In a study conducted by the NGO Health Energy Initiative, postgraduate students of the School of Public Health, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, found out that cases of respiratory illnesses are high among children aged below five years living around the Ennore thermal power plant in Chennai.
According to the study, more than 63 per cent of the children from the Ennore area reported to have experienced one or more symptoms in the month preceding the survey. A sample size of 207 children, 128 girls and 79 boys, below the age of five years were taken for the survey.
“The study finds that respiratory infection (RI) among children are very high compared to the Government of India’s 2019-2021 National Family Health Survey data for Chennai and Thiruvallur,” the report read.
