Power cuts leave COPD patients gasping for breath

Anantnag, Nov 24: In a corner of her warm room in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, an elderly woman is lying supine with an oxygen mask clipped on her face.

Amidst a consistent sound of beeps emanating from an oxygen concentrator, her son enters the room bringing a heavy oxygen cylinder.

“In case the generator stops working, we can use the cylinder – a backup,” her son said.

The recurring and protected power outages in south Kashmir are causing difficulties for people suffering from respiratory diseases and those on oxygen support.

All four districts of south Kashmir – Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam - have been experiencing unscheduled and unprecedented power outages over the last few weeks, making it difficult for the patients to run their oxygen support devices without disruptions.

In the absence of a seamless supply of electricity, the patients are forced to either press generators into service or use oxygen concentrators, which results in enhanced treatment costs.

“A 15-litre oxygen cylinder costs between Rs 250 and Rs 300 and it lasts for around three hours,” said a patient’s attendant from Pulwama’s Awantipora area.

He said that the area had been witnessing prolonged power cuts for the past month.

“We receive electricity for hardly 5 to 6 hours and during evening hours, it almost remains shut,” he said.

Javed Ahmad, another patient from the Anantnag district, said that every patient couldn't afford oxygen cylinders or hire generators.

“Electricity is crucial to run these life-saving devices,” he said.

Hundreds of patients from south Kashmir are suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and their condition worsens with the advent of winter.

The burning of foliage to make charcoal during this season following the pruning of orchards, sprawling over thousands of kanal, significantly lowers air quality.

‘Winter Burst of Pristine Kashmir Valley’, a study conducted in 2018 by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in collaboration with the University of Kashmir (KU) showed that 84 percent (1246.5 tons per year) of the total annual emissions stem from domestic coal usage with vehicular combustion contributing 220.5 tons per year.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Dr Rafi Ahamd Jan, professor of pulmonary and internal medicine said, “Cold weather conditions exacerbate the problems for COPD patients.”

He said that the mortality rates during the winter season were also on the rise.

Dr Jan said that the oxygen concentrators were life-saving machines for the patients whose oxygen saturation levels were low.