The nation's capital witnessed a massive protest by citizens of Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) who took to the streets protesting against the air quality that has remained within the range of very poor to severe for several weeks now. In fact, right from the time the country celebrated Diwali till today, the air quality has remained so poor that the people -- at least those who can afford to -- are staying indoors within the comfort of their ‘purified’ spaces behind curtains of air purifiers and conditioners.
The protesting citizens had one major demand -- something, anything, to improve the air quality instead of remaining in denial about the quality of air that remained at 600 in most of the region for the longest time. Instead, the protesters said, the government was living in denial. Instead of working to solve the problem, the government of the day has been busy trying to manipulate data by spraying water around quality monitoring stations and trying out fantastic-sounding technologies like artificial rain, cloud seeding, etc., that were found to be nothing but utter failures in achieving anything.
It is a typical symptom that Delhi has a government that is only concerned about quick fixes and not any real lasting improvement in the air quality of the region. People were freely allowed to burst firecrackers and fireworks on Diwali. Transport pollution -- both vehicular emissions and road dust – continues unabated, as do farm fires and other biomass burning as people light fires to keep themselves warm this time of the year. Then there are DG sets, crematoria, and industries, among other sources of pollution.
More importantly, the protests pointed out that when other cities across the world faced similar issues, they acted quickly. In China, when Shanghai and Beijing witnessed such deterioration in air quality, they declared a public health emergency and took drastic measures to ensure that the air quality improved.
Almost every city across the world, save for those in South Asia, most of which are in India, has been able to improve its air quality via such methods. Measures included shuttering polluting industries, reducing vehicular usage and cracking down on biomass burning.
The authorities in Delhi, by contrast, have even undone the previous measures that were put in place by the previous government. These included a partial ban on vehicular movement via odd and even days and a firecracker ban that the present government lobbied the Supreme Court to revoke.
The authorities have begun arresting some of the protesters who gathered at India Gate without permission. Not only does the government want to pretend that it is immune to protests, but it also wants to outlaw them -- similar to how they did so in Ladakh. Rather than tackle the issue that has prompted the protests, the government is only keen on tackling the protesters. Protesting is not only a constitutionally guaranteed right, but it is also an important safety valve for democracy.
Stifled, and the pressure builds, and what results will be seen nationwide, as happened first in Sri Lanka, then in Bangladesh and recently in Nepal.
A government that values its own pomposity more than anything else will not last long. The sooner they help clear the air, the better.
