Delhi choking on polluted air, situation worse than 'pre-CNG times': AIIMS Director

“Pollution levels have become worse than in pre-CNG era,” claims All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Randeep Guleria. Delhi pollution level has now become a menace for the residents of the national capital. AIIMS director also blamed that lack of vision for the scenario is also a matter of great concern. Adding that the pollution was a huge problem in the pre-CNG era also, he said, "Because of the noise made by the vehicles previously, CNG was introduced, following which the levels of pollution in the early 2000s came down, but we did not have the vision to sustain that.”

AIIMS director believes that lack of vision has deteriorated the air quality to great an extent. Gulati says that after CNG was introduced to cut down the pollution, diesel vehicles started plying on roads, construction work was being carried out at a lot of places. However, these activities were being carried out at a lot of places and with no planning in terms of having a green corridor. There were no environment-friendly means of travel like cycling and hence pollution levels have become “worse than in pre-CNG era.”

At the ninth P N Srivastava Endowment Lecture on ‘Air Pollution and Health’ at Jawaharlal Nehru University, AIIMS Director also talked about the air-borne diseases caused due to the alarming levels of pollution in the national capital. He said, “In 1990, almost 60% of diseases were communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional diseases. That figure has now come down to around 32%. Non-communicable diseases, on the other hand, have gone from around 30% in 1990 to around 55.4% in 2016. This has meant a huge change in terms of health care providers too.”

Guleria also added that the human health was affected by “genetic predisposition and the environment”. “Genetics loads the gun but environment pulls the trigger… I see a lot of individuals who come to Delhi to study or for a job. These are the people who have never had any problem, but they start complaining of a cough or chest congestion after they start living in the capital,” he added.

The national capital's air quality has deteriorated to an extent that the pollution levels have turned "worse than in pre-CNG times." It is just a few days after 'good' air quality in Delhi that the pollution levels have gone up due to local factors.

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All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Jawaharlal Nehru University