A tale of two Delhis: Deadly air exposes rich-poor divide
NEW DELHI: Walls draped in lush vertical gardens and air filtered through purifiers insulate diners at a swanky New Delhi food court from the choking haze outside in one of the most polluted places on earth.
But these eco- eateries, offering cleaner air as well as modern menus to the well heeled are beyond reach for the poor, who have little means of escaping the deadly smog which coats the city for much of the year.
Air pollution kills more than one million Indians every year, according to a study by Lancet Planetary Health, and Delhi is ranked one of the most toxic urban centres to live, regularly exceeding World Health Organisation (WHO) limits.
But for Ramavtar Singh there is no escape: like many of the city’s poorest, he eats, sleeps, and works outside.
“I work for six to eight hours every day and my children eat and sleep outside most times of the year,” the father of five tells AFP at a roadside food stall, gulping down a 50- cent dish of rice and lentils.
Singh earns a living by cycling passengers and cargo around Delhi on his rickshaw, a strenuous activity that means he’s inhaling dangerous concentrations of tiny pollutants deep into his lungs.
At best, he can wrap a rag over his mouth on smoggy days, a low- cost approach taken by labourers and rickshaw drivers that does little to prevent the most dangerous particles entering the bloodstream.
Delhi’s smog peaks from October to February, routinely exceeding WHO recommendations for PM2.5 – tiny and harmful airborne particles – and some days registers levels more than 20 times safe limits.
Experts warn the long term health consequences of living enveloped in pollution are disastrous, often causing chronic sickness and in some cases early death. Across town, Abhimanyu Mawatwal is settling down for lunch at a food court in Worldmark Aerocity, a grand commercial centre boasting purified air. — AFP