Delhi air ‘like smoking 50 cigarettes a day’
Delhi has become a ‘‘gas chamber’’ with pollution so dangerous that it is best to avoid living there, according to two judges on India’s supreme court.
Air pollution has soared to hazardous levels over recent days, bringing renewed finger-pointing among rival politicians over who is to blame.
At a supreme court hearing, Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Deepak Gupta denounced the political inertia that has disrupted efforts to tackle the crisis. Although both judges have official residences in the capital, they said they would leave as soon as their tenure on the bench was over.
‘‘It is better not to be in Delhi,’’ Justice Mishra said. ‘‘Yes, it is like gas chamber,’’ Justice Gupta agreed. ‘‘What is required to keep in check environment pollution in Delhi? ... Implementation is definitely lacking.’’
Delhi endures an annual ‘‘pollution season’’ through the winter months, when cold air concentrates pollutants from factory emissions and smoke from burning crop stubble that sweeps into the city from neighbouring states. There it mingles with construction dust and fumes from millions of cars to cast a toxic pall over the city. Medics have declared a public health emergency, comparing the impact of inhaling Delhi’s air to smoking 50 cigarettes a day.
The Delhi government has tried a host of initiatives to tackle the crisis, to little or no effect. The latest was a plan to induce artificial rain over the city by scattering chemicals from aircraft. The scheme was announced in November but no action has yet been taken. Other solutions have also proved ineffective. When ‘‘smog cannons’’ were placed around the city to blast polluted streets with mist last year, air quality in those areas actually declined.
A study last week found that Delhi’s air contained alarming levels of toxic heavy metals, such as manganese and lead, that could cause brain damage.