0:59
- ABC News
- November 5, 2018
Panic as smog blankets nation's capital
The city recorded air-pollution levels dangerous even for healthy people.
0:59
Supreme Court lawyer and opposition politician Jaiveer Shergill tweeted that “nothing can be more sad than your own city becoming hazardous.”
Lot of doctors advising parents to take their infants/toddlers out of Delhi during this period -nothing can be more sad than your own city becoming hazardous & every year passes by online outcries/condemnations & then back to business as usual #DelhiAirPollution
— Jaiveer Shergill (@JaiveerShergill) November 5, 2018
As early as 2015, the Delhi High Court observed “it seems like we are living in a gas chamber” over the regional government’s failure to act on air pollution, according to the Indian Express.
Now, nonprofit think tank the Center for Science and the Environment has this year declared that “air pollution is a national crisis.”
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/delhi1-rt-ml-181105_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Harsh Vardhan, minister for environment, forests and climate change, merely tweeted that people should \"keep #AirPollution in mind while decorating your home this #Diwali.\"
#GreenGoodDeed_35
— Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) November 4, 2018
Keep #AirPollution in mind while decorating your home this #Diwali. Use #EarthenLamps and #LEDs for Diwali lighting. Save on #power bills & reduce #carbon footprint too. Come, pledge a #GreenDiwali !#AirPollution #CleanAir @moefcc @ErikSolheim @UNEnvironment pic.twitter.com/ME6OP0gJkh
Doctors have repeatedly warned this week that the current levels of pollution are having a severe impact on people’s well-being. \"The impact of the foul air on public health can be compared to smoking 15 to 20 cigarettes a day,” Dr. Arvin Kumar of the Lung Care Foundation told the Times of India.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/delhi2-gty-ml-181105_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
With Diwali looming, there is no quick fix to the significant challenges the city faces.
“New Delhi is not blind to the environmental damage that is accompanying India’s rapid economic growth,” said Dr. Elizabeth Chatterjee, professor of political science at Queen Mary University of London. \"The Indian government simply does not have the levers to solve the problem.”
“The government has had limited success in persuading farmers to stop burning the post-harvest stubble in their fields - a major source of the smog sweeping Delhi,” she said. “Attempts to discourage Diwali fireworks or cut the number of cars on the road have prompted a backlash.”
“This winter may be a political turning point,\" she added, \"as the outcry rises across heavily polluted cities.\"
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