Pollution is for mad 'madams': How open fires are making Delhi a hell

Delhi is on fire at night. I live in south Delhi where many a home has guards stationed at the gates all night, and so do the city's colonies. Each one of these stations light open fires at night and keep them lit all night in the months of winter starting in November all the way to March.

This in a city where there is no wind or breeze during this time, and therefore the smoke simply keeps lingering in a white-grey haze. I took a drive through the city at night to find the exact situation out.

Every colony I went through, and also the police checkposts guarding the entry and exit points, had open fires made of wood, branches of seasonal trees that may be dry during this time, rubber tyres, thermocol packing material, plastic bags, and even cloth lit up. Seldom did I see the use of proper coal anywhere.

Open fires are typically (I measured) seen after every 15-20 metres throughout south Delhi.

Wouldn't it be great to make the use of smokeless coal mandatory for people who have the need and resources to hire night guards? Why should the city bear this cost?

This is a real form of particle pollution. Anyone who takes a tour of the city at night can see this.

However, when I asked a group of night guards if they knew it was illegal to light such open fires in the city, they replied, "Who has the guts to stop us? We will burn what we can find. We don't care about this rubbish pollution you talk of." They laughed off the idea of pollution. The feeling was that "pollution" is for politicians and mad "madams" to drive folks crazy with.

So we should try to see the problem for what it is. People who can afford private security can afford to use smokeless heating methods. How to enforce this should be debated immediately. Perhaps there is a case for colony welfare associations to get involved.

(This post first appeared on the author's Facebook page.)