This Diwali, while the celebrations light up Delhi, the city's air quality faces severe challenges. Join host Riya on OneIndia as she speaks with environmental advocate Bhavreen Kandhari on the impact of festive pollution, the health risks it brings, and actionable, eco-friendly ways to celebrate responsibly. From alternatives to fireworks to community initiatives, learn how to enjoy Diwali while contributing to cleaner, healthier air for Delhi.
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#DelhiPollution #Diwali2024 #AirQualityCrisis #EcoFriendlyDiwali #OneIndia #OneIndiaNews
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome. I am your host Ria and you are watching One India. It is Diwali,
00:07the festival of lights and the excitement in the air is palpable. However, this time
00:13of the year also brings significant concern regarding the air quality, especially in Delhi
00:17and Siar. The combination of firecrackers, increased vehicular emissions and the stubble
00:22burning creates a perfect storm during this time, severely affecting the residents'
00:28health and the environment. So, in order to address the current issue today, we are
00:32joined by Bhavreen Kandhari, a passionate environmentalist and advocate for sustainable
00:38living. Thank you so very much for joining us today, Bhavreen. It's glad to have you
00:44on One India. Thank you so much, Ria. Really appreciate for having me on the show. Bhavreen,
00:49it's Diwali, people are celebrating, enjoying, but under this festivity lies a very great
00:55danger which is the air pollution crisis, especially in our city, Delhi and Siar region.
01:00So can you share your thoughts on the use, like you know, how these fireworks, what are
01:05the specific pollutants gets released into the air during this festival and how deadly
01:13or you know hazardous it can be of them existing in our air, you know. So, you know, one thing
01:21that I want to start with, you know, of course, we all know that, but we tend to believe that
01:27air pollution is now. It's not now. We have been experiencing or suffering this air pollution
01:33throughout the year. Even during the monsoons, we never had even a one single good air day.
01:39So as per data, you've been breathing poor and very poor air the rest of the year as
01:45well. Only at this time that it gets cold and, you know, winds and become stationary
01:53and because of the cold weather, the dust tends to settle down and all the pollution
01:59settles down and we start seeing it visibly. So we tend to believe it. But we have to tell
02:06ourselves that we've been breathing anything above, you know, we were traveling for the
02:12climate peak, etc. There was, you know, wherever we were going, but like two and three AQI,
02:17I mean, that is the kind of air you want to breathe. So anything that is more than that
02:21is air pollution. And that's anyway hazardous, like you said. So primarily, it's PM 2.5,
02:29which is absolutely the trouble right now what we should be talking about. And that
02:34is very, very small. It's almost like one hundredth of air. And it, you know, when we
02:40inhale that, it just goes into our bloodstream and affects every part of the body. So again,
02:46another wrong notion that air pollution affects only your lungs and your breathing. No, it's
02:51now hundreds and hundreds and thousands of studies that have been shown that it affects
02:59everything, you know, whether it's your, you know, from lungs and COPD to heart to strokes to,
03:05you know, amnesia to, you know, dementia to, you know, growth, stunting growth, etc. Everything.
03:13Right. And this is what it is. Yeah. So, you know, Diwali has a very economic and
03:20a cultural significance also. Right. And many people like you and us and there are other people
03:25also find it very challenging to reduce celebration, like to what extent they can reduce the celebration
03:32or how many people can. So what practical or eco-friendly alternatives can one individual or
03:39the family can consider to minimise their environmental impact while still enjoying
03:45the festival, if you can suggest some? Everything, I don't know, just enjoy is a very relative term,
03:50because if you tell me that my children are going to have certain amount of poison or my family
03:55tells me if I go out and I say, come back and ask them, did you feed my children? And they say,
04:01how are you going to react? This is exactly what you're willing to, you know, offer some poison,
04:08lesser effective or less amount or a different brand of poison. Does it matter? So we're at the
04:15stage of it's actually a public health crisis. We are breathing this toxicity our children are
04:22experiencing. Every third child in Delhi has damaged lungs. This is a study by Lung Care
04:28Foundation. It is a clear, it says, I mean, these figures are, so every third child is going to face
04:33something terrible in their life, which could be COPD, which could be lung cancer, could be
04:36anything. I mean, as a parent, are you willing to take that? So fine, if you're willing to take it,
04:40do it. But I'm sorry, please go into a chamber and, you know, do it with your family. Don't
04:44expose the others. And that goes, it's not only for crackers, it's valid for every other thing,
04:52every other violation. So I hate to say this, but right now the biggest violators is the
04:58authorities, is the government. And we have to, as you know, parents, when we say that demand clean
05:04air, you have to, you know, point out these violations on a daily life, you know, whether
05:10you're seeing some waste being burnt or you are the vehicular emissions or it's, you know, thermal
05:17power plant emissions, everything. So everything matters. So that's why I'm just saying that it's
05:21not about crackers only. It's about every source of emission that is important. So then coming to,
05:27you know, eco-friendly, every festival is beautiful, because you are with your family.
