Special Report: Experts Call for Mass Movement to Tackle India's Air Pollution Crisis

13 hours ago

On this Special Report, the panel discusses the escalating air pollution crisis in India. An expert highlights the severe health risks, equating high PM 2.5 levels to smoking multiple cigarettes daily. The conversation addresses the lack of political will to solve the issue, noting that the environment is not yet a vote-bank topic. Speakers also point out the class disparity, arguing that the poor are most vulnerable to toxic air. The need for a mass public awareness campaign and tangible government action is emphasized.

Transcript

00:00Dr. Nangia, while we are getting the environmentalists to give us potential solutions,

00:06should there be now a massive public health awareness campaign as well?

00:10Because people need to know also the dangers of what's happening.

00:14Because one of the questions I'm posing is,

00:17what will it take for the environment to become a political issue?

00:21In a country like India, it's only at the end of the day,

00:23if there are votes to be had or lost,

00:26on whether you care for the environment or don't care.

00:28Do you believe that's possible?

00:30A widespread public health awareness campaign of what poor air can do to our lives?

00:37Yeah, Rajdeep, absolutely. I fully agree with you.

00:39Now is the time when we have to have a mass movement

00:41that has to actually be in the form of public awareness

00:44about how air pollution is actually harming our lungs.

00:47Not only our lungs, but our entire health and reducing our life spines as well.

00:51While we have been aware about it,

00:53but I think somewhere in the back of my mind, we tend to slip it very often.

00:57You know, there are people who still come to us in the OPD saying,

00:59Doc, why should I quit smoking?

01:01As it is, we are breathing such bad air outside.

01:04So even if I continue smoking, how does it harm us?

01:06You know, what they don't realize is that with every PM 2.5 particle size

01:11in the environment around 25 mics is equivalent to one cigarette in a day.

01:16So if the PM 2.5 concentration is around 200 plus,

01:19so eight cigarettes, there you go completely.

01:21In a day, you breathe eight cigarettes in a day.

01:25So, you know, that is the kind of harm that we are doing to ourselves.

01:28Of course, the awareness is rising now,

01:31especially because what used to be called a silent invisible killer

01:34is now visible to us also.

01:36So we do see people talking about it.

01:39Like earlier times, earlier years when people come to us

01:42during this time of the year with cough, cold, breathlessness,

01:44you would have to tell them that, you know,

01:46it's because of the air pollution outside.

01:47Now when they come to us, they come to us saying that

01:50ever since the air quality has dropped,

01:52since then the symptoms started.

01:54Or since Diwali, the symptoms have actually worsened.

01:57So the awareness is there, but I think it's a lack of will

02:00and a lack of, I think they all need to be pushed a little

02:03to convert it into a mass movement.

02:05You know, as I end in the last couple of minutes,

02:07I want 30 seconds to each of you.

02:09What would it take, Anumita, to make this a political issue?

02:12I know all of you have done a lot of work on the environment

02:14for a long time, long before it became even fashionable

02:17to have shows like this on it.

02:19But what will it take?

02:20What will it take, according to you,

02:22to make this a political issue?

02:23A quick answer.

02:25It's very clear.

02:26So while we need massive campaigns,

02:28awareness campaigns regarding the problem,

02:30but at the same time, I think we need even stronger campaign

02:34to build public understanding of the solution

02:36so that they can really make the political demand.

02:39You know, we talk about air pollution

02:41and running away from Delhi,

02:42but when it comes to solutions,

02:44we don't create that much demand for the movie,

02:47I want my public transport infrastructure to work

02:50when the government is giving me flyover after flyover.

02:53You know, so it's very important to deepen the understanding

02:57because the solutions are getting increasingly complex.

03:01And we don't want middle-class environmentalism only,

03:04that I can be fine with my air purifier kind of solution.

03:07I need hard decision, difficult, inconvenient decision,

03:11for that to build public support to change the politics around the solutions

03:16is going to be very critical.

03:18You know, because that's the issue that I often hear.

