I am writing this as a concerned father of two young children who are sick all winter with one pulmonary infection after another. My son loves nothing more than playing football, but lately I've been wondering if we should be letting him do that, as every night after he plays, he has a deep wheeze in his lungs. Seeing this terrifies me - it is not natural for a child to have to work so hard to breathe. How did something as innocent as playing football become a hazard to our children's health?
My friends, my family and my business are all in Delhi - my entire life is here. And yet, I know that by staying here my wife and I are harming our children and ourselves. What kind of decision is this for a parent to have to make? You shouldn't have to leave your home just to breathe safe air.
Article 21 of the Constitution affords all Indians the right to life. In the twenty-first century, this feels like it should be such a basic thing - and yet it isn't, not anymore. The air we breathe is killing us, cutting time off our lives with every breath we take, which is an extreme violation of the right to life.
Urban planning hasn't kept up with the rapid population growth in urban India, and, as a result, pollution levels have been skyrocketing as well. Everybody in urban India, regardless of who they are or where they come from, is now breathing a deadly cocktail of pollutants and carcinogens everyday - rich or poor, young or old, it us all.
Over half a million Indians are estimated to die each year as a direct result of pollution. When we breathe polluted air, we are breathing in hazardous materials. The worst is PM 2.5 - particulate matter, i.e. dust, smoke, etc., less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter. The particles are so small that they get lodged in our lungs, causing cancer, heart failure and respiratory diseases. Our air is killing us with every breath we take.
The Supreme Court would be doing an immense service to every Indian if there was a way in which the right to life could be codified into a national clean air standard. The Supreme Court could mandate that in order to protect the lives of all citizens, pollution levels across India be decreased to a certain level. Every municipality could then develop and be held accountable for its own clean air action plan, as per its city's unique needs.
In 1998, in response to a sustained campaign by the Center for Science and Environment, the Supreme Court ordered that all Delhi buses and auto-rickshaws be converted to CNG from diesel. As a result, the quality of Delhi's air improved tremendously over the next decade. Those of us in Delhi have seen the positive results of this, and it's really an example of what can be accomplished when the government fights to improve air quality. There is absolutely no reason why this can't or shouldn't happen again.
One of the greatest fallacies is that doing something to reverse pollution and improve air quality will slow down India's economic growth. This couldn't be farther from the truth: the fastest way to hinder economic growth is to have a sick workforce. India's loss of man hours due to air pollution is already incalculable, and this will only increase if we do not take action. So let's look towards the Court to lead the way once again, while we all begin working towards cleaning India's air.
