The smog over Delhi is no Govt’s liability; we look to nature to ameliorate conditions
Nobody killed Jessica. Nobody is responsible for the insufferable, terrible, hazardous air pollution over Delhi and the National Capital Region either. The weatherman says pollution levels could worsen because a drop in wind speed and temperatures is predicted. The smog and haze that blanket the national Capital will not disperse easily in the absence of wind and lower temperatures. The air quality has plunged to the “severe category”, leaving people gasping for fresh air. Respiratory infections among children and the infirm have grown in a fortnight. Pollution levels are now posing a critical risk even to healthy individuals. Scientists say the air quality index in the city was at 499 on Tuesday. The Supreme Court, the Union and State Governments, the IMD and various pollution monitoring bodies are involved in trying to find a way out of this mess. However, in reality, there is no way out of it. Like the rain gods used to come to the rescue of Team India in cricket once upon a time, we, with scientific and official might at our disposal, now depend on nature to help the people out of their misery. A steady and strong air current wafting through Delhi and its environs for a week or so can disperse the pollution and lift the haze and everything will be forgotten till next time.
The Supreme Court passed strict orders about the kind of crackers to be burst on Diwali. However, no attempt was made to identify genuine green cracker brands. Policing was conspicuous by its absence. Crackers were sold, bought and used with impunity because a certain political ideology decided the law cannot come in the way of religion and tradition. The people burst crackers with a vengeance after a lull last year because of the fear of COVID-19 and the lockdown. Visibility was near zero on the morning after Diwali but it was nobody’s bother. Issuing orders that cannot be implemented does not help either democracy or health. The Supreme Court and the Governments confabulated a lot about stubble burning by the farmers of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. The Governments are still ‘politically’ debating if stubble burning adds to pollution at all. Of course, they pollute. To quote official sources, on Tuesday, 1,820 fires were reported from Punjab and Haryana and they contributed to eight per cent of Delhi’s PM 2.5 levels. The Commission for Air Quality Management stopped the entry of trucks and shut down offices and schools. However, it managed to take a politically correct decision of exempting construction activity of “national importance” as if these activities do not generate dust and pollute the air. Now, we face a new threat. With dropping temperatures, the burning of local biomass in the suburban and rural areas will increase the presence of smog. The gigantic machinery of the Executive already appears to have fallen back on air picking up speed some day and stubble fires declining on their own.