03:21And Pawan, you can take this and then Vimlendu very quickly,

03:24that, you know, this is a middle-class environment,

03:26this is an upper-middle-class issue,

03:28that the poor have far too many issues of Roti, Kapna, Makaan, Rosegaar

03:32to worry about Hava.

03:34How do you respond to those who will tell you this, Pawan,

03:37that, you know, that it doesn't make that much of a difference

03:41to the average person of this country?

03:44Not at all, because they are the ones who are totally getting impacted, right?

03:47They don't have purifiers.

03:49They are the ones actually more exposed.

03:51So I would really say that they are actually more vulnerable

03:53to actually what is happening,

03:55what many of us are actually leaving them with the kind of quality of air.

04:00See, Raj, we need to make difficult choices.

04:02And this is where I say that solutions are going to be difficult choices

04:07because maybe it will make certain class uncomfortable.

04:10And therefore, I think deepening that awareness

04:12with citizens and public in general would be so critical

04:16because you are talking about regulations, about mandates,

04:19about the need to change behavior,

04:21and all this would be maybe unpopular choices.

04:24But that's where I think creating not just understanding of the problem,

04:28but the solution is extremely important

04:30because we need to make people part of the solution process,

04:33and that is where then they are able to ask, you know,

04:36sustainable solutions, right, to get clean air.

04:38So that's how I think we'll be able to really address this.

04:41That's from clean air to clean water as well,

04:43because remember, many of the poor in particular suffer the worst

04:48because of the kind of water that they end up bringing.

04:51But, you know, Vimalindu,

04:52you're in the Prime Minister's constituency of Varanasi.

04:54I saw you the other day with Rahul Gandhi in a conversation.

04:58You know, this is an issue that should cut across the political divide.

05:04The idea should be that Mr. Gandhi and the Prime Minister

05:06should come together along with Chief Ministers from different parties

05:09and have a national policy for ensuring clean air.

05:14Do you agree with me when I say that,

05:16that this issue is not to be seen through a political lens?

05:20Absolutely, Rajdeep.

05:21It should be every party's first political,

05:24first point in their manifesto.

05:26And as you asked the last question,

05:28with regard to it affects the poor the most.

05:31You know, it's not the same air that everyone breathes in Delhi.

05:34You need to understand that the air the Prime Minister breathes

05:37or the air Rahul Gandhi breathes or what you breathe

05:41and what someone in Sangam Bihar breathes

05:43or someone who is the subsea seller on the street is breathing

05:47is completely different.

05:48And so one is that there's different air quality for different strata of people.

05:53And then there's also different access to health care for different strata of people.

05:59Because if Dr. Saab is right, that it affects your lungs.

06:02If you have stunted lung growth and, you know,

06:04if you're asthmatic and you have arthritis and this, that and the other,

06:08then it means that it affects someone who's actually standing

06:10eight hours of the traffic signal, much, much more than with multiple air tenders going around

06:17in Delhi government and central government of air purifiers.

06:22And our Chief Justice, I think it's very, very important for us to also,

06:25as I know that you had a fantastic interview with the previous CGI,

06:30but imagine for several hearings, he's realized that it wasn't important.

06:35He, you know, someone like a Chief Justice of India doesn't even know what AQI is.

06:40The current Chief Justice of India is saying that let's do work from home.

06:44Who, how many people can actually do work from home in the sense,

06:47argue from home or do this virtual courtroom?

06:50Can a rickshawwala or a DTC driver or a traffic cop or,

06:53or many people do work from home.

06:55So, you know, when we look for solutions,

06:56we again look for solutions from, from a place of power

07:00and, and a different kind of equity and different kind of privilege.

07:04I take your point.

07:06I hope that there are the Chief, the current Chief Justice

07:08and the former Chief Justice are listening to you.

07:11We need real solutions, workable solutions, tangible solutions

07:15with a clear plan of action.

07:17For God's sake, let's create at least a five-year plan

07:20so that we don't have to do these debates every year

07:24for an air emergency.

07:25We need a clear, transparent plan prepared.

Special Report: Experts Call for Mass Movement to Tackle India's Air Pollution Crisis

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended