Victims of dirty air, all
he was fighting back the tears. "I lost four sons last year; all of them were suffering from respiratory disorders,' said M Rasul, a middle-aged advisor to the ministry of food processing in Delhi, drawing attention to what air pollution can do to the residents of the capital.
"Every time my father comes to Delhi, he lies low for the next two-three days and does not play with me,' complained Upasana Chadha, 11-year-old daughter of Vinay Chadha, a resident of Delhi's satellite town Noida. Vinay Chadha, 38, said every time he comes to the city his asthma gets worse. The daughter added that everyone knows the government's system of issuing pollution under control certificates is a farce. "I know of people who have had these certificates home delivered for a paltry amount without getting their cars checked,' she said.
A K Lal, a senior citizen living in a south Delhi colony, said the air pollution is visible even to the naked eye in the capital and that he did not need scientific data to know that pollution levels were very high in the city. Yet, he pointed out, newspaper advertisements brought out by the Central Pollution Control Board and the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers were claiming that the pollution levels had dropped. He said pollution data is adapted for the convenience of policymakers just like the infamous poverty line of India is adjusted to suit the convenience of bureaucrats.
"My lungs function at one-third the capacity of an average human being. Whenever I stay in this city for 10-15 days, my asthma gets worse. I go to so many places in the country and abroad but it is not this bad anywhere else,' said Anil Agarwal, director of the Centre for Science and Environment ( cse ), New Delhi.
These were the statements of some of the residents of Delhi and its satellite towns who were voicing their concern against the dirty air of the city at a public meeting organised on June 5 on the occasion of World Environment Day. The meeting was held to launch cse 's