Here Are Nine Ways to Deal With Delhi’s Air Pollution—But You May Not Be Able to Afford Any of Them

Monday, April 6, 2015

Delhi’s air pollution hit new highs last winter, giving the city, at least briefly, the worst air quality readings of any place on earth.

Unlike in years past, though, the warmer weather hasn’t brought that much relief.

Delhi’s air pollution has been worse than Beijing’s again this week. The count of the most insidious particles, the tiny PM 2.5 that enter your blood stream from your lungs and cause cancer, has fluctuated between 61 and 166 in Beijing during that time. In Delhi, they’ve bounced between 96 and 153.

In Beijing, filthy air has spawned public protests, plans to build air domes, widespread donning of face masks and a governmentdeclaration of “war” on the polluter culprits. But in Delhi the reaction has been much more muted, even though the air is often worse. There’s no discernible government push to fight the rise in diesel generators, brick kilns, and traffic jams that cause the problem—minus a recent political letter-writing campaign.

Delhi residents are, let’s face it, pretty much stuck trying to deal with the problem themselves.

Here are some common coping strategies. But a caveat up front: They are not all available to everyone. Protecting yourself, and your kids, from Delhi’s air pollution takes one thing—money.

Source: Quartz (link opens in a new window)

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Environment, Health Care