Every year, the months of October and November are filled with news about the air pollution faced by the people of Delhi. We see people talking about measures to limit and contain air pollution.
The government also suddenly becomes concerned about this. For a few days, the schools are shut down, construction work is banned in the city, public transport is promoted rigorously, among other such measures.
First, we need to understand that the problem of air pollution is not something which came into our lives suddenly. It’s not like the air started getting polluted in a few weeks or months. This problem has been there since years.
The air was losing its purity. We could sense the smog during the winter months, but it is argued that people were waiting for it to get even worse. One of the main sources of this pollution are factories and power plants, obviously.
In addition to this, the problem of stubble burning in states like Haryana and Punjab is another point of concern.
Now, the reaction to this problem of polluted air comes so late because we have the attitude of not considering it as an immediate problem. People think it is not of direct concern to them. We think that even if the air is polluted, what we are going to lose?
People tend to only accept the overt repercussions of something. The government, on the other hand, is just using it to create political stunts. One simple question is: why do the ministers get active on this agenda only in October, when Delhi is almost in the middle of the crisis?
What are they doing the whole year? Is air pollution something which can be dealt with in a few weeks? We need long-term goals and targets to curb air pollution. Delhi should adopt habits that will lead to cleaner air for us to breathe in.
It is important to limit the number of vehicles on the road and promote the use of public transport. In my opinion, Delhi metro can play a role in this campaign. We need to urge the people to commute by the metro wherever possible.
The government and the people need to understand that this is not something which can be done in months.