Poor bear brunt of deadly smog
Indian capital shuts schools until Sunday
New Delhi – Rickshaw driver Sanjay can only afford a handkerchief to shield his face from the smog-filled streets of Delhi, even as many residents rush to buy protective masks to combat the toxic menace.
Better off inhabitants of the world’s most polluted capital are swarming sellers of face masks – costing more than the R71 that Sanjay earns in a day – and high-tech air purifiers that cost his annual wage.
Delhi authorities on Wednesday ordered all 6 000 schools to shut until Sunday after choking smog descended on northern India, while people with breathing difficulties have been told to stay indoors.
On top of expensive European air purifiers, inhabitants are turning to nose filters, indoor plants and even yoga to mitigate the crisis.
But doctors say that none of it will be enough to prevent deaths in the metropolis of 20million people battling a pollution crisis for the second year.
Some streets in the capital have recorded pollution levels 40 times the World Health Organisation recommended safe level since Monday, with still weather and annual post-harvest burning of crop stubble in Punjab fuelling the crisis.
Rickshaw drivers, street vendors and thousands of homeless families endure the full force of pollution that doctors warn can do irreparable damage to the heart, brain and lungs, especially in children.
Sanjay spends his days waiting for passengers, breathing in the poisonous mist so thick that often he cannot see the other side of the road.
“I don’t have a mask. The masks are too expensive. I have a hankie,” he told AFP, bringing out a cotton square.
He knows, however, that putting the rag over his nose and mouth does next to nothing against the onslaught of fine particles – so small they bury deep in the lungs – that sear his eyes and throat.
“My eyes are fire,” he said, pulling back an eyelid to expose an irritated, bloodshot iris.
Labourer MK Sharma also cannot afford a smog mask. He thought the scarf wrapped around his face made things “a little better” but wasn’t sure.
Nearby, affluent Delhiites jostled in a long queue to a small shop selling neoprene masks, fitted with a carbon mesh designed to filter out the noxious particles. Panic rose from the crowd as the vendor lowered shutters, announcing most sizes had sold out. Those lucky enough to secure a mask ripped open the packaging and put it on their children on the pavement.