Delhi’s Air Pollution Caused A Clean Pair Of Lungs To Turn Black After Six Days

As we all know, air pollution in India’s capital, New Delhi, is getting more and more serious, especially after people refused to follow the Supreme Court’s order and shamelessly burnt firecrackers. Now, breathing in this city is like smoking 20 cigarettes per day.

The pair of lungs installed in front of Shri Ganga Ram Hospital went black

Over the last fortnight, New Delhi’s AQI (air quality index) has got worse, some certain places even cross the 999 marks, beyond which the system cannot measure the air quality anymore.

A group of people worrying about the situation gathered and tried to show how the toxic air in the city influence human lungs. In Rajender Nagar, in front of the crowded Shri Ganga Ram Hospital, a huge pair of lungs was set up. This idea was initiated by Jhatkaa.org, which is a non-profit organization based in Bengaluru. The organization carried out the idea in collaboration with two local environmental NGOs, namely Lung Care Foundation and Help Delhi Breathe.

Regarding the seriousness of the city’s poor air quality, the group expected the lungs to go dark after a least a month. What freaked them out is that they went black after six days only.

The color of these lungs changed after every 24 hours, thanks to the firecracker burning.

Before Diwali, the Supreme Court issued a banning order on the sale of firecrackers, it said only green firecrackers were permitted for sale. This move served as another attempt to prevent the air pollution in New Delhi from deteriorating. Also, the court imposed a restriction on firecracker burning time during Diwali week, which is between 8p.m and 10p.m.

Apparently, Delhi citizen gave little care to the court’s order as well as the air pollution, resulting in about five million kilograms of crackers were burnt during Diwali week.

Now, Jhatkaa.org intends to make a new pair of lungs and set it up outside another hospital.