AL JAZEERA News, New Delhi, India :
A blanket of toxic smog engulfed India’s capital this week, with air quality crossing dangerous levels and causing a public outcry.
A slight improvement was recorded in Delhi’s air on Monday when the government rolled out an odd-even numberplate scheme to limit traffic, putting almost 1.5 million private vehicles off the city’s roads.
On Tuesday, the city’s air quality index (AQI) of 411 was still in the “severe” category. The safe limit specified by the World Health Organization is 60.
More than 40 million people living in and around Delhi have suffered from the poisonous air as politicians indulged in a blame game and, in some instances, offered bizarre solutions.
As the city wheezed, India’s environment minister advised people to “start your day with music” in a tweet, while the health minister recommended “eating carrots” to help in combating pollution-related health issues.Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who called Delhi a “gas chamber”, declared a public health emergency.
“For the last few years, the pollution levels have drastically increased in Delhi’s air. It’s the biggest health issue,” said Puja, 40, a resident. “But nobody is doing anything through the year and they wake up when the pollution levels reach [a] hazardous level.”
Delhi has a year-round pollution problem with residents yearning for days when they can breathe clean air. It is among 14 Indian cities listed in the World Health Organization’s top 15 most-polluted cities globally.
Vehicles and industrial activities are major contributors to air pollution along with rampant construction.
But every year around October-November, the air quality becomes hazardous due to pasture burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.
India’s Supreme Court on Monday lashed out at both Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s central government and the Delhi government, saying they were not doing enough to curb pollution levels and passing the buck to each other.
“Delhi is choking every year and we are unable to do anything. This can’t be done in a civilised society,” the court said. The top court called on the city authorities, as well as neighbouring state governments, to work out a solution to this recurring problem.
Pollution levels of this scale are linked to chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease, health practitioners say.
The air quality in Delhi has been particularly bad since October 28, a day after the Hindu festival of Diwali, and doctors say they have recorded a 20 to 30 percent spike in the number of patients with respiratory diseases.
