Article on delhi is a dying City
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Environmental problems in Delhi, India, are a threat to the well-being of the city's and area's inhabitants as well as the flora and fauna. Delhi, the ninth-most populated metropolis in the world (second largest if the entire NCR includes especially Faridabad and Gurugram– Haryana, is one of the most heavily polluted cities in India,[1] having for instance one of the country's highest volumes of particulate matter pollution.[2] The air quality index of Delhi is generally moderate (101–200) level between January to September, and then it drastically deteriorates to Very Poor (301–400), severe (401–500) or hazardous (500+) levels in three months between October and December, due to various factors including stubble burning, fire crackers burning during Diwali and cold weather.[3][4][5] In May 2014 the World Health Organization announced New Delhi as the most polluted city in the world.[6]
Overpopulation and the ensuing overuse of scarce resources such as water put heavy pressure on the environment. The city suffers from air pollution caused by road dust and industry,[7] with comparatively smaller contributions from unclean engines in transportation, especially diesel-powered city buses and trucks, and 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers with two-stroke engines.[8] Another known cause of pollution is slow moving traffic due to pedestrians crossing the road just about anywhere.
South-Delhi is all covert by the approaching planes to the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Each of the jets expels huge amount of pollutants. Especially the exhaust of very small matter out of the airliners is a serious matter of concern. Every year the amount of air traffic increases, so does the amount of toxic exhaust out of the planes.
Noise pollution comes mainly from absolute useless honking, more and more extremely loud 'pressure horns', motorcycle and automobile traffic.[9] Water pollution and a lack of solid waste treatment facilities have caused serious damage to the river on whose banks Delhi grew, the Yamuna. Besides human and environmental damage, pollution has caused economic damage as well; Delhi may have lost the competition to host the 2014 Asian Games because of its poor environment.[10] Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) is empowered to perform the functions to control pollution in capital.[11][12]
Air pollution in Delhi is caused mainly by industry and vehicles.[16][7] As many as 10,000 people a year may die prematurely in Delhi as a result of air pollution.[17] According to one study, Delhi citizens would live on average an extra nine years if Delhi met WHO air quality standards.[18] The 1997 White Paper sponsored by the Ministry of Environment and Forests already proposed various measures to bring down pollution caused by traffic, including smoothing the flow of traffic with parking regulations and bringing down total traffic by mandatory limits on driving.[19] City authorities claim to have had some success in bringing down air pollution; for instance, during the bidding process for the 2014 Asian Games, the city's organizing committee had claimed that "pollution levels had come down drastically in Delhi with the arrival of Metro rail as well as all public transport vehicle being run compulsorily on CNG(Compressed Natural Gas)."[10]
For traffic related sources, growth in vehicle numbers and mileage seems to outpace efforts to reduce emissions.[20] A study by IIT Kanpur[16] states that the two most consistent sources for PM10 and PM2.5 are secondary particles and vehicles. Secondary particles themselves are generated by industry and vehicles. Road dust contributes significantly, especially in the summer. The EPCA report[21] indicates that particles from coal and diesel are more harmful than wind blown dust.
During the winter season (November to March) in North India, the prevailing atmospheric inversion is limiting the dispersal of pollutants as the upper level air is descending to ground level. The particulate emissions in other seasons are more or less same but comfortable convective upward atmospheric air circulation is able to disperse the pollutants.
Answer:
In the mid-eighties, Rajiv Gandhi created a storm by calling Calcutta a dying city. He was, of course, spot on but proud Bengalis took great umbrage at this. Now, it is time to call out our national capital, Delhi as exactly that - a dying city. Even as wealthy citizens of the national capital region (NCR) shrink further away from this uninhabitable mess, behind gated condominiums, face masks, generator sets and water tankers, Delhi is collapsing – in every way possible.
The most recent flashpoint is the felling of 17,000 trees which the Delhi High court has stayed, for now. This is significant as air quality is no longer a ‘winter’ problem for the city. Last month, Delhi recorded days of the worst air quality it has ever had; prompting the Guardian newspaper to publish a report pointing out that half of Delhi’s school children had stunted lung development and would never completely recover. Delhi is no place to bring up a child.
It is worse for the elderly. As winter fades every year, alarm bells start ringing as the city prepares for the onslaught of mosquito borne diseases. This is no longer a monsoon issue either. From April to December, a swarm of deadly ailments such as Dengue, Chikangunya and Malaria reach epidemic proportions, which the city’s medical infrastructure simply cannot handle. Sights of lines of tents outside big hospitals to house the afflicted are quite common. They call it the mosquito industry.
Well, nor is the capital any place for women. A recent gender vulnerability Index constructed by Plan India, ranks Delhi as the third worst place for women’s safety in the country, after Bihar and UP. Any woman who has to use the city’s public transport is aware of this ugly fact.