India’s Masked Capital
“Some old fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat”
— Laura Ingalls Wilder
Some resources seem really worthless for us, as they are available easily without any price. We enjoy them to the fullest and exploit them without even thinking about the adverse effects of losing them. Every year during the time of winter, people in Delhi are experiencing the value of a resource, which is priceless and the absence of which caused them to choke their lives out.
Fresh air is not just a resource. Any man can survive quite a time without food, water or shelter but not without fresh air. No money, no influence could stop the polluted air of Delhi from destroying the health of its people. Here is the time to think and discuss life, and the right of every human being to live.
India’s pollution history
Air pollution in India is a serious health issue. Of the most populated cities in the world, 21 out of 30 were in India in 2019. As per a study based on 2016 data, at least 140 million people in India breathe air that is 10 times or more toxic over the WHO safe limit and 13 of the world’s 20 cities with the highest annual level of air pollution are in India.
On November 16, 2019, with an Air Quality Index of 527, Delhi became the most polluted city in the world.
Why Delhi?
The major factor in causing such adverse effects of pollution in Delhi is the changing weather condition that has locked the pollutants in the air and made the situation worse. The major pollutant sources are described. The region itself is a highly polluted zone- Entire North India, Pakistan, and China for that matter.
- Crop burning by farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
It is estimated that approximately 35 million tonnes of crops are set to affix by these states. The practice of clearing fields of the old rice crop was banned due to adverse effects on the environment. But, deprived of equally cheap and easy alternatives for preparing the fields, farmers continued to flout the law. According to the government environment agency, almost 50% of Delhi’s pollution was from crop burning. Also, as part of implementing a law, punishing poor farmers for burning stubble was not a solution.
2. Heavy traffic
Pollution caused by the traffic menace in Delhi is another reason contributing to this air pollution and smog. The air quality index has reached ‘severe’ levels. Vehicular emission is increasing the hazardous effects of air pollution and smog. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) have declared vehicular emission as a major contributor to Delhi’s increasing air pollution.
3. Overpopulation
Over-population only adds up to the various types of pollution, whether it is air pollution or noise pollution. Delhi is ranked as one of the largest metropolises of the world with 22 Million people.
4. Less investment in maintaining public infrastructure
In India, investment in public transport and infrastructure is low which leads to congested roads, and hence air pollution
5. Large scale construction in Delhi-NCR
Large scale construction in Delhi-NCR is another culprit that is increasing dust and pollution in the air. Considering the dipping air quality, a number of construction sites stalled their work, as directed by the Delhi Government.
6. Industrial pollution and garbage dumps
Industrial pollution and garbage dumps are also increasing air pollution and building-up smog in the air.
7. Usage of firecrackers
Despite the ban on cracker sales, firecrackers were a common sight this Diwali. It may not be the top reason for this smog, but it definitely contributed to its build-up.
People behind masks
Every year the time of winter, starting from November is terrible and the precautions taken for maintaining health are the same as that for the prevention of an epidemic.
The common people of Delhi have some words to speak about their lives during that time.
“ The time was hard. It was after Diwali. Schools were closed but colleges functioned actively. A mask was compulsory for getting out. Normal masks were not enough. Most preferred one was N95 which was at a starting price of Rs. 250. The air was filled with smog which caused transportation extremely difficult. Visibility was too low that even seeing buses was hard. The glasses of buses will be shut. The odd-even policy was enabled which allowed private vehicles with odd last digits in their number plates or even last digits to get on the roads alternatively”.
-Student, Miranda House, University of Delhi
There were many health issues faced by the people of Delhi.
- High respiratory symptoms have been noted in 32% of children examined in Delhi compared to only 18.2% of rural children.
- Lung function has reduced in 43.5% schoolchildren, deficit hyperactivity disorder is 4.1 times higher among schoolchildren of Delhi than the rest of India.
One lakh kids under 5 years of age die due to air pollution each year in Delhi
Lower respiratory tract infection (LRI) caused by exposure to air pollutants was recorded as the second major reason for child mortality, after neonatal disorder. Of the total, LRI claims lives of 1,85,422 children aged between 0 and 5; another 10,124 died between 5 and 10 ages due to the deadly infection. In the last 27 years, more than a crore children could not live to see their sixth-year due to this infection.
According to a report by WHO, air pollution kills approximately 30,000 people every year in Delhi. Respiratory diseases are very prone to occur and the danger is higher among babies, young children, elderly people as well as individuals suffering from any type of respiratory problems such as COPD or asthma need to take extra precautions. Even a small increase in dust levels and concentration can aggravate the symptoms of asthma COPD and many other respiratory problems.
Difficulty in transportation was also a major problem. The visibility was very low which affected local transportation as well as flight operations.
No more masks for Delhi
There were a lot of initiatives and laws taken by the government of Delhi so as to tackle this problem along with the help of various other organisations.
As a part of its “Cleaner Air- Better Life” initiative, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is working in villages of Punjab and Haryana to enable and popularize the practices such as mulching and recycling of straw to ensure zero crop residue burning. It has provided machinery and technical training to farmers and installed air quality monitors to measure the impact of reduced stubble burning.
The Government of Delhi has said about a new committee for a long term permanent solution to stubble burning by creating awareness among farmers. Besides, the government has given machines worth Rs. 1151 crore to farmers for managing stubble.
Odd-even scheme for reducing the number of vehicles on road was enabled. Converting vehicles to cleaner fuel, pollution checking by the transport department, catalytic converters, mass rapid transportation system, phasing out of old commercial vehicles are some initiatives taken years back which caused a substantial reduction in air pollution by vehicles.
Unless the commercial trucks that are transporting essential commodities, all kinds of heavy goods vehicles and trucks have been prohibited from entering the city.
Peripheral Expressways
The building of peripheral expressways in Delhi had a great involvement in the substantial reduction of pollution. Eastern Peripheral Expressways launched in May 2018 has brought down the vehicular pollution in Delhi by 7%. Western Peripheral Expressway is expected to reduce the number of non-Delhi destined commercial vehicles, which add to air pollution, in the national capital by around 30%. It will also divert more than 50,000 heavy vehicles away from Delhi. A report quoted truckers as saying that the new expressway will dramatically cut down travel time, as non-destined trucks do not have to enter the city. Also, vehicles going from North India to the Western and Southern parts of the country would be able to do so without entering into Delhi. Before these highways were built, highly polluting trucks going to Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal had to compulsorily move through Delhi.
Ban on civil construction and demolition works was also enabled.
Delhi has seen quite an improvement in terms of pollution as there was a decrease of 4% AQI from 2018 to 2019. But that is not sufficient. Long term goals for reducing air pollution in the next winter season is to be considered seriously and acted upon by the authorities. The organisations involved in helping to take measures to save the region must be provided with enough resources.
Let us try for a mask free Delhi during winters and safeguard the purity of our nation.
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