Even though the Delhi government and local agencies classified Delhi’s winter to be much cleaner, in terms of air quality, than the year before, a new perception survey conducted by NGO Clean Air Asia says that Delhiites are still unaware of the improvement, with around 40% of the people sampled feeling the air was much worse this winter as compared to the previous one. The survey, conducted across different economic stratum and parts of Delhi, also found that awareness in terms of air quality was lacking in the lower economic strata, which is the most prone to health hazards from pollution. “We interacted with households who still use coal and firewood for cooking and found that they were unaware of the impact it was having on them. We asked sweepers if they wanted to wear a mask to protect their face from the dust, but they did not feel it was necessary for them. The survey points that raising awareness on the ground is still very important,” said Prarthana Borah, India director, Clean Air Asia. The survey findings states that nearly 40% of the respondents felt Delhi’s air quality this year was much worse than last year, 24% felt it was slightly worse as compared to last year and nearly 17% said there had been little change in terms of pollution. Nearly 45% of the respondents highlighted vehicular pollution as the biggest problem for Delhi, followed by industries (18%), the survey read. “In terms of finding solutions for this problem, better public transport and planting more trees emerged as the best options. People said they would be willing to use it if the transport system in Delhi improved, which is a good sign for the future. We are planning to use this survey report to carry out work in these particular sectors and it will also be submitted to the government so that specific work can be done in these areas,” Borah added.