Srinagar, Dec 13: Simply stepping outside in Srinagar on a polluted day may be doing the same harm as smoking several cigarettes, an independent weather expert, Faizan Arif told the news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO) on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Arif while highlighting the growing public health risk posed by the city\u2019s deteriorating air quality said, \u201cCurrent pollution levels in Srinagar mean residents are unknowingly inhaling air comparable to cigarette smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn an average day with present pollution levels, breathing Srinagar\u2019s air for 24 hours is roughly equal to smoking three to four cigarettes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He explained that this exposure adds up quickly. \u201cThat means nearly 25 cigarettes in a week and more than 100 cigarettes in a month, even for someone who has never smoked,\u201d he said, calling the situation alarming.<\/p>\n
Air quality data shows that fine particulate pollution, which can enter deep into the lungs, has remained consistently high in the city.<\/p>\n
Srinagar\u2019s average Air Quality Index (AQI) has stayed in the \u2018poor\u2019 category, while pollution levels spiked further over the past 24 hours, with AQI touching 180 and fine dust concentrations rising sharply.<\/p>\n
Arif clarified that the estimate is based on globally accepted scientific comparisons used to explain pollution exposure in simple terms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis does not mean people are literally smoking cigarettes, but the damage to the lungs and heart can be similar when pollution levels remain high,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He cautioned that even short periods of severe pollution can have long-lasting health effects.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigh-pollution days leave an impact that cleaner days cannot completely undo. Repeated exposure increases the risk of breathing problems, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses,\u201d Arif said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRepeated exposure to polluted air can damage the lungs and strain the heart, even among non-smokers,\u201d said Dr Irfan Ahmad, a senior physician at a government hospital in Srinagar.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople should avoid outdoor exercise during poor air quality, use masks when stepping out, and keep indoor spaces as clean and ventilated as possible. Those with asthma, heart disease, or allergies must be especially cautious and seek medical advice if symptoms worsen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, residents said air pollution in Srinagar has been worsening with each passing day. \u201cOn most days, the surrounding mountains are barely visible from my neighbourhood. The air feels heavy, and by evening there is irritation in the eyes and throat,\u201d said a resident of Rajbagh.<\/p>\n
Another resident, a fruit vendor in Lal Chowk, said the problem was no longer limited to peak winter. \u201cEarlier this happened only during the coldest weeks, but now the haze lingers for days. We often limit outdoor work because breathing becomes uncomfortable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Notably, temperatures dipped below freezing across many parts of the Kashmir Valley on Saturday, with dense fog persisting in several areas, affecting visibility and disrupting early morning traffic movement. (KNO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar, Dec 13: Simply stepping outside in Srinagar on a polluted day may be doing the same harm as smoking several cigarettes, an independent weather expert, Faizan Arif told the news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO) on Saturday. Arif while highlighting the growing public health risk posed by the city\u2019s deteriorating air quality said, \u201cCurrent pollution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news","category-kt-front"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6819,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6817\/revisions\/6819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}