Lucknow has for a long time been plagued by the issue of unhealthy, highly toxic air, and experts have been quantifying the damage in terms of AQI (air quality index). If, however, you want to know the real world meaning of the AQI or what impact the unhealthy air has on your lungs, you just got served.
An artificial pair of lungs was installed in Jhandi park opposite Nagar Nigam office yesterday to monitor the air pollution level in the city and inform the residents about the actual effects of the bad air on one’s lungs.
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The giant, artificial lungs will be positioned at a billboard wherein they will be seen inhaling and exhaling the air around the area for 10 days. The lungs will work in a similar manner to real human lungs. Two exhaust fans blow the air into the lungs made of white air filters and trap the pollutants while the air passes out. They will then turn black depending on the level of pollutants in the air.
The move comes as a message to inform people about the real health issues that come with severely polluted air. The goal is to give people an actual, visible example of how detrimental bad air can be. According to experts, it was noted that not only smokers but people living in bad air conditions also are seen to have tar lodged within their lungs.
A couple of days back, a similar pair of artificial lungs was put up in Delhi, the city which has a worse AQI than Lucknow. In Delhi, the artificial lungs turned black in just a mere 6 days, after which filters had to be changed.
We hope that this move gives Lucknowites an idea of how deadly air pollution can be and that it brings about a change in the habits of citizens.
