Delhiites have acted on poor air quality and burst fewer crackers but AQI readings are still abysmal
By its very definition, the term “a perfect storm” ought to be rare. Yet come winter in the northern plains of India, the capital and its environs have the “perfect storm” of climatic conditions, human activity and the strange fallout of policy interventions to create a toxic brew for residents to breathe. Every winter, without fail for the past decade, dangerous breathing conditions have become de rigueur for residents not just of the national capital and its satellite cities but for whole swathes of the northern plains. In the process not only are years being taken off the lives of all Delhi residents but if deaths are investigated properly, one is almost certain to find that there have already been thousands, possibly tens of thousands who have died from poor air quality thanks to either Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), lung cancer or asthma. Many children, with weaker lungs, have fallen prey to asthma, a condition whose incidence is shooting through the roof. And make no mistake, poor air quality impacts the poor and underprivileged much more than the wealthy who whine about it on social media.
Perhaps we should learn from history. In 1952, during the “Great Smog of London” that gripped the British capital, it was estimated that 12,000 people had died. It was as a direct result of that horrible winter that a Conservative government led by Winston Churchill initiated the Clean Air Act. India’s politicians know what the causes are, they know that there is rampant use of dangerous polluting fuels across the country in factories. They know that brick kilns pollute and are too scared to act against farmers who burn their fields year after year. This has to end. It is time for the Narendra Modi Government to bring a Clean Air Act during the Winter Session of Parliament. Every single Indian, particularly every single Indian child, needs the promise of clean air. If this is not acted upon, the polluted air will not only see India’s next generation suffer stunted growth but a widening of the privilege gap between those who can afford tools that give them and their children clean air and water and those who cannot. It is for that reason India’s politicians must act, no matter which political party they are from. Replace the chalta hai attitude with some real-time solutions. It is possible.