The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Delhi the city with the most polluted air after a survey of 1,600 cities around the globe. Several other multilateral as well as domestic agencies have stated the same thing before, but WHO's coming out with a confirmation should clear all misgivings.
Reacting to the announcement, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, President, BJP Delhi Pradesh, said, "Like all Delhites, I am ashamed to be winner of yet another dubious award after ?rape capital', ?fountainhead of corruption?, etc. But like my 1.8 crore neighbours, I too am a victim of government indifference which has brought things to this pass."
He condemned the tendency of some government scientists to deny the WHO?s findings. "They are picking nits in WHO?s findings by claiming that Beijing is a little more polluted. It is as if juggling with figures will solve anything. But can they deny that Particulate Pollution rates here exceed our own national ambient standards?" Dr Harsh Vardhan stated.
As a medical practitioner, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has expressed grave concern for the future of Delhi's citizens if warlike steps are not taken immediately to reverse the pollution rate. Studies from all over the world have confirmed that a population continually exposed to air pollution suffers high incidence of respiratory and cardio-vascular diseases. There is also evidence that air pollution increases risk of different forms of cancer and makes people sterile.
The Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of India, recorded between 2006 and 2009, an increase from 11.4 to 20.4 percent in certified deaths in Delhi due to diseases in the cardiovascular systems, and an increase from 3.8 to 4.6 percent in certified deaths due to diseases in the respiratory systems; both of which have direct linkages to air pollution.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that children are the worst sufferers and for this he feared for the future of Delhi. Evidence is accumulating that environmental exposures can cause infants to be born premature or to be born with certain birth defects. These babies are far more likely to die in infancy, and those who survive have high risks of brain, respiratory, and digestive problems throughout their lives.
"In the late 1990s, the BJP government of Delhi had taken the decision to convert all public utility vehicles to CNG which the Sheila Dikshit government implemented only under pressure from the Supreme Court. This step radically reduced air pollution in Delhi, but not for long because her government ignored the follow-up steps which were recommended by experts," Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.
Accusing the Manmohan Singh government of being the proverbial ostrich which buried its head in the sand against all evidence of impending disaster, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, "Not a single policy was formed by either UPA1 or UPA2 to protect the common man from environment degradation and air pollution.
For ten years an uncounted number of people died in Delhi of diseases caused by air pollution while Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit claimed she had turned Delhi into a green city."
