Delhi is choking but how do the city’s youngest generation feel about living in such toxic air? We hit the streets to ask Gen Z what they think about the pollution crisis, how it’s affecting their health, and what they believe the government and citizens must do next. Hear college-goers' unfiltered opinions on one of India’s biggest environmental failures.
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NewsTranscript
00:00One of the many issues in Delhi NCR is the rising levels of pollution.
00:13Every winter, it is the same story and we all know what are the causes of it.
00:17Stubble burning, fireworks, traffic congestion and so much more.
00:22But do you really know what Zenzis think about it?
00:25Because let's face it, they are the future of our country
00:28and it's very important for us to understand what are their opinions
00:31and what are their thoughts regarding this big issue.
00:34So come with me and find out what Zenzis think
00:36about the rising levels of pollution in Delhi NCR.
00:48I'm here to talk about how can and what can the government do
00:50to ensure that these pollution levels can be controlled.
00:54First of all, what's your name?
00:55Rudra.
00:56Rudra, what do you think every winter is the same situation for us in Delhi?
00:59We are breathing toxic air which is absolutely suffocating.
01:02What can we do to bring about a long-term change?
01:06I mean, I live in an area where I can see a lot of factories,
01:08specifically those factories which put out a lot of pollution
01:13which is, I don't think it is monitored.
01:15So there should be some kind of a monitoring going on
01:18the amount of pollution which is released by these factories on daily basis.
01:21And then I feel like firecrackers are not that necessary.
01:25I mean, even though it's a Diwali time only during which firecrackers are mostly used,
01:32but then I think it's throughout the winters because of all the shardis and all happening
01:36that we get to see the firecrackers taking place.
01:39And I believe that even though people may debate that only one singular shardis is happening for
01:44one time, but then many of those shardis are happening on a single day.
01:48So that sums up into a, you know, huge pollution levels.
01:51So enforcement is another side of it.
01:54Supreme Court said that you cannot burst firecrackers after 10 pm, but we saw that happening
01:59everywhere post 10 pm as well.
02:01So civic sense also needs to be there.
02:03Civic sense does play a role because you can see, right, Delhi Metro is nice because of how
02:10how the government is making sure that people are following the rules.
02:13And it's very simple to understand and you have to pay a fine if you don't follow in Delhi Metro.
02:17Similarly, I feel like same goes with firecrackers and all other rules that if you, if the government
02:22and the local policemen make sure that the civilians follow their rules in a very nice way,
02:28efficient way, then I think civilians will follow.
02:32Delhi Metro infrastructure also needs to expand to ensure that there is last mile connectivity
02:36because a lot of metros don't go to proper places and people then have to take autos and, you know,
02:42other means of transportation to get to where they want to be.
02:45I believe there is always scope for betterment, but then I'm not, I don't have a problem with the
02:49current scenario given Delhi Metro is one of the best things about Delhi at the moment.
02:53So I wouldn't say anything bad about it.
02:56What do you have to say, would you prefer using private vehicles, four wheelers,
03:00or would you prefer using public transport?
03:02Honestly, it depends what kind of public transport, most probably Delhi Metro.
03:06It's clean and it's safe to use actually, safer than other public transports.
03:11And again, with the growing pollution, the rising pollution, I think one should always
03:16look to use public transports more than private transports.
03:19The odd even rule, right, I think that should be implemented.
03:22Do you think it worked?
03:23I mean, to an extent, but I think there was a lack of implementation and also the fact,
03:28the firecrackers, you know, there are police surveilling and again, there are crackers after
03:3610pm and that is obviously increasing the pollution. I would also, you know, create awareness about the
03:42crop, the pollution that comes because of the crop burning, stubble burning. So that's about it.
03:47How can we tackle that issue, stubble burning? One thing is we need to give monetary help to
03:54the farmers, but apart from that, what can we do? Because it's a very big issue actually.
03:58Yeah. I mean, again, monetary, you know, this thing, incentives and also we need to create awareness
04:03among the farmers that there is a season when they're supposed to actually burn those crops,
04:08when the wind is not coming towards Delhi. That is something the farmers are not aware of. So this
04:14is something farmers should be made aware of and the consequences of their actions.
04:20Do you think cloud seeding is also one thing which we can make use of?
04:24I mean, again, it really depends on how you implement it because there are a lot of ideas,
04:30a lot of ways, but there is lack of implementation. That's why a lot of pollution.
04:34Thank you. Thank you so much. What do you think we can do as citizens and the government also
04:39to ensure that these pollution levels can be curbed? First of all, I genuinely believe that
04:44as a citizens, we should all plant more trees and wear masks specially because pollution is a big thing
04:51and it can cause like very breathing diseases and all. And for government, I should definitely say
04:59that they should stop like those false measures of, you know, sparkling water everywhere to stop like
05:06the AQI meter and definitely should work more upon the problem. That's it, I guess.
