DELHI IS THE MOST POLLUTED PLACE IN THE WORLD

According to a study released by the World Health Organisation, New Delhi has been declared as the world’s most polluted city.

Regarding pollution and environmental issues, Beijing is often the centre of many journalist’s and scientist’s attention. In fact, Delhi’s air gets more harmful particulate in its air than the Chinese Capital. Matthew Palley, photographer for the National Geographic Magazine, spent five days in New Delhi and took alarming photos which give us “physical results of intense urbanisation, density of cars, and the practice of burning refuse.”

Most of the time, the city seems to be dipped in a thick smoggy cloud that wouldn’t enable anyone to see further than 100 yards.

”In the city of Delhi, exposure to the air is equal to smoking maybe 10 cigarettes a day, “ “Everybody is a smoker in this city.” Rajesh Chawla, a respiratory physician at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.

Sunita Narain who is the director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), based in New Delhi, was just named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People for her work in India’s environmental policy and justice. In 2010 she wrote, “The river, by all pollution parameters, is dead. It has just not been officially cremated.”

The Yamuna is spiritually and practically central to the lives of people who live near it. Children play in the water, men wash and bleach shirts, people of all ages bathe in and drink from the river in the belief it will absolve them of sin.

And for some, the waste and garbage presents a way to make a living. While Paley photographed people’s interactions with their surroundings, he met men, women, and children who daily combed dumps and riverbanks for pieces of metal, plastic, and paper they could recycle. On a great day, they can earn 1,000 rupees—the equivalent of $15 and three times the average daily wage of other workers in the city.

Original article by National Geographic

Image Copyright to Matthieu Paley