Delhi pollution will kill the city. Because of third-rate politicians & apathetic citizens

The Delhi government accepts that halting construction and reducing vehicular traffic can reduce pollution levels. But these are band-aids hurriedly pasted on gaping, bloody wounds.

The city under a dense smog | Suraj Singh Bisht, ThePrint

If you live in Delhi, you won’t need me to tell you how bad things have been over the last few days. But if you don’t, here’s what it’s been like.

The air in the national capital has always been laced with poison. I am now used to feeling my eyes burn and my throat scratch every time I leave my home. The last time I had my chest X-rayed, the doctor looked at the results and asked me if I was a heavy smoker. I said that I had never smoked in my life. “Oh yes! “he said. “The price of living in Delhi. That explains it.”

In any other country, anyone in my position would be appalled to hear that just by breathing the air, they had done so much damage to their lungs that doctors asked how much they smoked. It is a measure of how resigned we are to having ourselves poisoned by Delhi’s toxic air, that both the doctor and I smiled wanly and moved on to other things.

And I am one of the lucky ones. I can afford to install air purifiers in my house. I have learned not to be shocked when my wife changes the purifier filters and tells me how black they have become from the noxious air. I don’t have to work outdoors. I don’t even have to stand in queues for buses or walk distances to work.

Can you imagine what it is like for people who work on the streets? For those who run stalls, work as guards, or need to walk to work?

That’s what living in Delhi is like normally. But every winter it gets worse. Pollution levels rise to such heights that we are told that the air is deadly, compared to normal days when it is merely dangerously unhealthy. And over the last week, the poison in the air has reached a record high. It is no longer a silent killer: It is now all too visible. Noxious clouds swirl around the city making it difficult for people to see more than a few feet ahead, for airplanes to take off, and for drivers to see where they are going. It is as though the pollution is mocking us. As though it is saying: Here I am, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Toxic political inaction

Why is there nothing we can do about it? Why are we so helpless that we watch impotently as Delhi becomes the world’s most polluted city? All we do is watch as politicians lose themselves in endless quarrels, squabbling with each other as the poison enters our bloodstreams.

The first problem is that nobody can agree on what causes the pollution. We know, that because of Delhi’s geographical position, the city is prone to fog and the winds do not lift smog out of the air. But Delhi was the flourishing capital of India for ages. So why has the noxious air only become such a killer over the last decade or so?

Politicians do not agree on the causes. For several years, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) told us that the pollution was caused by farmers in Punjab and Haryana burning stubble to clear their fields for planting.

This explanation was so popular that many people expanded on it. Apparently, Punjab’s farmers did not plant rice till a few decades ago so there was no stubble burning. But now that they have been encouraged to do so, they burn off the stubble before the new crop could be planted. Another theory is that the rice planting cycle had now changed so stubble burning coincided with the winter, when there was fog in Delhi anyway.

When these explanations were first offered, Punjab was run by the Congress, which was being bitterly opposed by AAP in the state. The then Congress Chief Minister responded that if stubble burning was the problem then why wasn’t there more pollution in Punjab’s cities? And what about stubble burning in Haryana, which had a BJP government? Why was nobody complaining as much about that?

Since then, AAP has come to power in Punjab so the Delhi government’s view has altered. It now says that stubble burning is not the problem. Not only was it never the main cause of the pollution but Punjab’s farmers have now stopped burning stubble because of the magnificent efforts of the AAP government in the state.

So, what does AAP think is causing the air pollution? It’s all because of vehicles, it says. And yes, the number of vehicles on the roads in Delhi has multiplied several times over the last decade. And the city’s relatively few black and yellow taxis have been replaced by thousands of Ola-Uber types of cabs, adding to the problem.

Though AAP is less keen to acknowledge it, Delhi’s wild construction boom also has something to do with how poisonous the air is. For example, in my colony, old buildings are being demolished at record rates to make way for new ones. With no active supervision from any official authority, the construction runs late into the night and through holidays, spewing dirt and dust into the already polluted air. 

The government clearly accepts that halting construction and reducing vehicular traffic can reduce pollution levels because it has just announced such measures last week. But these are short-term, desperate remedies. They are band-aids hurriedly pasted on gaping, bloody wounds.

We do know what will make a difference in the long term. Things will get better if construction is reduced and regulated. Apart from the pollution, Delhi’s infrastructure is already collapsing from the pressure of new buildings.

It will certainly help if the government takes steps to reduce the number of cars on the roads. And stubble burning in neighbouring states must be stopped.

But here’s the thing: none of this will happen. Stubble burning is such a political hot potato that all parties will do nothing except continue to lie about it. Construction is such an important source of income for politicians that nothing will be done about it, even as Delhi’s roads, water supply and power circuits collapse.

As for the number of cars, they will not reduce even though there are global precedents for controlling vehicular traffic from cities such as London and Singapore. Any move to replicate that here would be politically unpopular.

And there is another key factor: The citizens of Delhi have demonstrated that they’re happy enough to breathe this toxic air and they will not allow pollution to become an issue that can swing elections.

So why should politicians care?

A dying city

In most countries, a public health emergency like the one Delhi has faced this past week would lead to high-level meetings at the Prime Ministerial level. The Environment Ministry would swing into action.

None of this has happened in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been away. So has the Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, and in any case nobody I asked last week even knows the Environment Minister’s name. Instead, the BJP has blamed AAP. And AAP has blamed the BJP.

I am sorry if all of this sounds unduly pessimistic, but it is the truth. We have the same discussions year after year. And still, nothing changes. Nor do citizens push politicians enough for them to make any changes or look for solutions.

What this means, in effect, is that while there will be temporary measures like those imposed this week, Delhi will go down in history as the one great city killed off by the air its citizens have to breathe. Foreigners are already refusing postings in Delhi. It is only a matter of time before Indians start doing the same. Even if individuals are philosophical about their own health, nobody would want to move to a city where their children will face lung disease and reduced life spans.

Bit by bit, Delhi will die. It will choke itself to death because of third-rate politicians and apathetic citizens.

Vir Sanghvi is a print and television journalist, and talk show host. He tweets @virsanghvi. Views are personal.

(Edited by Ratan Priya)