Poor feel the full blast of air pollution
TOXIC AIR AND HAZY SKIES ARE DRIVING ONE MORE WEDGE BETWEEN THE HAVES AND THE HAVE-NOTS IN DELHI-NCR
Air purifiers for the affluent, masks for the not so rich and inhaling polluted air all day for those who can’t afford a roof over their heads. It’s maximum exposure for millions of people who are bearing the brunt of hazardous air quality, experts say.
As the air quality index (AQI) hovers between ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’, slipping into ‘poor’ on better days, the toxic air and hazy skies over the Delhi-NCR region and other parts of India are driving one more wedge between the haves and the havenots, leaving those forced to live and work in the outdoors vulnerable to pulmonary and other diseases.
Class bias
“The class bias is evident when the pollution level peaks,” said Sunita Narain, who heads the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and is a member of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control).
“We can fight pollution only when authorities think about both rich and poor and both join hands in this fight to protect the environment, otherwise the rich can roam in diesel vehicles and use purifiers to protect themselves but the poor face more exposure and do not even have money for treatment,” Narain said.
Rickshaw pullers and construction workers are the worst hit. And 19-year-old Shyam, who recently moved from Darbhanga in Bihar to Delhi to become a rickshaw puller, is proof that pollution hits us all, but some more than others.
“I am saving money for a computer course but my health has been poor for the last one month,” said the youngster, adding that he had spent all his savings in getting treatment for a recent respiratory infection.
“We can’t afford the hi-fi masks that we often see our passengers wear,” Shyam said with a wry laugh.
Rupak, who came to Delhi from Rourkela 30 years ago, escapes into his humble home in east Delhi’s Trilokpuri area at night but his fragile health is evidence of the long hours spent outdoors.
The 49-year-old boasts that he could ride his rickshaw faster than most autos not so long ago. But it is that time of the year when he slows down, not because of his age but because of the alarming pollution.
“It becomes difficult to breathe if I ride faster and my eyes burn. On normal days, I earn up to Rs500 [Dh26.3] per day. But in the winter months, I manage to earn just Rs300Rs350 per day,” Rupak said.
“There were days when I had to go without food, but this exposure to toxic smog is the worst,” he added.