05:31And I think that makes most of it that you're together. Then there are many ways. I mean,
05:36the olden times, there's nothing cultural about crackers, I'd like to correct that.
05:40And it's only about, you know, fun. And we've all done that. So I understand that if you feel that,
05:48okay, you didn't have, but then many other ways, I think the government's planning a laser show,
05:52and, you know, those kind of things. So you could go out and see, you know, colors and lights that
05:57fascinates anyone. But otherwise, we've grown up doing the simpler way of rangolis and,
06:03you know, decorations with flowers and paintings and, you know, making matai at home. We've all
06:08forgotten to do that, actually, you know, cooking at home has become such a thing, which is always
06:14very, very special. And it's very, like you said, eco-friendly, because
06:17otherwise, when we buy, we have one, of course, the quality and the other is,
06:22you know, the packaging, etc, that comes with it. And, you know, so it's wonderful that children
06:27learn this, something that our grandparents have done with us, we even remember till now,
06:32you know, as we're aging, we always it stays with you. So those are the type of things that everybody
06:38can, you know, kind of bring it, but I think there's nothing that should compromise our
06:43children's health, you know, so it could be anything. And it's not about crackers on Diwali,
06:48again, Diwali should not be, it's about crackers period, whether a politician is, you know,
06:53celebrating something or a cricket match or, you know, festival, any festival, it could be,
06:59you know, New Year's, it could be anything. So period, we don't need that.
07:04Right. You know, you mentioned a very important, you know, you've highlighted a very important
07:10point, when you were talking about this thing that children in Delhi, three children in 10 years,
07:21yeah, they will be facing in their coming days with a lung disease, it can be anything.
07:26A lot of people do not have the firsthand information only, they do not have the data.
07:31And B, then there is a whole large number of large section of society, who's not even aware
07:38about this, the upcoming thing, because it's not something will happen in one day, it's going to
07:42take, it's a more like a slow poison, which is there around us, we are not able to see it, but
07:48it is affecting us in some or the other way. So having said that, what all are the need of the
07:55which has to be taken today, so that in the coming days, we can protect our, you know,
08:01the coming generation, because it's the infants, it's the pregnant ladies who are most vulnerable
08:09to such atmosphere, which is right now, you know, we are in. So what do you have to say in this?
08:16Yes, Rhea sir, rightly said, you're absolutely correct, that it is one very important to know
08:22what is, of course, that awareness and advocacy. And we are not something like someone like me,
08:26who's working for many decades now, clean air, it's another thing. But now everything in those
08:32years, fine, there was not much said and written, and it was about advocacy. But everything is
08:36there. It's on the Google, it's been said, the pollution board will give you advisory,
08:40the health ministry will give you advisory, all those things will happen. But eventually,
08:45it is for the citizens to demand for clean air. Until we will not ask for it, we will not demand,
08:51we were not going to get it. Because unless we don't demand, it's not going to be an electoral
08:56issue. And until it's not an electoral issue, this is not going to get solved. So if you want a good
09:02future, a healthy future for your children, you have to understand that this is a very, very,
09:07it's a public health crisis. And we need to, it's like COVID, you know, when we all got together,
09:12and, you know, the government and people and citizens, everything worked together. And we
09:18got out of that situation. Similarly, for even for air pollution, we will have to demand it.
