As slugfest over Delhi pollution continues, Delhi’s toxic air is suffocating despite tall claims of AAP  

Come November and Delhi's air becomes toxic to a point that is not suited for humans to breathe. On Thursday Delhiites woke up to thick smog that covered the capital. It is not new for Delhi to have smog and they have become rather used to this annual routine pollution. Nonetheless, it has a severe impact on the health of the people, especially the vulnerable. The Delhi hospitals saw a surge in asthma and lung-related disorders in large numbers and there seems to be no respite soon.  The AQI for Delhi on Thursday has already crossed the 300 mark.  After years of efforts and lip service, there is no let-up, and Air Quality Index (AQI) hovers in a hazardous zone in Delhi NCR. This time NOIDA is the worst hit where AQI touched 469, in the “severe” category. Just three weeks back the Delhi AQI was 44, but after Diwali (though mild this year) it kept going up to touch the severe category. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) has predicted that air quality will severely decline in the Delhi-NCR region in the coming days when temperatures drop further. This is just the beginning of November and Air Quality Index (AQI) in  Gurugram was 318  and 333 near Delhi Airport on Thursday.

According to the authentic data collected by various organizations (SAFAR, CSE), stubble burning accounts for one-third of the total PM 2.5 pollution in the capital, followed by vehicular pollution which has a share of 17 per cent in polluting Delhi air. These are followed by various other pollution sources such as household pollution (residential) at 13 per cent, industrial pollution at 11 per cent, construction at 7 per cent, waste burning at 5 per cent each, and road dust and other sources at 4 per cent. Over the years this pattern has been consistent. Though AAP experimented with a few steps including odd-even cars on roads, closing down offices, etc that had a marginal effect on pollution. The BJP is training guns on AAP as now they have Punjab too. AAP is on the blackfoot. Kejriwal has announced a ban on construction activities in the national capital. The spray of a Bio-decomposer is by far the best way to get rid of stubble but its implementation has been rather lackluster even though there is no paucity of funds. There has to be political will to do so. Thus till bio decomposer are made available to the farmers across Haryana and Punjab and, no big change can be expected.