India: Women in Indore's Slum Communities Exposed to Household Air Pollution

Santosh Bai’s house has almost turned black from the inside due to the use of a mud stove for several years. “My house has turned black because of the smoke. But I don’t have an option as I have to feed my family,” says the resident of Sai Vandana Nagar Slums, in Sanwer Industrial Area of Indore, India.

Santosh has an LPG gas connection but the cylinder is empty. “We don’t have enough money to get it refilled,” she says adding that she is more “worried about her house turning black because of smoke, not the condition of her lungs.”

This is not Santosh’s story alone but of most other women living in slum communities in Indore, which was adjudged as the cleanest city in India for the sixth consecutive time in Swachh Survekshan 2022, the Center's annual cleanliness survey of urban areas under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

A recent survey by the Union environment ministry revealed that Indore was one of the 37 cities whose air quality has declined in the past four years with increased levels of PM10 between 2017 and 2021.

Kshama Kanade too uses firewood, coal and dung cakes while coughing and having watery eyes during cooking. But she firmly believes that using a mud stove does not affect her health. When asked if anybody has informed her about the hazards of household air pollution, she replied in the negative.

The level of unawareness about household air pollution (HAP) can be gauged by these women’s overwhelming preference for mud stoves, which “keep mosquitoes away.”

HAP on average contributes 30% to 50% to ambient air quality in urban and rural areas, according to a March 2021 study by Council on Energy Environment and Water (CEEW). Increased use of polluting fuels leads to lower respiratory infections and coronary chronic obstructive disease, which increased the risk of COVID-19 infection, according to the study.

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, nearly 600,000 deaths in India in 2019 can be attributed to indoor air pollution. Burning of solid fuels to prepare food on simple cooking stoves in homes exposes families, particularly women and children, to the harmful impacts of smoke and indoor air pollution.

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This story was produced with support from Internews' Earth Journalism Network. It was first published in News Click and NewsBits.in on December 14, 2022. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Banner image: Santosh Bai, a resident of Sai Vandana Nagar Slums in Sanwer Industrial Area of Indore, has been using a mud stove for several years despite having an LPG connection / Credit: News Click.