SulabhENVIS Centre

New Delhi: Would you care for a glassful of water in the Capital? Chances are high that you are washing down disease-causing coliform and toxic chemicals down your throat as well.
   As both the groundwater and water flowing from taps is contaminated, this is taking its toll on the health of residents. Says Dr Randeep Guleria, AIIMS, ‘‘Every year, there’s spurt in cases of water-borne diseases just before and after the monsoon. Doctors in Delhi have long known about the poor quality of tap water. And the surge in water-borne diseases that we witness at our OPDs is testimony to this.’’
   The most common reason for contamination is sewage mixing with water. As water flows through rusty, old pipes, which run parallel to sewage lines, it often gets contiminated on the way. Coliform and other bacteria entering the pipes lead to malabsorption of nutrients and diseases like cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea and typhoid. The easiest way to tell if your tap water is contaminated is by its smell — a foul smell is often indicative of bacteria growing in the water pipe.
   Contamination of water due to chemicals and industrial waste leads to more chronic symptoms, which progressively get worse till the full-blown disease presents itself. High levels of ammonia and other compounds like nitrates, potassium, chlorides and sulphates in water generally lead to retarded growth and impact the nervous system. Pregnant women are at a higher risk as these pollutants are harmful to the foetus. Adverse effects on bones, teeth and kidneys are also quite common.
   ‘‘Various chemicals and industrial waste can lead to gastrointestinal discomfort. It can lead to diarrhoea, jaundice and loss of appetite. The liver could also get affected. Over a longer period, the chemicals are likely to deposit themself in various organs that could eventually lead to organ failure,’’ says Dr
Suranjeet Chatterjee, senior consultant, internal medicine, Apollo Hospital.
   Chemicals like lead — a small quantity of which can prove to be hazardous — find their way in tap water through corrosion or rusting of pipes. Health effects of lead are most severe in children as it can retard their growth and impact their mental development. In adults, it can lead to kidney problems and hypertension. Excess iron in bathing water can lead to hair loss and skin allergies.
   While chlorine is used to purify water, its quantity should also be regulated. In high doses, chlorine is very harmful and can lead to skin allergies and corrosion of the gastrointestinal tract. A link has also been found between chlorine and heart diseases and cancer.
   ‘‘The best thing to do is to boil water or to install electronic filters. The old-style mechanical filters are capable of filtering out solid particles but aren’t effective enough to treat water in Delhi,’’ says Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, internal medicine, Max Healthcare.
   Budhiraja warns that boiled or filtered water should be used for washing vegetables and cooking as well. ‘‘Even having ‘paan’ from the nearby stall is not safe as betel leaves are often washed in impure water,’’ he adds.

New Delhi: If you think the quality of water supplied by DJB is suspect and it is better to rely on groundwater, think again. According to a recent report issued by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), the quality of Delhi’s groundwater has deteriorated sharply over the past few years. In fact, freshwater aquifers have decreased significantly, leading to an increase in brackish water aquifers.
   Fluoride, nitrate, metals and bacteria have been found in large concentrations in various parts of the city. In some areas, water has been rendered undrinkable due to contamination. Experts said groundwater is normally bacteriologically safe, but contamination occurs in certain areas where there might be leaking sewage pipes etc.
   Even river bed water has not been spared. According to experts, flood plain underground reserves are replenished each year by the river. But with the high level of pollution in the Yamuna, the river has been unable to do its job.
   Areas like Patparganj, Ghazipur, Sarai Kale Khan and Nizamuddin in particular have very poor quality of groundwater since all these areas used to be dumping grounds 30 to 40 years ago. An official of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said metals and contaminants from the dumps leached into the soil and since the groundwater level in these areas is still high, the quality of water is poor. ‘‘Iron content is also high in such areas. In groundwater, it is present in ferrous form which is invisible. Once it is exposed to air, it converts to ferric, which is insoluble and makes the water brown,’’ said the official.
   Such water cannot be used for cooking or bathing and is especially bad for the skin. Fresh groundwater has been exploited to such an extent that there has been an increase in brackish water aquifers. From 1977 to 1983, three main saline water pockets emerged. The situation has only deteriorated since then.
   The biggest culprit, said experts, is the presence of a high amount of fluoride in groundwater. Over 30% of the area in Delhi NCR has fluoride content way more than the prescribed limit of 1.5 mg/litre. This fluoride pollution occurs mostly in areas that have brackish or saline water.
   “Major contributors to the presence of fluoride in groundwater are use of fluoride salts in steel, aluminium, brick and tile industries. Agricultural discharge also contributes in a big way,’’ said an official.
   Meanwhile, nitrate concentration has been found to vary between 1mg/litre to 945 mg/litre in the samples of groundwater collected from various districts. ‘‘Domestic sewage, livestock rearing, landfills, run-off from fertilised fields and unlined drains add substantially to the level of nitrate. Its concentration is more at shallow levels,’’ said the official.
   Areas affected are West, Southwest and some pockets of Northwest districts. According to the official, this could probably be due to the fact that there are no centralised sewage treatment plants in the northwest region and improper use of soak pits could have led to the problem.
   Experts also raised concern about heavy pumping at the Commonwealth Games Village site due to its proximity to the Ghazipur landfill site. ‘‘Right now, the pollutants from the site that have leached into the soil have not managed to cross the Ghazipur drain but if deep pumping takes place in the area, the line could be breached. Studies should be carried out to rule out such a possibility,’’ said a scientist. CGWB and CPCB carried out a study recently in which they studied 296 samples for the presence of bacteria. Of this, 58% samples were found to be contaminated. The quantity of total coliform and fecal coliform levels were found highest in samples collected from handpumps. This was due to poor maintenance of the pumps and unhygienic conditions around the structure.

Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=CAP&login=default&AW=1196661290906

New Delhi: The very people who are supposed to keep the city clean are the biggest defaulters in adding to air pollution. Despite several court directives, Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) safai karamcharis can be spotted all across the city burning leaves and garbage in a bid to make their job easier. And while the corporation says it is aware of what its employees are up to, it has yet to take stringent measures to punish defaulters.
   Last week, after the chief secretary issued directions, the Delhi Pollution Control Board (DPCB) carried out a surprise check at 36 sites. So far the board has prosecuted 14 MCD officials and one Delhi Development Authority official for permitting leaf burning in their jurisdiction. Those who were penalised in the drive included MCD sweepers and private individuals.
   Said member secretary of DPCB, K Mahesh: ‘‘We have initiated action against 15 people in the last drive that took place from November 12 to 17. According Section 31 (a) of the Air Act, we first issue warning to offender to stop burning garbage and leaves. If he doesn’t pay heed, then according to Section 37, we send a complaint to the court for prosecution.’’
   The Air Act specifies imprisonment for a minimum of 18 months and a maximum of 5 years with a minimum fine of Rs 10,000 can be imposed by DPCB. If the violation is continuous, then Rs 5,000 a day can be fined.
   Though the law was followed stringently for a while, cases of waste burning in the open have become increasingly common in the past few months. With no proper checks in place to prevent people from doing so, rarely any action is taken against them. In fact, MCD karamcharis are even now mostly let off with only a warning, which hardly acts as a deterrent for them.
   While Delhi Pollution Control Board is taking action against MCD, the corporation has issued no challans against Delhiites for burning leaves. The fine, in any case, is a meagre Rs 50 for each offence.
   Fallen leaves are supposed to be put in a compost pits and used as manure, but according to MCD sources, the safai karmcharis burn the leaves. Said an MCD source: ‘‘Though burning of leaves is an offence under the DMC Act, we know for a fact that safai karamcharis burn them instead of picking them up and putting them into the garbage bin or the nearby compost pits which are made in all the Municipal Corporation of Delhi maintained parks. In Delhi, there are mainly deciduous trees and they shed their leaves in the dry season.’’
   He added: ‘‘The employee should be punished for doing so but this does not happen as the erring employees are rarely pointed out to us. This leads to air pollution and wastes ready material that is available to make manure.’’
   Said a resident of GK-I, Rahul Jain : ‘‘We have caught a MCD gardeners burning leaves a number of times but the problem is that the compost pits are full to capacity and there is nothing else that can be done about it till it is emptied out.’’

Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=CAP&login=default&AW=1196661290906

Hong Kong: Physical barriers, such as regular handwashing and wearing masks, gloves and gowns, may be more effective than drugs to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS, a study has found.

The findings, published in the ‘British Medical Journal’, came as Britain announced it was doubling its stockpile of antiviral medicines in preparation for any future flu pandemic.

Trawling through 51 studies, the researchers found that simple, low-cost physical measures should be given higher priority in national pandemic contingency plans.

“Mounting evidence suggests that the use of vaccines and antiviral drugs will be insufficient to interrupt the spread of influenza,” they wrote in the report.

The 51 studies compared any intervention to prevent animal-to-human or human-tohuman transmission of respiratory viruses, such as isolation, quarantine, social distancing, barriers, personal protection and hygiene, to doing nothing or to other types of intervention. They excluded vaccines and antiviral drugs.

They found that handwashing and wearing masks, gloves and gowns were effective individually in preventing the spread of respiratory viruses, and were even more effective when combined.

Another study that was published in the ‘Cochrane Library’ journal last month found that handwashing with just soap and water to be a simple and effective way to curb the spread of respiratory viruses, from everyday cold viruses to deadly pandemic strains.