09:22Otherwise, the politicians are not going to prioritize it. And that is the reason, you know,
09:26all these various movements and citizen movements, like even like where what, you know, we're all
09:32members of warrior moms and my right to breathe, they have been only instrumental in bringing in,
09:39you know, the voices together, which is about advocacy, which is about, you know,
09:43demanding implementation of laws and also empowering citizens and, you know, parents
09:49on the laws that okay, if waste is being burnt in my neighborhood, what am I supposed to do? Like,
09:54you could be, you know, judges, and, you know, journalists, and, you know, well read doctors,
10:00etc. But you don't know, you know, on the ground what you need to do, or a tree is being cut,
10:04you know, do you know that every hour five trees are being felled with permissions. So you know,
10:09unless you will not know this, you will not, you must raise your voice for every violation,
10:15just think that this is going to cost my child, you know, his or her health. So this is how you
10:22know, the change will happen. And, and whatever you seek to, you know, you don't miss a movie
10:27on Netflix, you don't, you know, miss any other thing. And then it's not about it. See, the elite
10:32is a very few, you know, small number of elite. Well, the masses are not today, you think that,
10:40okay, even if our Chief Justice of India cannot go for a walk, you know, he's not, he said that
10:43he's not going for a walk, his job because of air pollution, but the masses, they are the ones
10:49who waste workers are segregating waste, the sanitation workers are doing Jharu, in fact,
10:54they are probably doing more to keep everything clean. You know, people, the masses will be doing
11:00the jobs because otherwise they will not be able to eat the daily wage workers in the night. So
11:05it's a huge, there's a, there's an equity issue with this air pollution. And we must not forget
11:12that. And that's why air purifiers and these kind of solutions are also, you know, not valid. And we
11:19don't kind of encourage that, because it's like the water that you didn't clean the water and
11:24everybody had to put an arrow in their houses. But then how many houses are those? It's a very
11:29small number. The masses are now getting affected with all this typhoid, etc, increasing because,
11:34you know, the water is not clean or the air is not clean.
11:38Absolutely. You've said it very rightly. Now, again, coming back to that, you said it's a
11:43problem of, it's a public health situation now, and the masses have to speak up. But having said
11:50that, the masses, are they speaking and even if they are, at what level they are doing, because,
11:56of course, whatever the changes are being done is done on the paper, or for the sake, for example,
12:02we have smog towers, but are they working? Are they not working? Nobody's keeping a check on it.
12:08So how to tackle these problems? Because as a layman, if I say, that person will say,
12:13it's not my responsibility. It's not my job to do this, right? So how do we, how do we approach
12:19this? How do we take this to the people in authorities who are sitting? How do we ask
12:25them or how do we appeal them that, you know, now you need to act, otherwise, everybody is
12:30going to suffocate, probably some will die. In the coming winters, the more the density
12:36increases, it's going to be very problematic. And then there is a whole group of people who
12:42are already very much at risk, are vulnerable, have lung diseases or respiratory diseases.
12:48So how do you guys, like, how do you suggest this to be raised or this to be told to the
12:55authorities so that they do take some action on the ground level?
12:59So, you know, Aria, what you've said is there, but I must correct you that it's absolutely,
13:10you know, these visuals, actually, I'll start with, I'll actually go the other way that
13:18one that is denial. This is for the governments I'm saying. And then the second is these farces
13:24that are brought in, which is the smog towers, which is, you know, visual beliefs that this
13:30is going to clean the air. And that doesn't happen. Okay, so smog tower is the biggest
13:35farce that ever happened. And it's been proven very much, but it takes years for people on the
13:41ground, people like us, policy makers, etc, to convince these people that it's not going to
13:46work. This is just a visual because it's appealing. And that is why people, citizens,
13:51like you said, you know, who are like lay persons, they believe what is being said.
