Homeless at highest risk, but least equipped

NEWDELHI: “I am feeling a strange burning sensation in my eyes,” says 40-year-old Dhanno, bent over a smoke-filled stove, cooking dinner for her five children and husband who live with her in a small slum cluster, surrounded by garbage on one side and a busy parking lot for buses on the other, opposite the Kashmere Gate

Metro station. Asked if she would want to visit a doctor for her eyes, she smiles and says “this is no major issue. It will be fine soon.”

While the government has declared a health emergency after air pollution across Delhi reached alarming levels — the air quality index (AQI) in Delhi escalated to 494 on Sunday, the worst level of pollution since November 2016 — a large number of the city’s residents worriedly resorted to anti-pollution masks for the outdoors and air purifiers for their homes.

The poor and homeless, however, are uncertain how to react.

Sarika,35, who lives with her husband and two children in a slum next to the Kashmere Gate Metro says “my six-year old son has been coughing for the last one week.” Speaking about whether she intends to buy a mask for him she says, “I do not know anything about masks.”

Experts say those living closest to the streets are at the highest risk of suffering from health problems. “It has been established that people close to the main roads are at the highest risk since they have maximum exposure to pollutants,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, director, head of department, community medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital.