Effects of Air Pollution on Public Health
The case of Vital Traffic Junctions under Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Keywords:
air pollution and public health, traffic air pollution, pollution related health hazardsAbstract
The growing menace of air pollution is one of the crucial environmental issues in the modern era across the world. This is a silent killer of the physical as well as mental health of human beings. The existing findings in the Indian context show that Kolkata is amongst the most polluted city primarily because of the high population base and growing surface traffic. In light of this, the present study addresses the main source of air pollution viz. traffic air pollution and its likely impact on the occupationally exposed people who spend more than eight hours at a few selected busy traffic intersections of the city. Primary data were collected during the daytime of the city which includes the busiest road crossings, commercial and residential areas from different parts of the city. The targeted group for each survey includes traffic police, garage mechanics, public transport drivers, salesmen, hawkers and shopkeepers. The finding shows that Ultadanga crossing from the northeastern parts, Shyambazar-V point crossing from the northern parts and Behala- Chowrasta crossing from the southern parts is more polluted traffic points in comparison to other locations of the city. These intersections have also recorded more cases of airborne diseases compared to other locations. The study broadly observes six major health disorders caused by air pollution in the survey period between 2012 and 2013.
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