Thank God we lack shame. We choke even foreign guests with our air, again and again.
India embarrassing itself in front of visiting foreign dignitaries because of the poor AQI is nothing new.
Remember the time in December 2017 when the Sri Lankan cricket team was forced to abort the test match being held at Delhi’s Feroze Shah Kotla stadium, after the players took to the field wearing face masks? Clearly, the masks did not do much, and the bowlers were struggling to breathe while others were vomiting — forcing the authorities to finally call the match off.
Or the time when Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles were welcomed as they exited their RAF plane in Delhi by senior dignitaries — and a thick blanket of smog?
Or the time when West Asian, European, Australian and other diplomats started packing their bags from Delhi, and environment minister Harsh Vardhan underplayed the impact of pollution? “No death certificate has the cause of death as pollution,” he had reportedly said then.
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall arrive in Delhi pic.twitter.com/coI3zyNudz
— ANI (@ANI) November 8, 2017
We have another check on our list of pride now — when the Prime Minister of Denmark Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his wife visited the Taj Mahal, media reported that the dignitaries reached the Taj Mahal early and had to wait for some time for the fog — this is a nice way to describe the noxious haze we now live with — to clear up.
The pictures showed a thick surreal screen of smog and the Danish Prime Minister coughing.
Agra: Prime Minister of Denmark Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his wife visit the Taj Mahal. pic.twitter.com/7wlCl6P3se
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 20, 2019
Who cares?
We have politicians screaming themselves hoarse during crop burning season and the courts issuing mandates against bursting firecrackers around Diwali.
But how much are we focusing on the real problem?
The fact that cities in north India have the worst Air Quality Index (AQI) in the world can be ascertained by the rescheduling, rerouting and cancellations of foreign tourists’ India visits — completely bypassing the Indian capital in their travel itineraries.
There used to be a time — not too long ago — when Beijing was the poster child of urban pollution.
The AQI in China’s capital routinely hovered in the 'hazardous' range between 301 and 500. However, China decided it did not want the ignominy of this reputation — and is currently in the fifth year of its serious war on pollution. Beijing is reportedly leaving no stone unturned to reverse the environmental damage of four decades of economic growth and is cutting the concentrations of PM2.5 by an average of 9.3 per cent in 338 cities as of 2018.
According to an analysis by Greenpeace of government data, pollution levels in China dropped 53 per cent in just three months of 2017, as compared to the same period in 2016.
Will India learn?
If only wishes were horses and skins an inch less thick — but then, we have learnt to 'adjust'.
Embarrassment in the international arena can only lead the Indian politicians and policymakers to the proverbial pond. Who is to make them drink?
Certainly not we, the people. We're too busy learning to live while we choke.