Heavy smog in Lucknow makes morning walkers stay indoors

Prachi Arya

It isn’t just Delhi’s alarming Air Quality Index that is making news these days. The AQI in several cities in Uttar Pradesh too is quite severe. While Varanasi has been declared India's most polluted city, Lucknow too stands at the sixth position with an AQI of 374 on Sunday which is categorised as very poor.
The city has been witnessing heavy smog for the past two-three days with pollution levels being several notches higher than the permissible standards. Smog conditions have intensified making it difficult for the people to breathe. The rise in the smog is no less than a nightmare for daily joggers. In fact, in several parks in the city number of joggers has dropped as they are wary of exercising in this thick haze.

National Botanical Research Institute

(

NBRI

), a famous jogging park in Hazratganj which has a large number of people coming every morning, is now having less footfall from the past three days. "For the past few days, due to dense haze and smog, people are preferring to stay indoorss. And those who have still been coming are wearing masks. Kaafi logon ko ab main mask laga ke exercise karte dekhta hoon. People who used to be regular for their walks, no matter what, are now avoiding coming to the park due to this problem," says KD Singh,a guard at the park.
A lot of people.can be seen wearing anti-pollution masks to avoid inhaling the polluted air these days. Lohia Park, another famous joggers point in

Gomti Nagar

which used to be heavily crowded with people in the morning, is now witnessing less footfall due to dense smog. Capt. Dharamveer, who is a daily runner and a fitness freak, has started wearing masks to fight the pollution in the morning air. "I can’t miss a day of exercise so I have bought several masks for myself to jog in this smog," says he, adding, "This smog is not only going to affect us now but will be harmful in the long run too. And we are not used to such things. And people who are running here, exercising here is because they want to maintain a healthy lifestyle and with pollution it’s difficult."
While Dharamveer is wearing a mask, another exercise addict,

Ashok Sinha

, wears a handkerchief to avoid the pollutants in the atmosphere. "Even though I know that exercising in this smog is harmful for me, I am unable to stay indoorss. I have covered my face with a handkerchief. Also, I have changed the timings of my jogging. I now come a little late so that the smog gets clear. I think it is high time that even the UP government take necessary measures to bring down the AQI in Lucknow and other cities in UP," says Ashok.
Daily jogger

Archana Aggarwal

, a housewife, who is quite regular at this park, too agrees that there has been a considerable fall in the number of morning walkers. "Since I am a daily jogger I do find people who used to be regular with their exercise have now taken a break and are waiting for the smog conditions to get better,” says Archana, adding, “Even I skipped my exercise for a day because of my breathing problem."
The condition is quite sad for elderly joggers and walkers in the city who are finding it hard to be regular with their workout these days. Kumkum Seth, who recently had a heart operation, avers, "I recently had my heart operation and for me breathing in this air is very harmful. Seeing the alarming AQI, I now only come here to meet my friends and have in fact left jogging for a few days. I also use an inhaler before coming here so that I don’t have to face any problem."

Heavy smog in Lucknow makes morning walkers stay indoors (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)