Chandigarh, August 7
Domestic cooking is exposing rural as well as urban women to a plethora of respiratory disorders and increasing the risk of lung cancer among them. As per the findings of the PGI’s Pulmonary Medicine Department, domestic cooking with commonly used fuels, including the LPG, is as hazardous for women’s lungs as moderate to heavy smoking of cigarettes or bidis.

Based on research on 4,000 women in Chandigarh and neighbouring villages conducted by Dr Digambhar Behera of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, the results showed that the functioning of both lungs to capacity is reduced among women engaged in regular cooking, leading to an increased risk of chronic bronchitis, asthma and breathlessness.

Women exposed to fuel emissions are two and a half times more vulnerable contacting to respiratory ailments than those not exposed to smoke.

“Domestic cooking with commonly used cooking fuels, including the LPG, kerosene and biomass (cow dung) produces significant indoor air pollution in the form of high carboxyhaemoglobin levels, which are similar to that observed in smokers,’’ says Dr Behera.

“Moderate and heavy smokers have carboxyhaemoglobin, which means that carbon monoxide gets mixed with the blood. But when we took blood samples of these women in the survey, the presence of carboxyhaemoglobin was found, as if they were smokers themselves,’’ says Dr Behera.

“We have been surprised by this finding ourselves. But what we have to realise is that LPG is butane gas and there are several invisible gases which cause harm,’’ explains Dr Behera.

Doctors say traditional Indian cooking, in which more smoke is emitted, is the main reason for women’s respiratory problems.

“We also found that cooking in better ventilated kitchens was less harmful than congested ones with no outlet for the smoke”, says the doctor. 

Chandigarh, August 7
Akanksha, a class VI student of Yadavindra Public school, Mohali, bagged gold medal in air rifle OS sub-junior women event on the penultimate day of the 29th Chandigarh State Shooting Championship played here today at Sector 25 range. Poorva Bharti won silver medal in this event.

In the air pistol NR senior women section, Natasha Singh bagged gold medal with score of 350/400 while Nanki Singh got silver medal. In the .22 standard rifle OS NR prone senior men section, Bhai Gurjinder Singh Bhucho got gold medal with a score of 257/300 while Manjit Singh clinched silver medal.

In the centre fire pistol for men, Holinder Singh won gold medal while Parminder Singh got silver medal. In the air pistol ISSF senior women and junior women section, it was Harveen Sarao who secured gold medal with a score of 380/400. In the air pistol ISSF senior men, Harvinder Singh bagged gold medal scoring 557/600. Akhil Pahuja clinched gold medal in air pistol ISSF junior men section and he shot 545/600 while Indermeet Sarao bagged silver medal with a score of 538/600. In the air pistol team championship, Harvinder, Parminder and Holinder combined well to win gold medal and they together scored 1638/1800.

In the .22 standard rifle OS NR 3 P senior men, Manjit Singh with 228/300 won gold medal.

Mohali, August 7
The construction of the office building of the local Municipal Council has been inordinately delayed with officials taking 11 months to merely give technical and administrative approval to the project. The administrative approval that has now been given, after nearly two months, has come with a condition attached to it.

The council at a meeting had okayed the proposal to construct its own office building in Sector 68 here on March 28 last. Its Executive Officer had written to the Director, Local Government, on May 29, 2003, seeking technical and administrative clearance for the project so that work could begin on the 1.10 acre plot allotted to it by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA).

The case was further sent to the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board for technical sanction on June 30 and was cleared in April this year after a period of nine months. Unfortunately, the construction of the building has not begun so far and the civic body is wasting funds on paying rent for accommodation to house its offices in the Phase VII market.

In a letter received by the council from the office of the Director, Local Government, Punjab, dated July 16, it has been stated that administrative approval for the construction of the council building at an estimated cost of Rs 5,89,22,527 was being given on the condition that the civic body deposited in lumpsum an amount of Rs 1,58,64,480 paid by the department for the land purchased for Municipal Bhavan and later adjusted by PUDA against payment that was to be made by the civic body for the purchase of its plot.

Council officials said it was not possible for the civic body to pay such a huge amount in lumpsum to the Department of Local Government as its financial position was not stable.

Moreover, if the payment for the plot had not been adjusted by PUDA against the amount it owed to the Department of Local Government, the council had the liberty to pay PUDA through instalments. It had already paid a sum of Rs 53,14,490 and the rest of the amount was to be paid in four equal instalments of nearly 39 lakh each.

In a D O letter dated July 27 to the Principal Secretary, Department of Local Government, the president of the council, Mr Kulwant Singh, said in case the civic body was compelled to make the payment of over Rs 1.58 crore to the department in lumpsum, all development works in the town would be adversely affected and the proposal to construct its own office building would come to a standstill.

Mr Kulwant requested the Principal Secretary to personally intervene in the matter and issue orders to the authorities concerned to withdraw the condition imposed on administrative approval.

He said that the amount that was to be paid by the civic body could be adjusted against the excise duty that the department owed to the council.