Siruguppa of Ballari chokes on polluted air from rice mills

By Vindhya Pabolu

Therehas been an increase in asthma and TB cases in Siruguppa taluk, Ballari district, due to air pollution caused by rice mills

There are a total of 74 rice mills in Siruguppa which are located in the heart of the taluk Rice mills emit gases that contain chemicals such as methane and other organic gases that are harmful to the environment and human health as well

People who live near the mills informed The Observer it has been really difficult for them for the past five years Slowly, they developed breathing problems but they weren’t aware of the reason They have become used to the polluted air As a result, they have trouble breathing.

Out of the afflicted 10 people, seven said they were facing problems but they aren’t aware what is causing the issue

Anusha, a receptionist at Vyshnavi Grand Hotel said: “Just go to the road where all rice mills were located and observe It makes us hard to breath The gases released were not bearable after some point I used to take that route but I won’t choose it now The roads are terrible and addition to that pollution makes it hard to breathe and the dust makes me keep rubbing my eyes

This is nothing new to us We have got habituated to this ”

Balaraja, resident of Siruguppa, shared: “Most of my friends and neighbours have developed breathing problems but we don’t know the reason Maybe the factories are one of the reasons There are a lot of rice mills in Siruguppa and one can see the amount of gases from the rice mills if we pass that way ”

At present, Siruguppa has an air quality index of 122 8 8 times higher than the WHO's annual air quality guidelines The pollutants present in the air are PM2 5 with a concentration of 44 2 cubic metres

Raghavendra Chagi, secretary and cashier of the Siruguppa Rice

Millers’ Association, denied this.

“I think the reason might be different; that’s not true. We visit the mills daily but we are fine ”

Asked about safety measures, he replied: “We give the workers masks and gloves considering their safety But the workers never wear those They say the masks make them feel suffocated and it gets difficult for them to work So they wear masks just in front of us ”

Dr Earnan, chief medical officer, Siruguppa taluk, said there have been a lot of TB cases, but the number of people who are taking treatment has also increased We did our best in creating awareness among people But when it comes to asthma, it’s different Every week, we see 5-10 people coming to the hospital with breathing problems. People are unaware of their disease They don’t take medications completely and it slowly develops into asthma and tuberculosis… It has become a common problem over the years We have now stopped studying data ”

According to data provided by Dr Earnan, the number of cases registered in the taluk continued to increase till 2019 (544) There has been a decrease in the number of cases The present count is 441 vindhya p@iijnm org