Delhi Struggles To Survive In Severe Air Pollution, People May Die Earlier Than Usual

Delhi is likely to be filled with gas again. This is the result of smoke and fumes emitted from burning stubble freely over the North of India. Factories, cars, and even firecrackers are also the factors to add gas to the air, creating a stinky mixture.

The wind is now blowing from Punjab and Haryana, where people burn crop, to the capital of India. And this made the city’s air quality switch to ‘poor’.

Last year, there was news that a tower for fighting the alarming air pollution was installed in Delhi. The tower was settled near ITO, under the Indraprastha Marg fly-by and would be especially useful in the winter.

This pollution fighter is equipped with exhaust fans that suck polluted air. Then, there is a machine inside the tower that eliminates 90 percent of the particulate matter, lowering the level of pollution and finally releases fresh air.

However, the tower was put up for experiment only, according to an interview by Indiatimes. Also, we do not know if the tower worked effectively.

Construction contributes to pollution

In June, certain actions were taken in the fight against pollution. Civil construction activities were banned, water was sprinkled to reduce the amount of dust from construction areas, sweeping machines were used on the streets and burning garbage was stopped to avoid dust pollution.

However, construction activities were carried out not long after that, and the pollution continued.

Machines used to sweep roads

Sweeping machines were supposed to clean the roads like Ring Road and National Highways at night. Yet, because of technical problems, the plan could not be conducted.

Anti-smog gun a cosmetic measure

Another measure to fight air pollution was ‘anti-smog’ gun. This is a device that releases tiny water drops into the air, up to 50 meters high which creates artificial clouds. The clouds then will stick to pollutants, bringing them to the ground.

Nevertheless, studies found that the gun’s influence on the air quality was not considerable.

It was illustrated that the gun could hardly affect the air and it would take about 50,000 guns for the project to be conducted in the city.

According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, people living in Delhi may suffer from serious consequences of air pollution, the worst of which is approximately 6.4 years loss of lifespan. This is even more dangerous as it will cause the most premature deaths in India.

Right now, the air quality in National Capital Region is still going down, industries which are supposed to have been shut down are still running, there is little control over burning garbage on Delhi landfills.

So... what now?