Amid the biting cold in North India, room heaters, both traditional and modern gadgets, have claimed several lives in Delhi, Punjab, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir, among other places.
In Punjab’s Tarn Taran,
a couple and their month-old infant – Arshdeep Singh (21), his wife Jashandeep Kaur (20), and their month-old infant Gurbaz Singh – died of asphyxiation due to fumes emitting from a brazier with a lack of ventilation in the room, police said on Sunday.
In a similar case, a 60-year-old grandmother, identified as Meena Devi, along with her two grandchildren, aged 6 and 5, died from suffocation in Bihar’s Gayaji.
Besides coal-based ‘desi’ heaters, the modern room heaters, including the electric ones, have led to deaths due to suffocation, carbon monoxide poisoning, and heater-related fires in a series of tragedies over the past month.
In Delhi’s Mukundpur, a family of three – Ajay Vimal (45), an engineer with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), his wife Neelam (38), and their 10-year-old daughter Jahnvi – were killed in a fire last Tuesday. Police suspected the reason to be fumes from explosion of a room heater or a short circuit.
The victims were reportedly found with signs of struggle.
Meanwhile, a 37-year-old chef Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, his wife and three children, including a 28-day-old infant, were found dead in their rented room. According to Hindustan Times, the authorities found an electric blower in the room and suspected asphyxiation.
Why space heaters are ‘silent killers’?
The Hindu quoted Dr Naveed Nazir Shah, head of the Chest Disease Hospital in Srinagar, saying that heating devices, whether run on gas, wood, or coal, consume oxygen within a closed room, and lead to the accumulation of toxic gases like CO and carbon dioxide.
Though the victims do not realise the danger, they may experience dizziness, headaches, and fatigue before falling unconscious, he added.
According to a study by Rajesh Kumar and researchers at AIIMS New Delhi over 15 years, 95% of carbon monoxide (CO) deaths happen during winter mostly due to coal-burning heaters in poorly ventilated spaces.
Risks beyond carbon monoxide
While asphyxiation is a key concern, doctors have also warned about broader health impacts of heaters.
Dainik Bhaskar quoted Dr Ambrish Kumar Garg, a senior consultant at Narayana Hospital, Jaipur, saying that prolonged heater use depletes moisture from the air, causing the nose, throat, and skin to dry out. Besides, it can also exacerbate respiratory conditions like asthma and allergies, and in severe cases, lead to internal bleeding in the brain.
According to experts, people must be take some precautionary measures while using heaters such as not to close all doors and windows, never leave a heater on all night in a closed room, keep a pot of water in the room to maintain air moisture, ensure all appliances are serviced to prevent gas leakage and electrical faults. Besides, you could even buy a CO monitoring sensor for your home or rooms.