05:14So do you think that the sprinkling water on the streets, it doesn't help much?
05:19It does. Because the dust pollution can be curbed because of that.
05:22Yeah, pollution can be curbed, but the thing is that the government is only sprinkling water and,
05:28you know, uh, the, into the area where, uh, you know, mostly AQI meters are there,
05:33not in like a genuinely places where the Delhi chief minister is saying that these are the hot spots
05:37and that is the reason why we are sprinkling water there. Ah, that's why I genuinely believe that's
05:44wrong on her part of saying such a lie. As we all can see, she's only sprinkling water where AQI meters
05:50are present and not in like, she should spray in front of colleges and all, not in front of the AQI meters.
05:56Genuine. What do you think, if not sprinkling water, what can be the long-term solution to ensure
06:00that you breathe fresh clean air? Definitely stopping like, uh, as a citizens,
06:05we should, uh, also have like a responsibility, like, uh, not using vehicles that much as, uh,
06:11all of us are using our personal vehicles and should, uh, depend more upon like public sector's
06:16vehicles. And second of all, definitely planting more trees and cutting off, like, as we can see in
06:22Noida more industries are bringing up and which is causing more pollution, I believe. On a personal
06:27level, do you prefer using public transport over private vehicles? Uh, as I'm a student who is
06:32from Bhopal and I'm living currently in Delhi, so I generally don't have any, uh, personal vehicle
06:38on me. So I'm only using, uh, public vehicle and generally I use, uh, uh, road and like walking more.
06:44Thank you so much for talking to us. Thank you. What do you think the government should do? Is it
06:49doing enough? From the past few years, we are seeing that the government is doing nothing as
06:53the AQI is raising far enough in Delhi. We all are living from past three to four years and we are
07:00seeing the pollution is increasing day by day and nothing is going serious. Government is not taking
07:05any serious actions so that they can clean air. They are just like, the things are going in that way
07:12and nothing is doing. Give me two, three long term solutions that the government can, uh, implement
07:17and work upon to ensure that next winters, we don't have the same situation in place that we
07:22have this winter. They should see the policies of the cities like Indore. Indore is one of the
07:27cleanest city. I have also visited there is the AQI is below 100 in the normal, normally even after
07:34the Diwali, the AQI is not more than 200. So they should adopt the policies. So the Indore government
07:40has took up. It's totally up to government. We as a public also ensure that things go smoothly.
07:46So it's totally on government and the public. So as we coordinate with each other, it will balance
07:51the things. Do you think that next year government will be able to tackle this? I guess it's very
07:56difficult as from the past few years, everything is like seen next year we will improve next year we
08:01will improve. But accordingly, the things are not been improving. It's I guess a leader which is not
08:08biased can take the steps quickly and remove these things. It is basically on the mindset of a
08:14government and the public. So the intent needs to be there. Yeah, obviously. Thank you so much.
08:20I think it's about finding the root cause of it, right? If you spray water and etc, that's just
08:25control measures to reduce it. But the idea is to stop it at its roots. So you probably look at
08:29farmers in Haryana and other surrounding states or you look at industries that exist in Delhi or
08:34vehicular pollution that comes and you try to deal with that rather than spraying water or other
08:39control measures that the government is now taking. What do you think that the government
08:43can do to ensure that stubble burning can be stopped? Rather than compensation, I think it's
08:47also more about awareness as well. It's a mix of a bunch of free-form ideas that you then get
08:51that you probably have to give them some sort of a monetary compensation, monetary incentive
08:55to make them, to incentivize them to reduce stubble burning. But at the same time, it's also an
08:59awareness, civic sense thing that you also have to imbibe within farmers as well. Talking about
09:05civic sense, we see that a lot of streets in Delhi and Siyad, especially Gurgaon, we have seen a lot
09:10of people talking about it, that the streets are really dirty and this is also part of pollution.
09:14I think, I think the very big reason that people are very careless with civic sense is that they see
09:18that it's already dirty and a lot of people, other people don't care. So it's more of if no one else
09:23cares, why should I be the one that goes and takes that step? So it's got to come from the government
09:27itself first. They've got to initiate cleaning measures to clean up the city and to emphasize
09:31there is a very important priority within the city, which will then be reflected within people
09:36and they'll be more careful with civic sense and littering etc. Did you face any sort of health
09:41issues yourself personally or any of your family members because of pollution? Sore throat in the
09:46winter, cold, I think it's a very common thing that you face in Delhi, yeah. Thank you, thank you for
09:51talking. Have you ever thought about leaving Delhi altogether because of pollution levels here?
