Toxic air divides Delhi between poverty and privilege | Headline News

Experts say environmental change will hit the poorest the hardest, especially in India's capital, where toxic smog fills the air that people breathe.

In Old Delhi, the ancient heart of the capital, Rizwan, 39, pedals a rickshaw tricycle, carrying passengers and heavy luggage through crowded streets that are often impassable to cars, for about $7 on a good day. is earning.

There is no escape from Delhi's deadly smog, blanketing the city in a foggy winter gray and suffocating the lungs of its 30 million residents, making the air quality one of the worst in the world.

“My eyes are burning… I know it's a health risk, but what else can I do?'' Rizwan, who only uses one name, gasps for breath as he navigates the traffic-clogged streets. I said while asking.

Levels of particulate matter (carcinogenic particles known as PM2.5 pollutants) that enter the bloodstream from the lungs are often more than 30 times the World Health Organization's dangerous limit.

Delhi authorities last month asked people to work from home and limit time spent outdoors to protect themselves from toxic air.

But Rizwan said his choice was to work or starve.

“I left my village and came here. I have to work hard, it's necessary,” he said.

“I am not educated enough to work in an office or do any other job. I can drive a rickshaw or pull a cart.”

– “Thick layer of soot” –
Adjacent to Old Delhi is a modern city that grew out of rapid building expansion in the early part of the last century.

New Delhi's affluent Gulmohar Park district, just 10 kilometers south of the Old City Walls, could be a world apart, given the way its people live and deal with smog. there is.

With the reassuring sound of an air purifier humming in the background, Madhav Mathur, a 31-year-old successful cinematographer, starts his day by checking pollution levels on a WhatsApp group created by residents.

Mathur, an avid long-distance runner who was born and raised in Delhi, said he could no longer exercise outside in the winter, when air pollution is at its worst.

“I stopped running outside because of the pollution,” he said, noting a marked change since he was a boy. “I realized it was doing me more harm than good.”

Mathur lives with his parents and usually works from home. When she has to be outside for long periods of time, such as when filming for work, she wears a close-fitting mask.

While this reduces the worst health risks, Mathur's main challenge is that the colors on the camera lose their vibrancy due to the “thick layer of soot.”

Experts say that the people most affected by air pollution are not only the least responsible for it, but also the least able to cope with it.

“There are contrasts in the effects of air pollution across different socio-economic spectrums,” said Sagnik Dey, professor at the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi.

“Poor people cannot afford these personal mitigation measures. They can't afford masks, and purifiers are completely out of reach.”

For rickshaw driver Rizwan, wearing a mask to prevent air pollution makes the hard work of pedaling too demanding.

– “Reducing emissions” –
According to the WHO, long-term exposure can cause stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.

A report from the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute said in August that the average city resident could die nearly 12 years earlier due to air pollution.

Mathur said he is fully aware of his privilege to be able to afford to escape the smog and has “sympathy” for those who can't afford better air.

“I recognize that economic life is synonymous with being outside, and for those who cannot afford to be indoors, their economic life will come to a halt,” he said.

“I can't let it go…but I'm certainly thinking about it.”

Delhi's smog is caused by a mix of factory and vehicle exhaust and is exacerbated by seasonal agricultural fires that clear stubble for cultivation.

Officials have deployed short-term efforts such as smog guns and sprinklers to weaken the air, but there has been little real pressure to address the root causes.

Derry residents who cannot afford to take personal measures to reduce the effects of pollution see it as just another problem weighing on them.

IIT's Day said the only way is to act year-round to ensure everyone can breathe air that does not harm them.

“People who can afford purifiers are using purifiers, but ultimately if we're really going to take care of the population as a whole, we need to reduce emissions,” Day said. Ta.

“That's the only way to protect everyone's health.”

Source: guardian.ng