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As Delhi chokes, India’s supreme court is grappling with the air pollution crisis
(Climate Home News, 30 Nov 2021) Inayat Singh Kakkar frequently suffers from shortness of breath, her lungs scarred by a thick smog that descends on Delhi each winter.
The 30-year-old activist with the People’s Health Movement was particularly alarmed during the deadly second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, when the Indian capital’s hospitals were overwhelmed and she had symptoms resembling Covid-19 infection.
Kakkar was able to escape to the relatively fresh air of her hometown Kasauli, in the foothills of the Himalayas, as her company allowed her to work from home. Now, she is back in the office and back in Delhi, where the pollution is bad enough officials recently considered – but rejected – a temporary full lockdown to clear the air.
“I am taking a lot of precautions such as wearing masks to keep my lungs safe, an impossible task in this acute pollution,” says Kakkar.
In the last two weeks, the air quality in most parts of the city ranged from severe to poor. The air quality index recorded PM2.5 levels in the range of 290 to 400 parts per million, nearly 10 to 15 times the World Health Organization safe limit. Research links exposure to a high concentration of fine particulates to breathing and heart problems.
Climate Home News, 30 Nov 2021: As Delhi chokes, India’s supreme court is grappling with the air pollution crisis
