretes less insulin for breaking it down.
02:20Over time, this can damage the nerves, eyes, kidneys and cardiovascular system.
02:26Several factors play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes – DNA, lifestyle and
02:33environmental conditions.
02:35Dr. Rajiv Kovil is a diabetologist.
02:38He has worked in Mumbai for over two decades.
02:41In the past three years, he has been seeing younger patients with complications from diabetes.
02:46The inflammation which is caused by poor quality index, especially of a PM less than 2.5, causes
02:53a sort of systemic inflammation in the body which leads to what is called as oxidative
02:59stress which actually causes the decompensation of the pancreatic beta cells.
03:04You make lesser insulin, the inflammation causes insulin resistance.
03:09So it appears clear, inflammation caused by air pollution can both damage insulin producing
03:14cells and inhibit the body's response to insulin.
03:18So the traditional risk factors which we know, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and wrong eating
03:24have always been there.
03:26But when you add this external risk factor in terms of pollution and air quality index,
03:33it kind of is a synergy inside our body and finally leads to premature kind of development
03:38of diabetes.
03:4047-year-old Mervin Fernandez is one such patient who was recently diagnosed with premature
03:46diabetes.
03:47Mervin has always had a balanced lifestyle with a regular exercise routine and a healthy
03:53diet.
03:54It was therefore a shock for him that he was diabetic, likely accelerated by his exposure
04:01to the polluted air around him.
04:05How can we take care of ourselves?
04:07The air we breathe is only impure.
04:10So if that impure air is coming into my body and affecting me, I don't know what will happen
04:16to the generation which is coming, my children.
04:20I fear for them.
04:21The authorities are seeking to mitigate the problem.
04:2432 air quality index monitoring systems have been set up across Mumbai by the State Pollution
04:30Control Board.
04:32The board says it monitors pollution closely and has issued strict guidelines to real estate
04:38developers.
04:39There should be a barricade of 25 feet and nets will be there.
04:43There should be a fogger-type system where the dust particles settle.
04:48There should be CCTV.
04:50There should be very less noise while digging the excavation.
04:55All this dust-free atmosphere should be there.
04:58This should be monitored by 24 by 7 by the project proponent.
05:02These are the exhaustive guidelines we have given to all the builders.
05:07But even though closure notices are issued to construction sites that violate standards,
05:12in most cases they have little effect and incur no punitive action.
05:17Rohini Banerjee says the authorities are failing the people.
05:21In another 10 years, this entire generation is going to basically pay the price for it
05:26and it's going to be a huge price.
05:29There's no government which is going to be able to fix this.
05:31But could a solution come from the private sector?
05:34Respira Living Sciences, a climate tech startup from Pune, has built an open source platform
05:40called Atlas AQ that provides precise pollution data at a very localized level.
05:47Once you have per square kilometer accurate data, right from the bottom up, which is the
05:53citizens, the community groups, citizen groups, they will start mobilizing actions.
06:00And the top-down folks will have an ability to focus on specific parts where the problem is.
06:07The company is calling for action that targets the precise areas where pollution is worst.
06:13It says a decision by the city to invest most of a 20 million Euro grant from the National
06:18Clean Air Programme in electric buses just isn't effective enough.
06:24Do we say that electric buses are the answer to the air quality problem?
06:28Almost everyone says no.
06:29You know, 200 buses were easy to sanction.
06:32But they are not solving the problem.
06:34Money has got now spent.
06:36So we feel that Hyperlocal is going to let the focus be kept where the problem is.
06:43In the meantime, Rohini Banerjee is doing what she can.
06:46She has set up an air purifier in her home to protect herself and her family.
06:54And every time she steps out with her son, she ensures that he's all masked up.
06:59As long as policy makers fail to implement effective solutions, people have no choice
07:05but to protect themselves as best as they can.