Category: Health

Delhi’s Dirty Air: Why Quick-fixes don’t work?

Every dust particle removed ‘permanently‘ from the air, is a dust particle less in Delhi’s lungs.

Delhi has done much and is contemplating more to rid its air of menacing particulate matter. Atomisers, sprinklers, mechanical road sweepers, smog towers and now, cloud seeding, is being resorted to clean the air. Regardless of the cost, the effectiveness of these methods has been, at the best, marginal.

Psychological Relief
Sprinkler: transferring the problem in time and space?

Except smog towers and mechanical road sweepers, all the other methods (including, the much talked about cloud seeding) of removing particulate matter from the air are either temporary, or have the tendency to transfer the problem from one locality to another. The water (sprayed or sprinkled) supresses the particulate matter temporarily. The dust particles when brought down at one place by water, first stick to the road surface and then cling to the wheels of the passing vehicles, and are carried to other parts of the city. When the water evaporates and the wheels become dry, the particles are released back into the air. Thus, the dust from Mayur Vihar gets transported to Lajpat Nagar; that from Lajpat Nagar, to Sarojini Nagar, and so on and so forth.

Old particles remain in circulation and new get added from different sources. The relief, if at all, is temporary and psychological.

Smog Towers: Limited Success

Talking of smog towers. Studies suggest that they make a marginal difference. The smog tower at Connaught Place was installed at an approximate cost of $2.5 million (nearly ₹ 21 Crores). Where the tower stands, its efficiency is 50%; at 50 metres, it is 30%; and at 500 metres it is just 10%. If the filters are improperly sealed; they allow dusty air to by-pass them. As per some estimates, Delhi would need 2.5 million such smog towers to clean its air. The likely cost will be close to $20 billion, about 2.5 times the Delhi State budget for 2021. Numbers speak!

It is noteworthy that Beijing and Shanghai have abandoned large-scale smog towers because of limited success.

Cloud Seeding: glamorous, iffy results

Suppressing dust particles by causing artificial rain (through cloud seeding), likewise, will have temporary effect—the dust particles will remain tethered to the earth’s surface only as long as it is wet. If by some chance, the rain is heavy, poor drainage will cause traffic snarls. In effect, we’ll rob Peter to pay Paul—if not the lungs, the roads will get clogged. Delhiites will pay for both.

Is there a way out?

Of course, there is one! It follows the principle: capture particulate matter and prevent it from getting back into circulation. It is as simple as it sounds.

This can be achieved as follows:

  • Polluted air (laden with particulate matter) is directed on to moist screens, or is passed through specially designed ducts whose walls are moist.
  • The wet surfaces/ ducts ‘trap’ particulate matter and let go of cleaner air—devoid of particulate matter.
  • These wet surfaces and ducts are continuously cleaned by running water, or still better, water jets. The running water takes away the particulate matter with it and deposits it into a sump. Thus, the wet surface always remains clean and ready to ‘trap’ more particles.
  • From the sump, the particulate matter is removed continuously by decantation/ filtration and the water is reused.
  • The particulate matter thus removed is disposed of in a way that it doesn’t get into circulation again.

Using this principle, simple inexpensive static and mobile contraptions can be made to very effectively ‘capture’ particulate matter and consign them to their graves.

Yours truly, confident of the effectiveness of this method, had written to the authorities who matter. There must have been some communication gap, because the response was on these lines: “If you have a problem, please connect with the concerned department. Thank you for visiting the website.”

When I presented this idea to budding engineers (college students whom I lecture sometimes), they responded favourably and expressed their desire to take up projects on these lines. But very soon, they backed off for they had graver concerns—examinations and placement interviews.

Thus, what I thought was a cost-effective practical solution to Delhi’s woes got stored into some less frequently visited corner of my mind.

Then this childhood friend, while playing golf, rekindled the subject discussion, “It is a desperate situation now. The AQI has risen to alarming levels. It is still rising. The concern is high. Yours seems to be a workable solution. Why don’t you write to Delhi Govt?”

Going by my past experience, I was disinclined to go through the grind again. But then, the thought came to share the idea in a blogpost which passes more eyes.

So here it is.

I share this post in a hope that someone, somewhere, turns this simple idea into a real solution for Delhi’s lungs. Among the beneficiaries will be my better half and some of my dear friends who are occasionally forced to use inhalers and nebulisers for respite.

Author’s Notes: This method of removing particulate matter from the air, ‘for good‘, can be implemented in numerous and innovative ways. Before posting this article, I shared my thoughts on the subject with my BITSIAN brother, Sumit Chordia, and lo and behold, he came up with umpteen suggestions not only to trap the rogue particles flying in the air but also to check pollution at source. Likewise, I invite my readers to share what comes to mind. Eventually some idea, will work.

