New Delhi found itself plunged into a poisonous atmosphere, unbreathable due to the pollution that has been occurring for more than twelve years since the arrival of autumn. And like every year, the central government shows disconcerting apathy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on an official visit to Nigeria on Sunday November 17, before flying to the G20 in Brazil, then to Guyana. He has remained silent on the environmental crisis facing the city where he lives and works. However, the Indian Ministry of Health indicated, in a report published in October 2023, that air pollution had killed 1.7 million people in 2019.
Air pollution: closure of all primary schools in New Delhi
Mute leaders
These approximately two million deaths per year hardly seem to move the Minister of Health, Jagat Prakash Nadda. He has been campaigning in recent days for the ruling party, the BJP, during the legislative elections in the state of Maharashtra and Jharkhand. He also made no statement on the pollution besetting Delhi and northern India. His colleague in charge of the Environment, Bhupender Yadav, is equally silent. His X account gives pride of place to Modi’s statements during the visit to Nigeria and the local elections.
The apathy of the authorities reflects that of public opinion which, at times, is blind to this health and environmental crisis. In the streets of Delhi and its suburbs, passers-by who protect themselves with an FFP2 mask, the only one capable of filtering fine particles, can be counted on the fingers of one hand. In the federal legislative elections last spring, which saw the Prime Minister win a third term, the subject was not even mentioned.
“How can you take so many risks?”
Local authorities took a few decisions on Sunday: banning entry into New Delhi for heavy goods vehicles (except those with essential cargo), suspension of construction sites, closure of schools and authorization for public employees and from the private sector, to work at home. Too little, too late, deplored the judges of the Supreme Court on Monday. “When the air quality index reaches between 300 and 400, these measures must be decreed without delay.”thundered the magistrates at the moment when the index exceeded the mark of… 1600. “How can you take so many risks?”exclaimed the highest judicial body in the country.
The problem is actually much deeper. With the drop in temperatures which begins in November, particles emitted by vehicles, two-wheelers, construction sites and poor households using wood fires remain in suspension. Without rain or wind to disperse them, this toxic fog can last for weeks. Exhaust gases contribute to 51% of this pollution. Problem: the urban planning of Delhi and neighboring cities gives priority to cars, not pedestrians or cyclists. A study by IIT Delhi, an engineering school, revealed in September that 44% of the capital’s roads did not have a sidewalk. And a quarter are too narrow to borrow. Most are littered with garbage, construction debris or squatted by street vendors. There is no cycle path.
In Pakistan too
Northern India is not alone in being shrouded in fog. East Pakistan is going through a similar crisis. At the beginning of November, the city of Lahore had to close schools, parks, museums and suspend construction work. The government of the Punjab province has pointed the finger at slash-and-burn cultivation practiced by Indian farmers. Lahore is only 20 km from the border. Its leader, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, called for a dialogue with her counterpart in Indian Punjab to find common solutions at the end of October. “The wind ignores the border between our two countries. We must act for the well-being of our two peoples.”she urged. India has not responded officially.
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