Environmental sciences students in Gwalior discuss AQLI

University of Chicago’sAir Quality Life Index (AQLI) suggests that the residents in Gwalior maybelosing upto 6.1 years of their lives because of breathing polluted air. Anawareness workshop in this regard was conducted by EPIC India in associationwith the Jiwaji University’s Environment Science Department on 23rd November2019. The workshop was attended by Gwalior’s known faces who discussed theimpact of bad air quality on the city’s health while stressing on the need forsociety at large to be more vocal about the problem.

Sharing hisinsights on the impact of air pollution on human health, renowned cityphysician & in-charge medical officer at the city’s Madhav Dispensary, Dr. Arun Kushwah said, “Gwalior’s air qualityhas been a concern for a long time & its impact on human health has beenhigh. Cases of respiratory diseases have been on a rise which shows the sort ofimpact that bad air quality has been having on the citizens here.”

Speaking oninitiatives taken by the environment science department at the JiwajiUniversity, Dr. Harendra K Sharma, Head of Department, said, “Our departmenthas taken the initiative to work on the issue and come up with innovativesolutions to tackle the problem. Our research students have been putting in alot of effort to address the problem.”

Talking about howcivil society can play an active role in curbing air pollution, Dr.Satyaprakash Sharma said, “Delhi is always in the limelight as far as thediscussion around air pollution goes. Its high time that journalists fromcities like Gwalior, amongst others in the nation which have poor air qualitystart setting the media agenda to bring the problem of air pollution in thesecities to the forefront.”

Taking a cue fromthat, Dr. Vijay Gupta, Chief Functionary & Hon. Secretary, Center forIntegrated Development, added, “Policymakers and civil society need to adapt tochanging technology. Tools like AQLI are more than just handy for communicatinghow dangerous air pollution has become and the need for this generation tospeak up and act.”

The workshop,meant to raise awareness about the impact of pollution on human health, wasattended by more than 80 participants, consisting of environment sciencestudents from the Department of Environment Science, Jiwaji University, facultymembers, representatives from local NGOs & journalists.

All the participants were handed over a city-specific AQLI handout for increasing their awareness.

AQLI FACT SHEET FOR GWALIOR