Comments & Feedback

  • Air Commodore Meenu Vania, SC, VM: Any idea is better than no idea 🙏 In your case what you propose seems a workable solution and deserves a trial. I also have a point of view 👍I propose we tackle the known sources of air pollution ie construction activities, vehicular traffic , stubble and garbage burning , road sweeping ( actually its absence ! )and any other pollution generating activities. My point is the major sources of air pollution are not unknown. For ages its poor policy , knee jerk reactions , and an unwillingness to take some strong action that may result in political harakiri that has resulted in this pathetic state of affairs 🙏 Don’t tell me we are not aware that winter, Diwali and crop burning are a deadly cocktail. Surely if we can think of Gaganyan we can think of a solution to this problem of air pollution too 🙏
  • My response: ‘Nipping it in the bud’ is THE solution. That is a gospel. Just can’t be denied.Pollution due to Deepawali & crop burning also can be brought to zero if there is a will. Education is lacking. Despite best efforts, some pollution due to construction work and vehicle use is a given. What I am suggesting (without saying it in so many words) is to fight the pollution which can’t be stopped at source despite all efforts. 🙏
  • Colonel Alankar Bhardwaj: Was installed in Chandigarh. Failed and is now shut down. https://chatgpt.com/s/t_69058d278e7881919dfab9934b5b37ab

Fighting Diabetes––American, Indian Way

Every 17 seconds, an American is diagnosed with diabetes. ~ The American Journal of Managed Care, 2018

Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how one’s body turns food into energy. Most of the food one eats is broken down into sugar and released into one’s bloodstream. Pancreas release hormones which, in turn control blood sugar levels. Maintaining proper blood sugar levels is crucial to the functioning of key organs including the brain, liver, and kidneys. With diabetes, the body either doesn’t make enough insulin or cannot use it as well as it should. For treatment of diabetes, among others, insulin therapy is a commonly recommended line of treatment, which is fairly expensive.

Last Thursday (July the 7th, 2022) Governor Gavin Newsom announced a 100 million USD funding for manufacture of low-cost insulin to make the diabetes treatment more affordable in California. According to Newsom (on Twitter): “Nothing epitomises market failures more than the cost of insulin.”

In the US, insulin costs nearly 100 $ per unit. Diabetic Americans spend anywhere from USD 300 to 500 per month for this life-saving drug. Nearly, 80 percent of the Americans needing the drug incur credit card debt to pay for the costly drug. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 37.3 million people in America have diabetes. California has a particularly high rate of new diabetes cases—mainly affecting minorities, the elderly, males and low-income individuals, according to the governor’s office. The Californian programme allocates $50 million for the development of cheaper insulin products and $50 million for an in-state insulin manufacturing facility to improve the supply chain of the drug.

Californians will have to wait for some time before inexpensive insulin is readily available.

In India, the story is a bit different.

In quite a few cases, diabetes gets detected only at a late stage. More than the difficulty of access to testing facilities, it is the problem of attitude. Not many people take diabetes really seriously––before detection, or after the tests confirm it.

In India, the story is quite different for another reason––a home remedy is readily available.

On this count, I speak only for myself. In February this year, I underwent angioplasty. The tests I took at that time indicated, among other things, marginally higher level of sugar in my blood. Those tests demolished my high opinion about myself. I always thought that active and carefree people like me (a cross country runner, a Parachute Jump Instructor, …) with much physical activity and reasonably good dietary habits can’t possibly have diabetes. I somehow believed that people with sedentary lifestyles and much burden on their minds were more prone to have complications with blood sugar levels.

My brother advised me to consume a teaspoonful of a mixture containing in equal proportion by weight, powders of seven Indian plant products––leaves/ fruits/ seeds [Amla (Phyllanthus Emblica); Dana Methi (Trigonells Foenumgraeceum); Jamun Guthli (Eugenia Jambolana); Belpatra (Aegle Marmelos); Neem Patra (Azadirachira Indica); Gudmar (Gymnema Sulvestre) and Karela (Momoradica Chrantia)]. He was diabetic and was able to reduce his dependence on insulin (to a near zero level) similarly.

The Magic Potion

I followed his advice and took a dose every morning (empty stomach) with water. It was bitter as bitter can be, and was difficult to swallow in powder form, but I went through the torture which lasted less than half a minute every morning. And, lo and behold, in a span of less than three months my HbA1c level dropped from 6.1 to 5.8. The feeling of thirst and the need to pass urine (twice) every night also ceased.

A happy downward trend…

A well-placed acquaintance who also suffered from diabetes, couldn’t consume the bitter powder. She got tablets made of the mixture. Innovative! At this point, rather than appending a disclaimer, I would urge someone who understands medicine and has the resources, to undertake a dispassionate control experiment, to ascertain the usefulness of the mixture in curing diabetes.