09:55Yes, had that phase because it was very pathetic at that point of time. It has gotten better recently
10:02but yes, it was very pathetic back then. So what do you do on a personal level to ensure that you are
10:07not affected by it? Yeah, like the first thing which we did was like I and my roommate, we got an air
10:11purifier for our room. That was the first thing. Wasn't it so expensive? We had to look like,
10:16dig into our savings. So it was, it was a decision which we made. It was necessary at that point of time.
10:21Was it so bad? It was, it was pathetic. He was having difficulty in breathing at that point. Breathing,
10:26health issues also you were facing. What kind of health issues? He had some problems with his lungs
10:30like since childhood and it just exaggerated due to like pollution so that's what it was. So this is
10:36something that the doctor also recommended that you need to get air purifier? Yes, that's right. It was
10:41necessary. Okay. What do you think that the center can do to ensure that the pollution levels can be
10:46called? I think the first thing that they should look out for is take responsibility for what is
10:52happening because that is something that has been lacking. Other than that, obviously, you know,
10:56there have been a lot of measures which have been successful in the past. So maybe, you know, adopt
11:01them and but at the end of the day, with the population of Delhi and the culture that Delhi brings,
11:06it is very tough to curb pollution altogether. But you know, let's just see that the government does
11:12some things to minimize it as much as it matters. We've seen short-term, you know, resolutions for
11:17this like, you know, government ensuring the tractors are sprinkling water at some of the hot spots,
11:21but what can the government do to ensure that long-term change can be seen? Long-term change,
11:27they need to change things which are like causing it on a larger scale. They need to bring
11:31fundamental changes. Even like, if we were looking for an example, China was also,
11:37had an EQ around 700 or so, but they brought it down to less than 100.
11:41So it is very possible and it is, it is about the government, what they do and how they cater to
11:47it. Yes, the onus is as well on the people because we have to like, do things on our part as well.
11:53We have to bring some smaller changes so that it ultimately leads to a bigger change. So yes,
11:58the onus is on the people as well, but it is on the government as well. They have to accept that
12:03this is the wrong thing and they need to bring changes. Do you think that certain kind of campaigns
12:08around pollution have not been done by the government? We have seen a lot of good campaigns
12:14by the government, like Swachh Bharat campaign was one of it. Do you think that pollution can
12:19be converted into a campaign such as this? You can use campaigns, obviously you can use campaigns,
12:24but at the end of the day, the issue lies, as you were asking him about the people,
12:29it's not that people are not aware and campaigns generally bring awareness. They don't really bring
12:34responsibility. People need to own up to their issues and own up to the fact. It is very inconvenient
12:40to use public transport. We have to use public transport because we don't have any means of
12:44a killer vehicles here. But other than that, why would we do it? Because Delhi is a warm city,
12:50it is very uncomfortable. The pollution itself causes that because nobody would want to walk
12:55for a kilometer to get to a metro station because at the end of the day, they'll have to walk through
13:00pollution. It is just that the public infrastructure of public transport can be improved ultimately
13:04so that it becomes feasible for people to opt for it. That's what can be done. Thank you so much
13:09guys for speaking with us. I think government doesn't do anything like that. So literally,
13:13whatever step happens, they just need to take it. Because they are evacuating the pollution,
13:18because they are evacuating the pollution, they are evacuating the pollution, and they are
13:22given something to do for it. And they don't do anything like that. I think they don't do anything like that.
13:26They are better, I think, to influencers. They are talking about it, to people to be aware. I think
13:31government should also do everything because there are many volunteers. I think more campaigns,
13:36like things should be raised, or something like that. There should be more awareness. I think social
13:41media is the most important thing. I think social media should be talking about it. And yes,
13:46collaboration, like I said, with NGOs, etc. What do you think?
13:50We need to take the initiative and sensitization. Sensitization of the issue must be there. There
13:56were several protests happening around this area. Were you part of it? No. Do you think that these
14:03kind of protests help? Yeah, I think they help. They help? How? I think, if there are protests,
14:09it would be that the government would feel that people are also concerned about these kind of situations.
14:15Like, it's not that people are ignoring these things. They are also concerned about these things.
14:19So, yes, one thing I think is that we need all these changes for us. That we are doing toxic
14:25air-breathing and we know that. So, for that, now we are doing our voice-race that we need
14:30two initiatives that we need all these things.
14:34What do you think? Which government was able to fulfill at least some of its responsibilities
14:39to curb pollution? Do you think it was Aam Admi Party or BJP? Or is it too political a question for you?
14:43Two political questions. Two political questions. Okay, bye.
14:46Nobody does it, but this issue needs to be fixed. Have you ever personally faced any kind of health
14:51issues or one of your family members who would have faced any asthma or any kind of issues because
14:56of pollution? Like, it's not here. I mean, it's not here. Like, we can't take deep breaths.
