Fleeing New Delhi
NEW DELHI— It’s a life that many envy: plush salaries, international schools for the children and wine-soaked parties on weekends. But for New Delhi’s diplomatic corps, the sweet life is missing one key ingredient: clean, breathable air.
Pollution levels in India this month are so bad that diplomats are fretting about whether to stay or leave. Some, like Costa Rica’s ambassador, have already left the city after developing respiratory problems. Others are calling in sick to work or worrying about their children’s health. Some missions, according to the Indian Express, have moved non-essential staff to nearby countries such as Singapore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has travelled extensively to boost India’s international image and attract foreign investment, including a recent trip to Manila, where he met leaders at the summit for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. But his efforts may be getting scuppered, as diplomats gasping for air report home about the pollution crisis.
“I’m a living proof that our planet is dying today, coughing as I write with my Indian bronchitis,” wrote Mariela Cruz Alvarez, Costa Rican ambassador to India, in a blog post.
Pollution levels in Delhi peaked in November. Levels of carcinogenic PM 2.5 particles in the air were 70 times over the safe limit as prescribed by the World Health Organization. Responsibility for curbing the pollution quickly descended into a finger-pointing match, with state and central government ministers blaming each other for the crisis. Modi’s environment minister, Harsh Vardhan, in a television interview underplayed the impact of pollution, saying that it could not be directly linked to deaths. “No death certificate has the cause of death as pollution,” he said.
In the end, little has been done and the main remedy still appears to be waiting for the wind to blow it away — a response that no doubt has also made it into the diplomatic dispatches home.