The quality of air in New Delhi, the capital of India, was never satisfactory. But the worst part is that the people living in the national capital were not aware about the real facts about pollution.
This has been disclosed in a survey conducted by Lung Care Foundation in collaboration with Energy Policy Institute of Chicago and Morsel Research and development. The study was conducted as part of Lung Care Foundation’s project SHAN- Saaf Hava Aur Nagarik. The project is aimed at creating awareness among the people about air pollution.
On the question of rating the city’s air quality, the survey noticed that 57.7 per cent of the people who participated in the survey rated the air quality as bad. While people in Delhi and Gaziabad said that the quality of air was so very bad.
With respect to Air Quality Index, eighty per cent of the participants had no idea. When 93 per cent of those surveyed in Faridabad and Ghaziabad were not aware of the index, 91 per cent in Gurgaon, 83 per cent in Noida and 80 per cent of respondents in Delhi were unaware. On the question of checking the Air Quality Index, about 80 percent never checked. When about 26 per cent of the people checked rarely, less than 4 per cent checked the quality daily.
The survey also said that majority of the people did not know the difference between PM2.5 and PM10. Even though some people have heard about the two, they had less knowledge about the two.
On The questionnaire about impact of air pollution on health, majority of the surveyed people were aware about it.
The survey also found that 78.9 per cent of the people surveyed were unaware about the National Clean Air Programme. About 31.4 per cent were aware of any public health emergencies issued by the Government of Delhi.
Another important aspect of the study is that about half of the respondents believed that they were responsible for the air pollution as against the government and the industries.
If you have an inspiring story to share to the world, sent it to indianflash15@gmail.com