15:03Where are you from? Delhi. Delhi. And you are also from Delhi. So, I think you guys have already
15:08accustomed yourself. Yeah, we can say that. Whenever you go out to any other place where the pollution levels are not high,
15:13do you feel any kind of relief? Happy. Happiness is there. Always. Like,
15:18when we go out to Delhi, we go out to Delhi, we go out to Delhi. So, the pollution levels obviously
15:23come, it's clear, the sky looks good. So, yeah. Has it always been like this or a couple of years back
15:29you were actually fine with the air you were breathing? I think before, like, if we talk about
15:34COVID-19, I don't think so much about it. And then, during the time of COVID-19, it was
15:39completely finished. I think, after that, it was more and more and more. Like, this year,
15:42I guess, there was a little bit of a shoot in the crackers. So, that's why
15:45the government's initiatives, civic sense is also very important, which people don't
15:49have to do. Delhi, Delhi, we will do it. Now, let's just say it.
15:55Thank you, guys. Thank you for talking to me. Thank you. She is actually from Haryana. What do you have to see on the pollution levels here?
16:00So, I am from Haryana and we see trouble burning, which is the main cause of pollution in Delhi nowadays.
16:08So, I want government to focus on this and ensure that the people in Delhi and Haryana
16:16are safe and breathing the safe and non-polluted air. So, it's a double whammy for you because when you
16:22are in Haryana, you are breathing toxic air and now in Delhi also, you have this problem. So, which
16:27chief minister would you want to request to? I want to request to the government.
16:34In Haryana and Delhi, there is BJP, I guess. So, I think it's more about joint ventures where both
16:40the governments can come together and bring about a solution, right? Yeah.
16:43So, what do you do to ensure that you are safeguarded against pollution?
16:46Okay, see. So, first of all, we don't get out much. We are also having our preparatory leaves
16:50around these days. So, we just stay indoors. So, while staying indoors, I just try to keep my windows
16:55in my doors closed so that, you know, the air in the house and the air out of the house
17:01remain different. So, in the month of October, did you feel like really feeling it in your lungs
17:07that it was really toxic? Not October. I think I started feeling it in November or somewhere
17:11that it was little but I guess you get, you know, accustomed to it. So, that's not
17:16matter. So, if you go outside of Delhi, do you think that, oh, I've come to a completely different
17:20place because your area is really good and when you come back to Delhi, it's toxic, it's suffocating.
17:25I, maybe. I just came back from my, like, you know, city. So, I came back from Bhopal. I did not
17:30feel anything, a lot of difference. Maybe I'm acquainted to it, as I said. Do you go out for
17:34jogging or anything like that and you... That would be a very dumb thing to do, actually, because,
17:38you know, you are doing more harm than good. So, no. Being the citizens of Delhi, we can just make sure
17:43that we follow those basic measures like wearing masks and something like that. So, do you think
17:49that 400 plus AQI levels wearing masks will help you out? Well, to an extent, yes. If something that
17:57we can do about it, we can wear masks and make sure that we are safe from it. We have seen a lot of
18:02protests happening around this area because of pollution. Were you part of those protests also?
18:09No, I wasn't. I wasn't part of any of the protests that were happening. So, yeah.
18:14Do you support these kind of protests, peaceful protests happening? Because this is a very,
18:18a very important issue that people need to raise and, you know, raise awareness of. Because a lot of
18:23people, you know, they just sit inside their homes. They don't bother about this. People who are going
18:28actually out to attend offices, schools, they are the ones who are actually on the suffering side of it.
18:33So, I do support, like, peaceful protests until it turns violent. So, that's okay.
18:38Because the ones who are going out are actually in trouble rather than the ones who are sitting
18:42in their places. So, yeah. I do support them. Thank you. Thank you for talking to us.
18:46At the pollution level here in the national capital, I think there needs to be some preventive
18:50majors as well, you know. As we have already seen the stable burning, it is a big issue
18:54in the nation itself, especially in the national capital. The preventive majors should have been
18:59implemented way earlier and people should keep their houses closed door at the same time.
19:05On the flip side, you look at the students as well, where they have the hybrid model,
19:09where the students will do work from home, they will have the hybrid classes. But this major should
19:15have been, like, precaution is better than cure and these things could have been done way earlier
19:19as well. So, the government needs to implement rather than just put up the provisions on paper.
19:26But as things stand, you know, the air quality has been a real issue in the national capital. So,
19:31I think the government could add more incentives to the real cause at this moment. And if these things
19:38are achieved, I am definitely sure that the air pollution level in the nation and especially in the
19:43national capital can be controlled.
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