As pollution in Delhi hits danger mark and the winter threatens to be one of the coldest, a clean air activists book on how to address the devastating effects of air pollution comes to the fore.
Visitors at the stairs of Jama Masjid mosque in Old Delhi against a backdrop of heavy smog on November 10. Pic/AFP
After living for a brief period of three years in the US with her husband, financial journalist Jyoti Pande Lavakare returned to her hometown in Delhi in 2009. This time, however, she was a mother of two young children and hardly pleased with how the air had changed over the years. "When you are young, you think you are immortal. You don't care about the things waiting for you down the road. But, when you have children, you do begin to worry. Everyone around me was experiencing respiratory problems suddenly. I had asthma as a child, and grew out of it by the age of eight. But, after returning, I experienced my first asthma attack in 30 years," Lavakare shares.
But, the real breaking point came when a friend used the air quality meter inside her central Delhi home, which she thought fell under the safe zone. "The Air Quality Index (AQI) inside my home was 200, way over the WHO limit. When we stepped out, the number went higher. I couldn't believe it."
Lavakare, with a few parents from the neighbourhood, formed a group to start addressing the problem with those around. "My children went to Sanskriti School and I was the PTA president, which made gathering parents easier. We began doing research on air pollution, educated ourselves, and visited school after school to spread awareness."
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With vehicles off the road and industries shut due to the lockdown, pollutants have reduced by 50 per cent in Delhi. Pic/Getty Images
In two years, she co-founded Care For Air in 2015. At first, it was a platform to advocate clean air, and gradually became a registered non-profit. Having toiled for years to make common cause, she realised not much had changed. But Lavakare, didn't give up. Her latest book, Breathing Here Is Injurious To Your Health: The Human Cost of Air Pollution and How You Can Be The Change (Hachette India) is proof.'
Edited excerpts from the interview.
When you began educating yourself about Delhi's air quality, what were the most surprising revelations you came across?
A paper by the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata, stated that kids who were born and raised in cities like Delhi elicit adverse pulmonary reaction. In collaboration with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the research warned that children living is such areas have smaller lungs, lower lung capacity, and could even suffer irreversible lung damage. That was alarming.
Jyoti Pande Lavakare
Your mother's fight against lung cancer made you a bigger clean air evangelist. Is that correct?
My mother Kamale Pande, who was a Hindustani classical vocalist, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014. Her pulmonologist linked the cause directly to Delhi's air pollution. It pained me to see that while I was fighting the problem through Care For Air workshops, ironically the health hazard was striking my own family. When her cancer reached the terminal stage, I spent all my time by her bedside. That was when a friend advised that I journal my thoughts. I began to write everything I saw and learned. And that is how, this book was born. I thought it was important for me to give meaning to her death. I want Indians to realise the severity of the situation. The book tracks the prevention of the air pollution movement in India, the various legislations introduced to try and combat it and the citizen-led movements that have contributed to reducing bad air around schools.
What can citizens do to prevent, contain and lessen the impact of air pollution on their lives?
The first step is to acknowledge that the problem exists, and have the intention to address it. The second is to collaborate and fight the problem together. Yes, on an individual level, I can segregate garbage, use clean energy to drive my car, etc. But only when everyone makes these small lifestyle changes, can we hope for quicker results. Lastly, the government needs to support the cause. Government-run thermal power companies are big contributors.
A chapter in the book connects sustained exposure to air pollution to our susceptibility to other ailments such as the COVID-19. Did things change during the lockdown?
I never expected to see blue skies in Delhi. I don't remember doing yoga in the backyard since I was a kid. And suddenly during the lockdown, the skies smiled at me. I did my breathing exercises in the outdoors. It was surreal. And that made me realise that we aren't aiming for the impossible. Citizens and the government can, in fact, reverse the effects. If the government has the influence to get a billion people to implement a complete lockdown, surely it can get people to follow environment-friendly rules. If Amitabh Bachchan can warn everyone, who uses a telephone, against the harmful effects of COVID-19, surely we can have a big influencer spread the word about the disaster air pollution is causing. Unfortunately, we haven't learned lessons from the pandemic. The government seems more focused on reviving the economy than working towards a green recovery.
The gas chamber
Delhi's air quality index was recorded at 272 on November 19
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good
51 and 100 satisfactory
101 and 200 moderate
201 and 300 poor
301 and 400 very poor
401 and 500 severe
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