UN, global researchers turn attention to smog in north India

Bathinda: The worsening air quality in Delhi has attracted the attention of United Nations and global researchers. Associate professor at the University of Sydney school of public health, Camille Raynes-Greenow, in an email to TOI regarding air pollution in Delhi, wrote: “Delhi and India broadly are at the crossroads of a major industrial transition, where industry without regard for environmental control continues to pollute and at the same time traditional farming practices continue and these combined create the exceedingly high air pollution.”

Raynes, who is a maternal and child health expert at the university and researching the impact of household air pollution in India, said, “Pregnant women and children are also extremely vulnerable to the poor air quality in Delhi. The acute respiratory and eye symptoms that many people will experience are only just the tip of the iceberg that will also impact the developing foetus and small children. In developing countries like India, we need multi-sectoral approaches that consider both industrial and traditional practices that impact air pollution, and these solutions also need to be multinational.”

In its daily bulletin, the UN News termed the air pollution in Delhi as turning visible from invisible killer while analysing the unbearable levels of air pollution in the city. According to Valentin Foltescu, senior programme management officer for the UN Environment Programme in India, current levels of fine particulate matter, containing unsafe chemicals harmful to human health, are 40 times higher than the levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). He blamed poor farming practices in states adjacent to the National Capital Region, waste mismanagement and heavy traffic for the rising toxicity levels.