Protest at India Gate against air pollution
Hundreds of people staged a rare protest in Delhi on Sunday against worsening air pollution, as air quality continues to deteriorate in India’s capital and nearby regions.
Over the past three weeks, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI), which measures the level of PM 2.5 or fine particulate matter in the air that can clog lungs, has hovered between 300 and 400, which is 20 to 30 times higher than the World Health Organization’s safe limit.
The protesters held banners and shouted slogans, demanding that the government take action to curb pollution.
Around 80 of them were briefly detained near India Gate after police said they did not have permission to gather at the landmark.
“Our lungs are getting damaged. The government should declare it a health emergency until they find a solution to it,” a protester told news agency PTI. Air quality in Delhi and its suburbs is relatively poor throughout the year due to vehicular emissions, dust and industrial pollutants. But the problem gets worse in the winters because of farmers burning crop stubble in neighbouring states, along with low wind speed trapping pollutants close to the ground.
Though air pollution is a recurring problem in northern India, this was the first big protest on the issue in a while.
On Monday morning, Delhi’s AQI was 330 according to the federal government-run Safar app.
Levels between 101 and 200 are considered moderate, while those between 201 and 300 are “poor”. Between 301 and 400 is categorised as “very poor” and a figure higher than 400 is considered “severe”.
But the readings were higher on other sources, such as private air quality monitors
According to the Air Visual app operated by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir, Delhi’s pollution levels were between 414 and 507, which the app classified as hazardous.
On Sunday, close to 400 men and women of all ages, including children accompanying their parents, participated in the protest at India Gate.
Several demonstrators wore gas masks as a symbolic gesture of protest.
A banner read ‘Right to live, not just survive’, while another said ‘Life in Delhi: Take birth, breathe, die’.
The Delhi Police Monday registered an FIR in connection with the protests held at India Gate a day earlier over rising air pollution in the Delhi-NCR. The protesters have been booked for allegedly violating prohibitory orders promulgated in areas under the jurisdiction of the Kartavyapath police station in central Delhi. The FIR is against unknown people, an officer said.
According to an official, the gathering was held despite the non-approval of the Delhi Police. “Section 163 of the BNSS (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita) was also imposed, and this was told to the people prior to the protest. Despite our regular requests to leave the site and shift to the Jantar Mantar, the people did not leave,” the officer said.
ALSO READ : Delhi-Mathura Highway Will Remain Closed Many Routes Will Be Diverted