13:56And obviously, when the government says something, they have a following, they tend to believe that
14:01and more and people, the scientists, scientific, you know, community or, or the people who are
14:09trying to put this together like us, and we hardly have a following. So we keep saying the same
14:14things again and again, but it doesn't reach them. So this is the, you know, one of the biggest
14:20disasters. So whether it is now rain, cloud seeding, or it's, you know, a smog gun, now smog
14:27guns are useful, they could be useful, because they have to be used at the right time at the
14:30right place. So smog guns should have been used all year round at the construction sites to keep
14:36and that's what happens in you know, in most of the developed nations that they use this
14:40just to keep the PM 10. So dust is all PM 10. It's not PM 2.5. And to keep it down. Now,
14:48if you're not doing that throughout the year, and now suddenly for visibility, because now
14:52you want to show this to the media, and they, you know, put it in the papers and all these pictures,
14:57etc. So you, you know, tend to talk about it. But now sprinkling water and all will be very
15:02temporary relief. It's not going to be these are all ad hoc, you know, measures that are taken,
15:08and they mean nothing. What you what really needs to be done throughout the year is to work on the
15:15sources of emissions, which is the governments need to do that, which is, you know, their mandate,
15:23they are responsible for it. And something that, you know, cannot come, you know, along with denial,
15:31first of all, they have to accept it. So here are citizens who are actually going on the ground and
15:37pointing out these violations. And nothing happens. Because one, of course, your intent,
15:44there's no political intent to solve that. And second is that I'll give an example that most of
15:50the pollution boards in Delhi NCR, which is Delhi, Haryana, UP, they all have vacant posts. So where
15:57are those officers who is going to go on the ground and actually check this and, you know,
16:02take action against this. So when you have less people, this is what happens, you know,
16:07the violations go unreported, and nothing happens. So this and this is not now it's been for years,
16:12these issues have been raised, that, you know, the then the monitoring, the monitoring is still,
16:18you know, in a process of, you know, a tech like kind of, you know, you know, still, it's not,
16:27we still don't have it. And there's most likely for all the data has been punched, etc. So again,
16:34we are again in, you know, we are in the lying stage and denial stage. So first of all, it has
16:40to be done with truth and a political intent. And that is what is going to be the game changer. And
16:45like I said, whether it is air, or it's water, whether it's Yamuna, now using the froth, etc.
16:51You cannot go and sprinkle water and chemicals on it to go because you have to work on the
16:55sources of pollution. Again, citizens have gone to every STP plant, they are such well meaning
17:00citizens, who have actually sacrificed their own careers and lives and this thing and they're on
17:06the ground doing this 24 seven to support and show the government the violations. But if they
17:11obviously when they will not take action, this is going to continue year after year after year,
17:16then policy for every for every every source of emission, there's a policy that sound policy that
17:24needs to be brought in. And it changes with time, it obviously there's a lot of learning, there's
17:29immediate steps, there are long term steps, etc. So you know, basically, these are the this is the
17:34way the change will happen, not by just bringing in these visuals and headlines and PR headlines,
17:40it's all gonna work. Absolutely, absolutely. And I would be like, I am saying this with very
17:47honesty that the information data that you've shared today with us and with our viewers who
17:51are watching this, it's quite shocking. And it's quite alarming at the same time that things are
17:56being done on paper, but not in the reality or is done for the just for the show purpose. But there
18:02is no use or there's no advantage of that. And a lot of money is going in that as well. Yeah,
18:12the campaigns that are being run or whatever is being done. And having said that, I think we as
18:18individual we we think we are layman's but no, we are not we are the voices and I think we need to
18:23come together. As one we need to raise this issue to the government to the people in the authority
18:30so that an immediate action can be taken so that the incoming years this gets sorted, or at least
18:36gets better. And then people can people of Delhi NCR can hope to breathe in the little cleaner air
18:45and with growing times probably in much cleaner air.
18:49So I just like to add to that. Sorry, just like 10 seconds. Yeah, please.
18:52That number of elections are coming. Yes. So the citizens must come forward and question
18:58and vote for only clean air, because that's what we want. So if you do not ask for it,
19:02you won't get it. And everybody should ask and demand and you know, raise the correct question.
19:10You know, don't troll, don't be rude, don't be disrespectful.
19:13Speak on facts, you know, argue on facts, bring bring your, you know, legislators and your
19:20politicians, you know, on the ground and ask for clean air and whoever gives you clean air is
19:25obviously the winner. In short, get our leaders to get on the work which is required, which requires
19:30the immediate action. It was a very insightful conversation, Bhavreen. Honestly, the data that
19:39you've shared is something that I think our viewers will take seriously, will understand
19:46the severity and will act on those also from their own end, because of course, we are all in it
19:52together. We all are getting affected. And it's not someone one problem, like one person problem.
19:58It's a community problem. It's more like a state problem. Thank you so very much for sharing your
20:02insights. And, you know, talking to us on One India. It was lovely chatting with you.
20:10Thank you so much.