Pollution in India has always been a major issue. The country is the number one most polluted country in the world and this is in large part to its enormous population, over one billion people live there. The city of New Delhi has been shut down and schools have closed.The city has a scale for pollution going from moderate to poor, where the city bans burning trash and trucks registered before 2005 are not allowed to enter, very poor, where anyone with respiratory issues are warned not to leave their homes, severe, where coal power plants are shut down, and emergency, where schools are shut down, construction is stopped, only odd license plate cars are allowed on even days and the same for odds.
The Yamuna River, used for Indian religious ceremonies, is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Right now it is knee high in toxic foam. This foam with the consistency of cotton candy is a product of the waste poured into the river by factories. The people of the Indian religion still stand vigil despite the obvious health risk, and protests over the government’s handling of the situation. Children and adults wearing masks protest carrying signs saying “If you don’t kill pollution it will kill you” and imploring the government to do something about the pollution in Delhi and all over India. Dr.Harsh Vardhan, the Minister of Health in India, however, extolled the virtues of eating carrots to stop the negative health effects of pollution. He tweeted this delightful posters of him eating a carrot, which is the only thing that he’s not out of touch with.
By Oliver Angert ’24
