conversation between two womens about pollution in Delhi
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Answer:
Rani: Hi Mita, how’re you doing?
Mita: I’m good. How about you?
Rani: I’m fine too. How’re you coping with Delhi’s pollution?
Mita: It’s really terrible, especially in winter months. I recently bought a pollution mask to mitigate the effect of pollution, but you can’t wear it all the time. But what to do at home?
Rani: Air purifiers. Don’t they work well?
Mita: They do, but they aren’t affordable for everyone. Moreover, would you want to run them for so many hours every day and for so many months?
Rani: You’ve a point. I’m also planning to buy a pollution mask. What would you recommend?
Mita: I bought an N99 mask which cost me just over INR 2,000/-. I’ve tried the cheap ones as well – the ones that cost 15-20 rupees apiece – but they actually turn out to be more expensive.
Rani: More expensive? How?
Mita: The cheap ones can at best be used 2-3 times. Whereas, the one I’m using can be used for few hundred hours. So the cost of cheap ones add up fast. But more importantly, the cheap ones aren’t as effective as the N99 I’m using in filtering the pollutants. That’s critical, right. What’s the point of using a mask if it’s not filtering the harmful pollutants?
Rani: Agree. Anything else on pollution masks?
Mita: Prefer a mask with exhalation valves. Valves help you exhale easily, especially when you’re out of breath after walking fast or climbing stairs, and prevent buildup of moisture.
Mita: We’ve been breathing the toxic air for the last few years. Do you foresee any abatement in pollution levels in near future, say this winter?
Rani: I think it’ll be marginal at best. Vehicular pollution can be controlled by taking the fuel-inefficient, polluting old vehicles off the roads, but will it happen. Who is going to bell the cat to control stubble burning in the neighboring states? Construction activity is probably the easiest of the three to control.
Mita: What about pollution from firecrackers on Diwali?
Rani: There have been some restrictions on use of firecrackers at least in Delhi, but implementation is not easy. To be honest, I’m not too worried about firecrackers because their effect is only for few days. I’m more worried about the month-on-month high level of pollution arising out of other factors.
Mita: I agree with your points, but I think citizens too have some role in curbing pollution. We can stop or report people from burning polythene bags and other hazardous waste in winter. We can also report construction activities in our neighborhood during the period it is banned.
Rani: True. What we often don’t pay attention to is the fact that pollution, especially in the winter months is not just a Delhi phenomenon. It grips most of North India. In fact, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of smaller cities such as Gwalior, Agra, and Lucknow often gets worse than Delhi’s, and they don’t get the same coverage in the national media as big cities such as Delhi do.
Mita: That’s right. And pollution is exacting such a heavy toll on human life. I was reading in the newspaper the other day that India has the dubious distinction of most deaths because of pollution and most of them are attributed to air pollution. In 2015, a staggering 2.5 + million people died in India because of pollution.
Rani: I too recall reading in the newspaper that the AQI in New Delhi entered the satisfactory zone for the first time in several months during the rainy season. Things have come to such a pass that we heave a sigh of relief when the AQI moves from very poor to poor category. Imagine, satisfactory levels come once in few months and that too by the grace of nature (rainfall). AQI in good category seems to be a distant dream.
Mita: You’ve summed the state of affairs quite well. Let’s hope things improve.
Rani: Ya.