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(This story was first published on 4 June 2019. It is being re-posted from The Quint’s archives due to worsening air quality in Delhi-NCR.)
Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan
Cameraperson: Abhishek Ranjan
I live in the world’s most polluted city. I wish I could show you where I live, but only if this smog clears... Yup, I am talking about Delhi.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is an index that tells you how clean or polluted the air is. A reading of 100 or below is considered normal. But in Delhi, on normal days we hit 300.
Now, that’s dangerous.
I don’t smoke, but I think I might as well start. Because breathing this polluted air is equal to smoking 50 cigarettes! This pollution is killing 33 people in Delhi every single day.
Well, that’s 12,000 dead people a year from air pollution – that's six times the number of deaths from road accidents every year.
Back in the 70s, 80s or even 2000s, things were not this bad for Delhi. This choking was recorded only over the last 10 years.
The first dip in air quality occurs between September to November, due to crop burning. The second dip takes place in December to January, when the cold winter air prevents pollutants from dispersing.
To put it simply, warm smoke traps the cold winter air, acting like a lid and stopping smog from rising and drifting away.
The third dip occurs during the summer months – April to June. So, Delhi is polluted almost throughout the year.
In 2018, Delhi recorded less than 120 days of clean, breathable air. To understand this, we must actually look beyond the city.
When a farmer in Punjab or in Haryana decides to burn crops – because it’s a cheap way to get rid of the stubble – the smoke just sort of drifts over here.
As the air gets dirty and thick with pollutants, it stagnates, refusing to leave the city.
But let's not put all the blame on geography and farmers. Dilli wallahs are also to be blamed for this.
NO! These are simply stop-gap measures.
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