Since last few years, with the onset of winter season, toxic air pollution starts showing its colors in various cities of the country. Like every year, this year too after Diwali, once again a thick layer of toxic air pollution smog has covered the Delhi-NCR area. Once again this entire area is rapidly turning into a gas chamber due to toxic air pollution. To stop this, the Supreme Court has ordered to strictly implement Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in this area. But the sad thing is that due to corruption prevalent in the system, hot spots are still not being monitored on the ground. Even after the implementation of the fourth phase of GREP, no far-reaching concrete action plan is being implemented on the ground to curb air pollution. Even after knowing the causes of toxic air pollution, the system is not providing permanent solution to them. Even now, people are fearlessly defying the restrictions of Group 4 and are continuing the prohibited work. Many people are still continuing with the construction work and demolition work. People are still dumping construction material in the open for construction work. Due to the negligence of the government machinery, vehicles are forced to drive on broken roads raising clouds of dust. Smoke is still coming out from the chimneys of some factories without any fear. Even now people are running diesel generators without any fear. Tandoors are being operated openly in dhabas, restaurants, farmhouses and banquet halls etc. Some people are openly burning garbage on the roadside without disposing of it properly. Vehicles are plying on the roads even after their expiry date. Some banned vehicles are moving without fear. Due to the careless situation, once again the situation in Delhi-NCR due to air pollution is becoming very serious. However, this entire area is suffering from various types of pollution in water, land and sky. Neither do people have clean drinking water to drink, nor do they have clean air to breathe, nor do people have access to clean, quality pure food to eat, and there have been difficulties in this area from time to time. Earmuffs eliminate noise pollution.
But the worrying thing is that last year too, due to poisonous air pollution, this entire area had turned into a chamber of poisonous gases in the beginning of November, yet the situation remains the same. In the name of controlling toxic air pollution in this region, states like Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh etc. hold each other responsible and fulfill their paper responsibilities every year. Last year too, the Supreme Court took cognizance of this issue of air pollution and after the strict rebuke of the court, some action was taken on the ground to control air pollution by coming out of the system files of the state governments, but this year people were hopeful. That the strong rebuke of the court last year must have had some impact on the ground, some concrete work must have been done on the ground in the last one year to save the precious lives of the people of this area from air pollution, but sadly this that this year also The situation of poisonous air pollution remains the same, due to poisonous air pollution, there is a terrible emergency on the breath of the people of this area. There is a flood of patients in hospitals suffering from diseases caused by the ill effects of air pollution, people are becoming the prey of untimely times and the leaders of the country and states are responsible for this instead of giving strict directions to the system in time, trust it to God. They are busy trying to achieve victory in the elections.
Also read: Pollution of Delhi-NCR is not on the agenda of political parties
Through these few lines, I make a humble request to the government and the system that –
“It is the right of every living being and citizen to have clean air for life,
“Government should at least provide clean breath to live a healthy life.”
This year also, despite the Supreme Court’s order banning the sale and bursting of firecrackers on Diwali in the entire region, due to the system remaining a mute spectator, a lot of firecrackers were sold and burst. The ignorance of the people had done the job of inviting toxic air pollution on its own. Due to which, after Diwali, once again the level of air pollution in Delhi-NCR area has deteriorated very rapidly. The AQI index showing air pollution has reached 500-600 and is taking away the lives of people in Delhi-NCR by making them suffer from various diseases. If the Supreme Court does not show strictness in time this year too, then like last year, this year too AQI would have been seen busy in destroying its own old records. Although this year the people of this area were repeatedly troubled by air pollution before the stubble burning season and before Diwali, yet our system has not made any concrete preparations on the ground to ensure that there is no serious air pollution in winter. No action has been taken, the result of which is now once again in front of everyone in the form of Delhi-NCR region becoming a gas chamber.
Today, the fact to consider is that the increasing air pollution in the last few years has repeatedly turned the Delhi-NCR area into a gas chamber, which is a situation that is extremely dangerous for the lives of people, animals etc. Now air pollution has started taking away the precious lives of people. On this terrible situation of air pollution in this region, doctors say that – Due to air pollution in Delhi-NCR, there is now a huge risk of health problems of very serious nature. Due to air pollution, various health problems are now clearly visible in children, youth and elderly. Headache, anxiety, irritability, respiratory problems have increased rapidly among people. People’s problems like severe burning sensation in the eyes, watery eyes, difficulty in breathing and shortness of breath etc. are becoming common. If this situation of air pollution does not improve soon, then this respiratory emergency can prove to be very dangerous for the people in the coming days, people will have to face various health problems due to air pollution of serious nature. Asthma, black asthma, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease, mental health of people can be affected, problems of restlessness can increase in people, people may have to struggle with serious nervous system problems. The way respiratory diseases are increasing rapidly among the people, lung cancer is increasing rapidly, various types of serious diseases are spreading rapidly among the people, for that situation somewhere this air Pollution is also responsible.
But alas, we and our system are still just watching the show as spectators, and are doing no good in making effective strategies to control air pollution and implementing them on the ground. The worrying thing is that according to the data compiled by the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago on the condition of toxic air pollution, due to the poor quality air that the people of Delhi breathe, their life is shortened by 11.9 years. It may reduce and if this situation of air pollution continues like this, then this threat to people’s lives is increasing year after year. For the first time, Delhi AIIMS has shown in a live demo the ill effects of breathing poisonous air full of deadly chemicals on the body. In this demo, four different types of breathing tubes are used to detect PM 10, PM 2.5, PM 1 and The fatal consequences of microscopic pollutants of PM 1.5 size on the body can be clearly seen. Anyway, if the figures are to be believed, in the year 2021 alone, this toxic air pollution has taken away the precious lives of 21 lakh people in India, because PM 2.5 particles infiltrate our body through the bloodstream and spread to various organs. And cause serious problems like asthma, heart disease, nerve related diseases and stroke etc.
However, after the rebuke of the Supreme Court on the situation of air pollution being in very serious category, the leaders of Delhi have now got some respite from election slogans, while the Delhi government has also probably woken up from Kumbhakarni sleep, Environment Minister Gopal Rai is calling an emergency meeting. In order to reduce pollution, they are sending a letter to Union Forest and Environment Minister Bhupendra Singh, seeking permission from the Central Government to make artificial rain, demanding the PM’s intervention to provide relief to the people. But it is a matter of great regret that every year a lot of talk has been made to control toxic air pollution, but very little work has been done on the ground. There has been a lot of negative politics of allegations and counter-allegations among the politicians on this very burning issue. On this issue too, apart from war of words, allegations and counter-allegations and shifting their responsibilities to other states, the politicians have not done any work on taking any concrete, effective and permanent steps on the ground by making a far-reaching strategy out of the system. While the Supreme Court has been continuously keeping an eye on the burning issue of air pollution for the last few years, despite this the system has not made any concrete effective far-reaching efforts on the ground except throwing dust in the eyes of the Supreme Court. The state of negligence of the system on air pollution is such that the officials of Delhi shirk their responsibilities by blaming the burning of stubble by the farmers of neighboring states Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The states troubled by air pollution are cleverly shirking their responsibilities and passing the buck to each other. Due to this intention, no concrete long-term strategy to control toxic air pollution in this entire region has been implemented on the ground till date. Looking at the situation, it seems that the government and the powerful people in the system in the country are not at all concerned about the health of the common people, due to which people have to live their lives bearing various types of toxic pollution of water, land and sky. is forced. Therefore, along with the people in the government and the system, we should also understand our responsibilities in time and work together on the ground to free the country from pollution.
– Deepak Kumar Tyagi
Senior journalist, columnist and political analyst
