The thick envelope of toxic smog engulfing the nation’s capital for the past one week, jeopardising the health and well-being of people at large is a reminder that the Aam Aadmi Party government’s pollution control measure of alternating odd-even vehicular movement was nothing better than gimmickry which has yielded no benefit. With visibility reduced to second lowest in at least 10 years for November and the city’s air quality index zooming to a scale of 500+ the situation is alarming indeed and brooks no complacency.
At least four private schools in the National Capital Region’s Gurugram have shut down till the air quality index gets better and many schools have suspended outdoor activities and urged asthmatic children to stay at home. It is truly a catastrophic situation which requires more than mere cosmetic changes and lip service to environmental reforms. There is need for an emergency response rather than parties squabbling among themselves to score brownie points.
Unfortunately, though Delhi is the worst example of toxicity the AAP government is unequal to the task and the Centre couldn’t care less about what goes on and how people suffer if the State government’s laxity and incompetence show their governance in the worst possible light. The high pollution levels are manifest even in other big cities of northern India and Pakistan but that is no consolation for a city that is at a virtual threshold of disaster. Karachi, Rawalpindi and Peshawar are among the most polluted cities in the world, especially Karachi which is ranked fifth worldwide in pollution levels.
The emergency steps recommended by Centre for Science and Environment have largely fallen on deaf ears. These included issuing health advisories, reducing vehicle numbers, shutting down the Badarpur power plant which has been a major source of pollution, and strict action against waste-burning and crop-stubble fires in neighbouring States. Shifting to cleaner fuel also cannot wait any longer. It was indeed strange that the Delhi government did not react to the high levels of dust particulate matter that posed serious health hazards to Delhiites. Much damage was caused by fine particulate matter because it goes straight to the lungs. All in all, it is a frightening scenario which will render superfluous any achievement in terms of an impressive growth of GDP. The time to wake up to the reality of catastrophic consequences of poorly-thought-out development is now, or else it would be too late.
