Chronicles of a Choked City

New Delhi: Fifty-five-year-old Laxman Singh wakes up at 5 am in the morning to get ready for the day. For the rest of it, he rides through the nooks and crannies of Delhi in his auto-rickshaw. He returns home for a short nap in the evening and gets back on the road at 8 pm for a few more trips until he finally returns home for the day at 11. Singh spends roughly 16 hours outside in his auto-rickshaw.

He, along with his family of four, lives in a small room with no ventilation in the Chhuriya Mohalla of Tughlakabad village.

“We can barely afford this room now. But situations were different when we had our own house, until last year, when it was demolished by the ASI authorities. They [governments, authorities, police] listen to the orders of the Supreme Court when they have to demolish thousands of homes but simply ignore the rules imposed by the Supreme Court when it comes to burning firecrackers. Rich people drive their cars, burn firecrackers and blame farmers of Punjab and Haryana for Delhi’s pollution. And us, who have nowhere to go but the streets to earn our daily bread, are left in this dense, polluted air. Neither the central government nor the Delhi government has done anything for us. They don’t even care to distribute masks to the children!” said Laxman, when asked about whether he has received any help or amenities from the authorities to battle the pollution.

“I sometimes think that at least I have a windscreen in my auto… think about the rickshaw pullers, they are exposed to this poisonous air throughout the day without any protection, leading to a slow death. I try to read as much as I can to know better about our surroundings and end up getting more disappointed every day. One day, I’ll start an NGO or something that takes care of the problems of people like us – poor people,” he adds.

*

Sabeena Ansari (36) lives in a parking lot of an apartment building in Batla House with her husband and two daughters. Her husband, Mahmood Ansari (38), works as a security guard there. Sabeena is a part-time domestic worker who works in the nearby, posh residential areas like New Friends Colony and Sukhdev Vihar.

From 7 am to 6 pm, she covers nearly 8 houses, spending a large chunk of time outside, walking from one house to another. Often, she gets caught up in traffic while returning home in an e-rikshaw.

“There are a lot of high-class houses that don’t allow us [domestic workers] to use the lift so we have to take the stairs. After walking amidst this polluted air, I feel parched and tired. How can one climb five stories in this condition? But we don’t have any other option. If I refuse to do so, they’ll just fire me from my job,” said Sabeena.

When talking about Delhi’s rising pollution and the difficulties people facing everywhere in the city, she says, “I can’t really afford to think about pollution anymore. There’s a lot of dust and smoke everywhere. My younger one suffers from a severe cough, cold, and shortness of breath every winter. But what can we do about it? That’s how Delhi is. Two of my daughters are studying in school, and for them, I have to work to earn. Can’t do that without going outside. I don’t want my children to end up like us.”

“The last time I breathed in fresh air was ages ago, in our village near Kishanganj, Bihar. Yahan to ye logon ko rasta banana nahi aata hai thik se, to hawa se zeher kahan se nikal payega? (Authorities can’t even make proper roads here, how will they take the poison out of the air?)” Sabeena added.

*

According to several reports, there has been a spike in the number of patients from Delhi NCR suffering from shortness of breath, lung failure, cough, and other respiratory problems since Diwali, when the air quality started worsening. Children and the elderly remain the most affected. Twelve-year-old Saurav is suffering from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and a severe lung infection. His condition worsened after Diwali, and this year, it is taking longer to recover. This was his third visit to Safdarjung Hospital in two weeks.

“He suffers from lung issues throughout the year, and every year at this time, it gets worse. One doctor once suggested that I leave Delhi during the winters. But how can we go? I barely earn enough to sustain both of us. Traveling is a far-fetched dream,” said Saurav’s mother, Sumitra Mondal (33). Sumitra works with a construction company as a daily-wage labourer. She has been out of work since all major construction activities were shut down by the Delhi government due to severe air pollution.

*

​​Maya Chetri (54), a resident of Darjeeling, is on her first visit to Delhi. “I always wanted to see our capital and its monuments but never had a chance. I knew that the summers are unbearable in Delhi, so I, along with a few other friends, planned this trip now- only to see people gasping for breath. I never realized the amount of trouble this smog could give. In the hills, we see a lot of fog. Although this smog looks very similar to fog, it feels completely different. Ever since we reached Delhi, all of us have had sore throats and breathing problems. Can’t even see the Lal Quila properly.” said Maya.

*

Ayesha (21), a student of Delhi University (DU), stays in a shared, one-room flat in GTB Nagar, near DU North Campus. “It’s not all our fault, you see! Delhi’s climate crisis is a failure of the entire crony capitalist system. Now, both the state and Union governments are playing a blame game. We are not supposed to bear this as citizens. I feel angry, numb, and helpless. I wonder when the capital becomes completely unliveable, what will the rich and powerful do? Some of them will definitely fly abroad, leaving the rest of us here to choke to death?” asks Ayesha and quotes a Native American saying from her phone, “When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realise that you cannot eat money”.