At just one month old, Ayansh Tiwari is already wearing a nebulizer mask. The infant suffers from breathing difficulties caused by inhaling the toxic air that poisons the Indian capital New Delhi every winter. Little Ayansh’s alarming condition forced his parents to take him to the emergency room of Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya Government Hospital.
Like him, all the children in this spartan emergency room have problems breathing. Many suffer from asthma and pneumonia. Those conditions are worsening with spikes in air pollution caused by agricultural burning, industrial emissions and road traffic in the megacity of 30 million people. “This toxic fog is everywhere,” complains Julie Tiwari, Ayansh’s mother, coughing in her arms. On Thursday, levels of PM 2.5, cancer-causing microparticles that penetrate the lungs and blood, rose to 390 micrograms per cubic meter of air, or 25 times the maximum daily value set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“I try to keep doors and windows closed as much as possible. But we breathe in poison all the time. I feel so helpless,” the 26-year-old mother confessed to AFP and was close to tears. A study published in 2020 by the medical journal The Lancet attributed 1.67 million deaths in India to air pollution a year earlier, including nearly 17,500 in the capital.
An 11-month-old baby is suffering from pneumonia
In addition, children’s breathing rates are higher than adults, meaning they breathe in more toxic air, Dr. Dhingra continued. “They can’t stay still, they move and run and at the same time the breathing rate increases. This makes them more exposed to the effects of pollution,” she explains. “This season is very difficult for them, they can hardly breathe. »
“He was such a happy child. “He’s just been crying and coughing for the last few days,” worries his mother Chandni Begum, the listless and pale baby on her lap. “We cannot escape this poison in the air that is making us sick,” adds this housewife who lives in one of the city’s slums. Like all parents who crowd the hospital corridors where treatments and medicines are offered free of charge, she cannot pay for treatment in a private clinic or afford a single air purifier. According to Seema Kapoor, pediatrician and director of the hospital, the influx of patients is constant as temperatures have dropped and pollutants stagnate closer to the ground. “Respiratory illnesses account for 30 to 40% of all visitors,” she says.
Prevent outdoor activities
For Dr. Dhingra, the only advice for parents is to prevent their children’s outdoor activities as much as possible. “You realize you’re telling a parent not to let their child go out and play because of this toxic environment. »
The Delhi government announced the emergency closure of schools, suspension of construction sites and a ban on diesel vehicles. But stubble burning in neighboring agricultural states, which contributes significantly to Delhi’s pollution, continues unabated. The Supreme Court on Tuesday lamented “the actual murder of our young people.” But for desperate vegetable seller Imtiaz Qureshi in the hospital, they are just words. “We have to live in this air every day,” remembers this 40-year-old man who spends his time on the streets. “If I go out, the air will kill me, if I don’t, the poverty will kill me. »