Excerpt from article reported in www.downtoearth.org.in by Rajil Menon , ( read full story )
Residents of Mumbai’s Chembur suburb blame pollution from the nearby landfill for their lung ailments. A cardiologist, Sandip K Rane, wanted to find out if the Deonar landfill was also causing deaths. All he had was a 2008 study by Mumbai’s KEM hospital that showed 82 per cent non-smokers in Chembur suffer reduced lung function. So, he filed a Right to Information application with the municipality in June this year. It helped.
Data from the municipality’s death records showed 25 per cent deaths in Chembur in 2007-2008 were caused by respiratory illnesses (see table below). In contrast, the figure for Matunga, eight km from Chembur, was only 0.41 per cent. The reasons cited for the deaths in Chembur included lung ailments like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. “The findings strengthen our campaign. Unscientific dumping of garbage at Deonar has caused extreme pollution and is a leading cause for deaths in Chembur,” said Rane who is a member of the Smoke Affected Residents’ Forum, fighting a court case for closure of the dumpsite.
Incinerator fouling air
Rane now plans to submit the data in the high court that is hearing a contempt petition on the Deonar landfill. The residents’ forum had moved the contempt plea last year when the municipality failed to close the dump (see ‘It stinks’, Down To Earth, December 15, 2008).
Can deaths be linked to landfill?
Rane, however, will need to produce more evidence to strengthen his claim. Amita Athawle who heads the KEMhospital’s Environment Pollution Research Centre said suspended particulate matter is very high in Chembur but genetic susceptibility, health history, smoking and drinking habits too have to be considered before linking deaths in Chembur with Deonar.
“At best, morbidity can be blamed on pollution from the landfill,” she said.
