'It's Killing Us': Delhi's Smog-choked Roads Take Their Toll
Faizan Hashmi Published November 19, 2021 | 09:00 AM
New Delhi, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Nov, 2021 ) :Stinging eyes, an unrelenting cough and chronic lung disease have taken their toll on Bhajan Lal, an auto rickshaw driver navigating the Indian capital's chaotic roads and poisonous air.
For the last three decades, Lal carted passengers along bumpy thoroughfares to temples, markets and offices in New Delhi, working every day through the winter months when a pall of toxic smog settles over the sprawling megacity.
"The pollution causes a lot of problems for my throat," the 58-year-old told AFP, after a morning spent in the driver's seat of his motorised three-wheeler.
"My eyes sting... My lungs are affected, which creates breathing problems. Mucus builds up and collects in my chest." Delhi is consistently ranked the world's worst capital for air quality and on its most polluted days the smog can cut visibility on the roads to barely 50 metres.
Levels of PM2.5 pollutants -- the microparticles most harmful to human health, which can enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- last week reached more than 30 times the maximum daily limit recommended by the World Health Organization.
"I feel so sorry looking at children and their health," said Lal. "They are already getting sick." Lal's business suffers and he sometimes drives around the streets for an entire day without finding passengers, who prefer paying extra to sit through their commutes inside a cab.
For those without the luxury of escaping the choking air, the health impacts are severe.
AFP accompanied Lal to a doctor's check-up where he was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, a progressive condition that gradually limits airflow to the body.
"If he doesn't take the regular medication now, he will go into a state where the airways will go narrowing and narrowing, and progressively worsening," said Vivek Nangia, Lal's doctor.
Factory emissions, vehicle exhausts and crop-clearing fires from farms in neighbouring states combine to cast the city of 20 million people in an otherworldly coat of yellow-grey haze near the end of each year.
Piecemeal efforts to mitigate the smog, such as a public campaign encouraging drivers to turn off their engines at traffic lights, have failed to make an impact.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
SC orders end of encroachments in Karachi
Nazish Jahangir denies viral screenshots, calls them fake
Govt likely to hike electricity price once again
Bismah Maroof announces immediate retirement from international cricket
Malala expresses unwavering support for Gaza people
Selection committee dissolved over Pakistan women cricket team's poor performanc ..
Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz in police uniform at Chung police center
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 25 April 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 25 April 2024
Mired in crisis, Boeing reports another loss
Session Awarding Ceremony 2024 held at Cadet College Muzaffarabad
Austrian ski great Hirscher to make comeback under Dutch flag
More Stories From Miscellaneous
-
PDMA predicts gusty wind, rain with thunder, hails
2 days ago -
Iranian president Raisi given guard of honour at PM House
3 days ago -
Intellectuals, writers accolades Naseer Mirza on his literary contribution
4 days ago -
Bahawalpur Adabi Sangat hosts memorable mushaira
4 days ago -
Cattle farming vital to alleviate poverty in rural areas
4 days ago -
Pakistan: A land of tourism, archeological wonders
4 days ago
-
Transforming education sector: from job hunters to job creators
6 days ago -
Amjad Bobby remembered on 19th death anniversary for timeless contributions to music
10 days ago -
Legendary actor Nadeem’s 26 films released on Eid-ul-Fitr days in 50 years
11 days ago -
Besant Hall Cultural Centre to celebrate evening with Sanam Marvi on 26 April
11 days ago -
Radio Bahawalpur presents program “Eidi Shidi”
14 days ago -
Radio Bahawalpur to broadcast Eid programs
16 days ago