Check air pollution: City school students to CM

Bhubaneswar: Over 50 students from different schools in the city wrote open letters to chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday appealing him to take immediate steps to check air pollution and its harmful impact.“Air pollution levels in my locality have been rising significantly in the past few months. Due to this many people are falling ill. I am also facing difficulties in breathing. Since human beings are responsible for this, I request you to take steps for checking pollution so that we can breathe properly,” wrote Subham Das, a student of class VII who lives in Pathar Bandha slum here. The letter was part of an initiative by SwitchON Foundation, an NGO, to bring attention to the grim future the children may have to inherit where there is no fresh air to breathe due to rising air pollution. Many children who wrote letters had breathing difficulties and have been suffering from acute respiratory disorders, caused due to air pollution. Children also complained about people being careless about using and burning plastic packets and other forms of garbage. The children also raised an alarm on the increasing number of vehicles across cities. Health experts said children are more vulnerable to pollution because their lungs are underdeveloped, and their immune system is weaker. “Yet, 9 out of 10 children around the world are breathing in toxins that exceed safe levels,” said Dr Arpita Subhadarshinee, medical officer in-charge at the urban primary health centre (UPHC), Unit-3, Bhubaneswar, who supported the demand for children’s right to breathe clean air.According to data published by Odisha State Pollution Control Board, the average Air Quality Index (AQI) value in Bhubaneswar for November was 142, indicating that the air is moderately polluted.