The statistics on the longevity of life in India show a rather healthy and encouraging trend. Despite the epidemics, pandemics, malaria, dengue, bird flu, swine flu, and worsening of the breathing air, the health graph boldly projects a steady increase in peoples’ health over the last few decades leading to better productivity and, indeed, a longer life. Difficult to connect the two, isn’t it?
We appear to have made up our minds and programmed our bodies to deal with the unmitigated health disaster and openly underscore the incompetence of agencies and officials who have once again failed to fend off a nightmare that has been haunting the region every year. Hats off to the folks at the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), who are bold enough to announce that air quality has improved to very poor. (from severe, that is).
Agencies and governments expressly responsible for quelling the crisis are shrugging their shoulders at the rapidly worsening disaster or choose to pass the blame to everyone else but themselves. Environmental activists are loudly proclaiming “This is an air emergency. Like previous years, we seem to have learnt no lessons, and people who suffer every year, will continue to suffer this year as well.”
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the NCR could manage to impose curbs only a day after the air quality first hit severe. So, in other words, we attempted to close the gates of the stable after the horses had run away. CAQM’s own charter says “Actions under the stages 2, 3 and 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan shall be invoked in advance to the AQI reaching to the projected levels of that stage” and yet the Commission was behind the curves (again) on the matter of pollution control.
The measures came into effect after the uproar from the citizens who continued to suffer from a relentless onslaught of pollution that engulfed the city in an apocalyptic smoky haze, leaving people at large with only two choices – either stay at home or the offices with doors and windows tightly shut or, brave it out and challenge the toxic air. People who have menial field jobs like deliveries, courier services, labour, daily domestic helps etc., have no other choice but to fight it out in the open.
The shutting of schools, re-starting online classes, putting old vehicles off the road, and stopping construction activities are some steps that the governments of NCR have taken but, isn’t that too less and indeed too late?
This article will be followed by two more articles on the same subject in which, in consultation with a scientist and a pollution specialist, I will talk about the bare facts about stubble burning (and why we haven’t been able to control it) and a few solutions that we at an individual level can take to keep ourselves away from the acute diseases like lung cancer, bronchitis, asthma, and obstructive pulmonary diseases.
