Ranchi: There seems to be a direct link between Covid-19 deaths and industrial pollution, including mining, in Jharkhand, pollution and health experts have pointed out.
An analysis of the data collated from the state health department and one of the most polluted cities, Dhanbad, seems to cement this link, though no comprehensive study on the subject has been done so far.
The experts now vouched for a scientific study to establish this link and safeguard the people.
In Jharkhand, Dhanbad is the only district which has a real-time AQI monitor and was ranked among the most polluted cities of the country in January 2020 in the PM10 category.
Dhanbad has also the highest Covid-19 mortality rate of 2.33% against the state’s overall 1.4%.
As of Thursday, 337 people have succumbed to the viral infection in the district which has a total of 16,149 infected cases.
During the deadly second wave of the pandemic which arguably started on April 1 in the state, Dhanbad was among the worst affected with the mortality rate registered at 3.17% or 258 out of 8,115 infected patients died.
In the first wave, the mortality rate was 1.47%, only second to East Singhbhum which recorded a 1.87% mortality rate.
Ranchi, which also has a mortality rate of 1.85%, is also a highly polluted city.
Commenting on the analysis, the director-general of Delhi-based public interest research and advocacy group, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Sunita Narayan, said, “Studies have shown that there is certainly a link between pollution level and the Covid-19 mortality rate as the virus affected the lungs, which are already compromised among people living in polluted areas.” The CSE has done extensive study over the impact of pollution in different states of the country and pointed out that Jharkhand does not have real-time AQI data for most of its major industrial and mining districts.
Environment activist and Jamshedpur (East) Saryu Rai has also been raising demand for the installation of real-time air quality monitors.
“Jamshedpur is an industrial town but there is no device to monitor the air pollution.
I have taken up the matter with the state government several times but to no avail,” he said.
Currently, East Singhbhum ranks second in the Covid mortality rate at 2.01%.
During the second wave, the Covid mortality rate was as high as 2.10%.
President of the Jharkhand chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr Arun Kumar Singh, said a large number of people in Dhanbad are also found to be suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and the health condition of such people are grim when they are infected by Covid.
Dr Singh, who happens to be from Dhanbad, said, “Apart from industrial pollution, all other types of pollutants from mining are hazardous for the lungs and Dhaband falls in the category of highly polluted areas because of mining.” He admitted that the high Covid mortality rate of the district has links to pollution for a long time.
Experts pointed out in industrial and vehicular pollution, the air has more of PM 2.5 polluting components while a comparatively bigger particulate matter, PM10, are higher in places where there is pollution from mining.
PM10 is known to affect the lungs and bronchi, leading to asthma.
Professor of pulmonary medicine at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims), Dr Brajesh Mishra, said the lungs of people living in areas polluted by industries and mining are mostly affected.
“Usually, their lungs are compromised even at the sub-clinical stage and when they are attacked by the Covid virus, chances of the lungs’ recovery reduce,” he said.
Dr Mishra highlighted that the instances of COPD are more in mining districts of the state.
“Though we don’t have the data or research to prove the correlation between pollution and Covid’s impact on lungs, both are known to damage lungs.
So, the presence of one factor is liable to worsen the impact of the other,” he added.