Asthma cases rising

doctors have warned that asthma cases might get worse in post-cyclonic Orissa. The number of asthma cases in the state has risen sharply after the devastating cyclone hit the coast on October 29.

Bijoy Das, head of the department of chest medicine at the scb Medical College, a referral hospital, attributes the sudden rise in asthmatic cases to a continuous exposure to the marshy environment and the rising air pollution. Anil Mohanty of the chest medicine department in Capital Hospital said that with very few trees remaining in the city after the cyclone, the level of air pollution has gone up. "The trees used to act as a good buffer against pollution. With no trees and increasing vehicular pollution, the situation is getting worse," he warns.