Mumbai: In Mumbai, residents are bearing the brunt of the real estate boom. It turns out that the the release of mill land for office spaces and malls is choking people. The pollution level due to construction is on the rise causing severe respiratory problems for people in central Mumbai.
Ila Shah and her daughter Gargi thought their search for a good home was over when they bought a flat in the Elphinston area of central Mumbai three years ago.
She says she bought the flat because she wanted fresh air.
But Ila now prefers to keep the windows closed as she has frequent bouts of coughing due to dust coming in from the construction site in front of her building.
“Dust particles enter when I breathe. Medicines don’t work. I have compromised on my health and on finance,” she complains.
The area where many of Mumbai's much talked about mills once existed has been taken over by cement machines, cranes and movers, building office spaces and malls. But dust from the sites acquired by real estate companies is causing the locals serious health problems.
“I'm not even able to talk clearly because of Asthma,” says a resident Nalin Kumar.
Another resident, Sudhakar Mahadik says, “My daughter has a sinus problem. So we're planning to move out of this place.”
In fact, according to municipal authorities, some of the pollutants in the area are nearly double the standard set for them. Dust particles more than 100 per cent above the permissible limit.
Increasingly more people are falling prey to respiratory problems such as respiratory infections and severe asthma.
“Patients coming to me with respiratory infections and asthma have doubled over the last couple of years,” says General Physician Dr Anil Tembey.
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