Srinagar, Dec 13: Even without lighting a cigarette, residents of Srinagar are being exposed to health risks comparable to heavy passive smoking, as air pollution levels in the city remain alarmingly high on polluted days.
Data from AQI.in shows that Srinagar’s average PM2.5 concentration has hovered around 80 µg/m³, with the city’s mean Air Quality Index (AQI) standing at about 168, a level categorised as unhealthy. Over the past 24 hours, AQI peaked at 180, while PM2.5 levels touched 96 µg/m³, underscoring the severity of short-term pollution spikes, said a data complied by Kashmir Weather.
Using a widely cited Berkeley Earth rule of thumb, which equates exposure to 22 µg/m³ of PM2.5 over 24 hours to smoking one cigarette, the health impact becomes stark. At Srinagar’s average PM2.5 levels, simply breathing the city’s air for a full day is equivalent to smoking about 3.6 cigarettes.
This translates to nearly 25 cigarettes a week or approximately 109 cigarettes in a month, even for non-smokers.
The calculation is based on the formula Cigarettes = (PM2.5 concentration ÷ 22) × (hours of exposure ÷ 24)
Health experts caution that while this estimate is based on average conditions during high-pollution days and not a long-term annual average, such short-term exposure still carries serious risks. Medical research shows that acute pollution episodes can cause lasting damage, particularly to the lungs, heart and blood vessels, and repeated exposure compounds the harm over time.
Environmental specialists note that cleaner days do not negate the impact of heavily polluted days, especially for vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and those with asthma or cardiovascular disease.
Srinagar’s winter pollution is largely attributed to vehicular emissions, biomass burning, use of traditional heating fuels, construction dust, and atmospheric inversion, which traps pollutants close to the ground. Calm winds and low temperatures further worsen air stagnation in the valley.
Public health advocates are urging authorities to issue pollution advisories, promote cleaner heating alternatives, regulate emissions, and encourage the use of masks and reduced outdoor activity during high-AQI days.
As the data suggests, for Srinagar’s residents, air pollution is no longer an abstract environmental concern, it is a daily health hazard, silently forcing the city’s population to inhale the equivalent of multiple cigarettes every single day. (KDC)
