mid-day editorial: Mumbai, too, could be gasping soon

Delhi's air pollution, at its worst ever, is a worrying indicator of serious environment degradation. So severe is the pollution, attributed in the beginning to the burning of crackers during Diwali, that schools have been kept shut for three days and all construction activity banned for five days

Delhi's air pollution, at its worst ever, is a worrying indicator of serious environment degradation. So severe is the pollution, attributed in the beginning to the burning of crackers during Diwali, that schools have been kept shut for three days and all construction activity banned for five days.

Residents have been advised to stay indoors and work from home. The Delhi government is now scrambling to put emergency remedial measures in place, such as sprinkling water on roads and stopping burning at landfill sites.

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But, environmental experts have said the Air Quality Index (AQI) has crossed the dangerous 500+ mark. The level of particulate matter PM10 (coarse pollution particles) on Sunday had reached 1690 umg/m3 in one area. This is hundreds of times higher than the permissible limits of 50-100.

But, if Mumbai thinks it can be smug about never facing such a situation, it needs to think again. WHO has declared our city the fifth most polluted in the world, in terms of PM 10 levels. The city is 39 on the list of most polluted in terms of PM 2.5 (fine, particulate matter) among 122 Indian cities monitored by the WHO. Interestingly, Delhi is at number 11 on this list.

According to the National Environmental Engineering and Research Institute, rapidly multiplying vehicles and rampant construction and redevelopment is taking a toll on the city's air.

Residents, along with NGOS and environment agencies, need to put pressure on the authorities to control construction activity and curb the number of cars on the city's roads. Mumbai could even borrow Delhi's odd-even-number idea for vehicles. Because, it won't be long before we, too, end up gasping for breath like Delhi.

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