But the Delhi pollution board disagrees. The AAP government, meanwhile, is looking to citizens for fresh ideas.
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On Tuesday, University of Chicago’s Urban Labs and the Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) launched a competition focused on improving air and water quality in the national capital by soliciting grassroots ideas from citizens, civic leaders, academics, corporations, and other institutions across India.
Talking on the sidelines of a partnership announcement with the University of Chicago, DDC vice-chairman Ashish Khetan, told NDTV, “If the pollution levels reach a point where it can cause irreversible health damage to people, we have to shut down schools and markets… and I think it has come to that point now”.
Letters of Interest for the competition should be received by March 1, 2016.
Organizations, agencies, students, and researchers across India with promising programs or interventions that address energy and environmental challenges in Delhi. All you can say is that there is no pollution…All stakeholders who are dealing with air pollution indicate that Delhi is highly polluting. The start-ups and the research team at the lab will be designing ways to implement the idea and test the project on a trial basis.
Earlier, the Tribunal has also asked state governments to come up with suggestions to combat air pollution in the respective states. This month the air quality of the city has dropped significantly. PM 2.5 levels at individual air monitoring stations have in the past few days crossed the 600 mark.
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The situation here is quite similar to China’s capital Beijing which maintained an “orange” pollution alert, the second-highest level, closing highways, halting or suspending construction and prompting a warning to residents to stay indoors after it was blanketed in hazardous, choking smog on Monday. According to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the city has been found to have the highest levels of particulate matter, also known as PM 2.5, known to be most harmful to human health.
