Air pollution crisis weighs heavy on India’s most vulnerable

Twenty-eight-year-old Inderpal Singh, a salesman in Nehru Place, one of Asia's largest electronics markets, in India's capital New Delhi, has been battling a persistent cough and cold since early November. Despite taking over-the-counter medicines, the relief has been temporary, and Singh believes the cause of his illness is clear: the city's worsening air pollution.

"I've been unwell for a week now. It's probably because of the bad air I breathe here," Singh told Anadolu.

His story is shared by many in New Delhi, where thick, choking smog has engulfed the city, leading to a public health emergency and forcing authorities to implement drastic measures.

The capital, with a population of around 33 million, has long struggled with poor air quality, but the situation has reached new extremes in recent weeks. Air pollution levels have soared to more than 20 times the safe limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The pollution, a deadly cocktail of particulate matter and industrial emissions, is now causing widespread respiratory issues, eye irritation and other health problems.

On Monday morning, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in New Delhi hit a staggering 484, according to the Central Pollution Control Board, indicating that the air was hazardous to everyone. Just the day before, the AQI had ranged between 441 and 457, well above the "emergency" threshold of 301.

An AQI reading above 150 is considered unhealthy, signaling elevated levels of pollutants harmful to human health. When the AQI exceeds 300, it is classified as an emergency, posing a severe risk to all residents. With the air quality at hazardous levels, the New Delhi government has been forced to take extreme actions.

In response to the crisis, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena Singh announced that all schools in the city would switch to online classes in an effort to reduce students' exposure to the toxic air.

Authorities have also banned non-essential construction work, restricted non-electric buses and ordered vehicles that fail to meet pollution standards to be impounded. Public transport usage has been encouraged, and residents are advised to work from home wherever possible.

As part of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), a series of escalating anti-pollution measures, the Commission for Air Quality Management implemented Stage 4 of the plan across the National Capital Region (NCR) on Monday. The GRAP is designed to activate stringent measures when pollution levels reach critical thresholds, aiming to curb further environmental damage and reduce the immediate health risks posed by the pollution.

In October, the city government sought approval from the Union government to use cloud seeding to induce "artificial rain" as an emergency measure to combat pollution. However, experts have questioned the effectiveness of such measures, warning about the potential secondary consequences.

"By inducing artificial rain, you are going to manipulate the meteorological conditions over a large area and not just a city," said Mohan George, a former scientist with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

"If they induce the rain, it will wash away the pollution, but it can have other consequences, and such an exercise should be undertaken after a proper pilot study."

- 'AIR POLLUTION IS A GRAVE PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY'

Activists lament the "lack of seriousness" from government authorities in tackling the air pollution.

"The air pollution is a grave public health emergency, but I am not seeing any of the governments acting on this with the seriousness and urgency that it demands," said Jyoti Pande Lavakare, author of the book Breathing Here is Injurious to Your Health and co-founder of Care for Air, a non-profit that works on awareness about air pollution.

"We claim that we are progressing as an economy, but we are not able to provide clean air to the people," she said.

Air pollution not only causes short-term illnesses like coughs and colds but also long-term damage, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. A recent Lancet study found that air pollution contributed to 1.6 million deaths in India in 2021, with fossil fuels like coal and natural gas responsible for 38% of them.

The pollution has become so severe that Lavakare now calls herself a "pollution refugee," fleeing to other parts of the country to escape the smog. But she acknowledges that not everyone can leave.

For millions of workers like Singh who depend on outdoor jobs, staying home or leaving the city isn't an option.

"If I stay home, how will I feed my family?" said the father of two. "We will die of hunger."

His situation is echoed by Ram Singh, a construction laborer in Kalkaji, a residential area in South Delhi, who is also struggling due to the construction ban.

"What will my family eat if I can't work these days?" Singh asked, frustrated by the lack of income.

Similarly, Sumit Kumar, a 42-year-old food delivery rider in the city, has experienced eye irritation due to the pollution. Despite this, he cannot afford to stop working.

"I work 10-12 hours a day to support my family," Kumar said. "I'm not sure if the company cares about pollution; no one ever brings it up. If they allowed us to stay home during high pollution and still paid us, we'd be grateful."

For workers in the informal economy like Kumar, the lack of employer support for health risks tied to air pollution only deepens the crisis. Unlike employees in formal jobs, delivery riders, laborers and other informal sector workers are not entitled to paid sick leave or any pollution-related relief.

The measures implemented by the government to address air pollution are steps in the right direction, said Sharanjeet Kaur, program officer at the Centre for Science and Environment.

"However, given the persistent and rising levels of PM (particulate matter) 2.5 as observed this winter, these measures are not yet sufficient to achieve significant and sustained improvement in air quality as year-long sustained solutions are required to mitigate the air pollution."

The Supreme Court criticized government authorities over the past six weeks for failing to curb air pollution in New Delhi. It reprimanded state governments in Punjab, Haryana and the Centre for stubble burning and New Delhi for not enforcing a ban on firecrackers.

Kumar said the government should come up with policies that target sources of pollution throughout the year, not just during winters.

He also said that a unified strategy across states is essential to tackle air pollution, with shared monitoring, stricter enforcement and coordinated actions to address cross-border pollution effectively.

Earlier this month, the chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province called on her counterpart in India, suggesting that both nations join forces to address the growing environmental crisis.

Tanushree Ganguly, director of the Air Quality Life Index, highlighted that residents in South Asia could lose an average of 3.5 years of life due to air pollution, with some areas like Lahore and Delhi seeing losses exceeding five years.

She told Anadolu that historical evidence has shown that cross-border programs targeting transboundary pollution have effectively helped reduce pollution.

"For instance, the UNECE Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution Convention has cut harmful emissions by over 80% since the 1990s, thanks to a shared scientific understanding and joint monitoring and modelling infrastructure across Europe," Ganguly added.