Stay Indoors or Wear Anti-Pollution Masks: Delhi Battles With Worst Air Pollution Levels

By Sushmita Roy

Dangerous levels of pollutants in the air have clouded the lives of most residents in Delhi, the capital city of India, and the most polluted major metropolis in the world. The government declared a public health emergency last week prompting a city-wide ban on millions of private vehicles and a halt on roadside construction.

Residents are complaining about teary and itchy eyes, constant cough, difficulty in breathing and sore throats. Schools are shut and people are advised to stay inside their houses and refrain from engaging in any physical activity that could result in shortness of breath. Those who can afford air purifiers are advised to install a couple in their houses.

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“I have started to get shortness of breath, a suffocation I cannot explain,” Mohammad Islam, who drives a rickshaw in Delhi, told the NYTimes on Friday. He said he developed an unexplainable persistent cough that has forced him to cut working hours and got him worried about his life and work.

As the air quality keeps decreasing, Islam, who is 43-years-old, wondered how much longer he could last. “It’s like someone is physically choking me,” he said.

Air pollution levels in New Delhi have risen to around 25 times more than what the World Health Organization considers safe.

The smog that looms over the Indian capital is caused by pollutants released by vehicular emissions, crop stubble burning in neighboring states, and firecrackers burned during the Hindu festival of Diwali celebrated in October.



Although it’s illegal to burn crop stubble in India, farmers regularly indulge in the harmful agricultural activity, making it the single biggest contributor to pollution levels. According to Safar, the Indian government air quality regulator, 46% of Delhi’s pollution this week was caused by stubble burning.

The states that border Delhi — Haryana and Punjab — are often referred to as the “food bowl” of India as they produce most of what the rest of the country consumes. Every year, farmers burn the crop residue to prepare for the new harvest season in November.

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On Monday alone, Punjab registered 5,953 farm fires in a single day, the highest number so far this year, which, according to satellite data collected by the Punjab Agriculture University, brought the total number of farm fires this season to 31,267.

The dust and fumes caused by crop burning in Punjab and Haryana rise with the wind and travel to Delhi, where a population of 29 million people resides in the 5th most populous city in the world.





The government claims they processed the subsidies to make waste disposal easier but while some farmers complain they never received the full subsidies others say the net costs are still higher after adjusting for the grant money.

In the last decade, environmental activists have raised alarms and urged the Supreme Court to take urgent and effective steps in ensuring an effective ban on crop burning. But according to critics, like most cases in India, this too has turned into a political gimmick.

"Delhi is choking every year and we are unable to do anything," said Supreme Court Justice Arun Mishra. "The state machinery is not acting… They are passing the buck to each other... Everybody is interested in gimmicks and elections."

The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, has often referred to his constituency as a “gas chamber.” Kejriwal has tried to introduce various schemes since taking oath including the odd-even scheme- cars with odd and even number plates ply on alternate days- banned diesel generators, appealed to the public for not burning firecrackers, closed thermal plants, urged states to control stubble burning, but with little or no success.

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Kejriwal and his supporters have alleged the Central government, that identifies with a different political party than him, od not providing enough support.

While Delhi continues to struggle, doctors are seeing a spike in patients with respiratory problems. A recent study estimated that air pollution kills more than 1 million Indians a year.





Some long-time residents are considering moving out of the city but the problem isn’t just deadly in Delhi- India is home to 22 of the top 30 most polluted cities in the world.

EnvironmentSushmita Roy