Delhi NCR turns toxic; many families report difficulties, elderly most affected
2 min read 31 Oct 2022, 04:00 PM ISTThe survey has found that the most affected are the elderly along with those with medical conditions
PremiumThe air quality in Delhi-NCR has worsened post Diwali with several families reporting difficulties due to the air pollution. According to a survey, 7 out of 10 families surveyed have indicated that someone in their families have reported difficulties. The survey has found that the most affected are the elderly along with those with medical conditions. Due to the air pollution, about 27 per cent of people are planning to travel out of Delhi-NCR during the next three weeks. Most families are also relying on masks to cope with the pollution that has only worsened post-Diwali and due to stubble burning in the neighbouring countries.
The air quality index in many parts of Delhi and NCR turned severe with AQI in the 375-500 range in most areas partly due to firecrackers that were burnt during Diwali and partly due to the stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab. On Friday, according to a report by LocalCircles, over 2,000 farm fires were detected in Punjab alone.
While stubble burning in Punjab and the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh serves as a key driver for pollution and toxic air in Delhi-NCR, the other contributors include vehicular pollution, pollution due to crackers during Diwali, etc.
LocalCircles conducted a survey that received over 26,000 responses from residents of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad. 65 per cent respondents were men while 35 per cent respondents were women.
According to the people surveyed, 70 per cent of the respondents or their family members are already facing difficulties due to poor air quality in Delhi-NCR.
When asked who all in their families were currently struggling due to bad air quality in Delhi-NCR, 70 per cent respondents said they have one or more family members or they themselves are feeling the impact.
The survey said, out of 9,123 respondents, 30 per cent said “elderly parents/ grandparents at home" were impacted by the air pollution; in 10 per cent of surveyed families, the school going children are feeling unwell; 20 per cent respondents are themselves impacted due to their health conditions; another 10 per cent respondents indicated that they were not feeling well though they have no preexisting medical conditions.
Only 30 per cent said they were not facing any health issue due to poor air quality in the Delhi NCR.
The survey mentioned: “The next question in the survey attempted to understand the measures families in Delhi NCR were taking to cope with toxic air. It asked, “how do you and your family plan to cope up with the deteriorating air quality in the next three weeks" 9% indicated they will use anti-pollution masks; 21% indicated they will use air purifiers at home; 14 per cent are planning to increase consumption of immunity boosting foods."
“Out of 9,064 respondents to this query, many opted for more than one measure to protect themselves and their family members from the impact of air pollution. Thus, 14 per cent indicated using all the three measures and another 14 per cent indicated using anti-pollution masks as well as taking immunity boosting foods to combat air pollution. There are however 7 per cent respondents who said they “do not plan to do anything as the toxic air quality doesn’t bother us or we don’t want to use all these" measures, and another 14 per cent who said they “do not plan to do anything as we can’t afford all these" measures."
