A Sustainable, Pollution-Free Delhi? Yes It’s Possible!
Written By Rashmi Mishra
When we talk about Delhi’s future, the first thing that comes to our mind is a city that is noisy, dirty, cramped, crowded and engulfed in toxic smog, isn’t it? But the city could be brighter, cleaner and pollution-free too and there’s a cool AR installation that shows you how.
Starting with Delhi, with the aim to get its citizens to envision what the future of the city would look like, Jhatkaa.org launched the #FutureDelhi campaign recently. At the heart of the campaign was an Augmented Reality Installation placed on the street that transported the audience to a mixed reality future.
The display showed a view of the same location, but with an added augmented reality layer that showcases what a sustainable version of the location could look like in the future, with more pedestrian space, cycle lanes, electric buses, charging points of electric vehicles, free of emissions from fossil-fuel vehicles and with clean blue skies.
The installation was like a giant selfie phone camera in which people could see themselves but immersed in #FutureDelhi. This initiative by Jhatkaa.org was supported by organizations like Purpose, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), Centre for Environment and Economic Development (CEED) and Asar.
Titled #FutureDelhi, the campaign was launched on Sunday, 12th December 2021 at Camp Chowk, GTB Nagar in the presence of Mr. Yogesh Verma, leader of house, North Delhi Municipal Corporation.
In the campaign that ran for a week, events were organized to gather livelihood, cyclists, bus commuters and e-rickshaw drivers to hear their thoughts on sustainable mobility and the problems they face.
Speaking about the problems they face, E-Rickshaw owner Lokinder Singh Taksab (57) said, “Like there are CNG and fuel stations everywhere, it would be great if we could have E-charging stations as well. It gets difficult for us to come back home and charge our rickshaws.”
“With more working members in the family, the aspiration to have more cars increases. In the future, there should be a check on that otherwise, there would be no end to traffic jams in Delhi,” said Babli Marshal, a resident of Delhi for the last 30 years.
Triloki Nath Mishra (90) said, “I have been living in this city since 1942, and it pains to see it wrapped up in toxic air. We used to cycle 10–15 kms a day, but today people use cars and bikes even for 500 metres. I want the future to be like how the past was; cleaner.”
An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) shows that vehicular emissions contribute 50–53% of total air pollution in Delhi. The idea of the campaign was to bring policymakers and citizens together to start a conversation on the city, sustainability, innovation and action.
One of the iconic figures from history, Delhi’s favourite poet Mirza Ghalib asked Delhiites their thoughts on the future of the city. Here’s how that went.
