Your City is Choking You! Act Now.

Feb 15, 2016

Your City is Choking You! Act Now.

Delhi’s odd-even rule, while quite ambitious proved to have worked, with the hourly particulate air-pollution concentration cut down by at least 10-13 per cent. While a more long-term plan is anticipated, this sudden plunge into an issue much neglected for a long time, has thrown light on other cities too that need to take a step now.

WHO Research shows that India has 13 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world, and the country is practically choking on toxic and unhealthy air. Booming industrialization, exceptionally crowded cities, rising traffic fumes and the widespread burning of trash are converging to make our cities the most polluted in the world.

While that is the case with urban India, rural areas paint a bad picture too, with major sources of pollution including being fuel wood/ biomass burning, and fuel adulteration. Large scale crop residue burning in farming lands as a low cost alternative to mechanical tilling – continues to be a major source of smoke, smog and particulate pollution.

As such, it is easy to overlook the health impacts of air pollution. Millions of Indian children are suffering from lung damage due to the toxic urban air. Exposure to particulate matter often leads to a rise in asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer and heart attacks rates in the population. In fact, a report suggested that outdoor air pollution was the fifth-largest killer in India with over six lakh deaths that occurred due to this in the year 2010 alone.

As early as 1981, the Government of India passed the Prevention and Control of Pollution Act in 1981, aiming at regulating air pollution and deciding upon measureable goals. Despite these efforts, India still ranked 155^th of 178 countries, on the Environmental Performance Index.

This is why it is realized that public education and outreach on the issue of air pollution is highly important. Besides, it could be the only workable way to ensure extensive and lasting impact of efforts in the direction. In this direction, Greenpeace India is visiting all facilities of iKeva to educate on this rising crisis, share insights from their latest findings and discuss what each one of us, can do to help. The following activities would be held.

Here are few things you can help yourself with

Documentary screening: Videos depicting the effects of air pollution on day to day life will be screened

DIY Pollution tracker: Interested participants will be taught how to make a creative and easy pollution tracker, helping them know the quality of air they are breathing

Direct Dialogue: Greenpeace representatives will interact with participants on a one to one basis on the specific issue, and tell us how one can join the air pollution drive by signing the online petition and pledge for a clean air movement.

Sapling distribution: The importance of planting and nurturing a tree and the amount of pollution it absorbs thereby helping in cleaning the environment will be shared, and saplings would be distributed

Participants can also choose to contribute long-term to Greenpeace Campaigns across India and beyond, by becoming a volunteer/ contributor.