How pollution impacts sportsperson and how the state govt can do better| Oneindia
Noted Environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari speaks on How pollution impacts sportsperson and what the state govts can do to mitigate the impact. My Khel's Avinash Sharma and Bhavreen join Oneindia's Pankaj Mishra on the show- The WHYs & The HOWs. Watch
#DelhiPollution
#PollutionAndSports
#AirQualityCrisis
#PublicHealthAlert
#AQIEmergency
#ClimateActionNow
#PollutionManagement
#DelhiPollution
#PollutionAndSports
#AirQualityCrisis
#PublicHealthAlert
#AQIEmergency
#ClimateActionNow
#PollutionManagement
Transcript
00:00 India as a nation needs to identify this issue, which is the pollution part in this part of
00:07 the year and also the bigger picture of the climate issue.
00:10 Was not able to convince the school that the children will not be able to practice at 5
00:14 o'clock in the morning.
00:15 Cricket players have complained, you know, in the white playing in India.
00:20 Air pollution is a different sense of problem, but they are almost connected in a certain
00:24 way as well.
00:25 Hello and welcome.
00:26 You're watching One India News.
00:27 My name is Pankaj Mishra.
00:28 The wise at the house once again raises a pertinent question that how, how, how is it
00:34 possible to survive in a climate when the air becomes poisonous when we have a World
00:41 Cup going on and the players are also this time not feeling the heat, but feeling the
00:46 air.
00:47 Obviously, matches in Delhi are happening and also in other parts of the country.
00:51 But the bigger picture here in Delhi and Sierra remains very grim and the air remains in hazardous
00:57 or severe conditions.
00:58 We'll discuss the matters further and also to find a way out and how air pollution impacts
01:04 the performance of the sports person.
01:06 We are going to discuss this very special phenomena with Bhavneet Kandahari, a noted
01:12 environmentalist and editor of My Cave, One India's sports division, Abhinash Sharma.
01:18 Thank you so much for speaking to us.
01:21 Bhavneet ma'am, to begin with, obviously, I can see and our viewers would also know
01:25 that this is the time when people return from work.
01:28 What is the situation?
01:29 How different it is as of now for you to travel from work to home at this time in this part
01:34 of the year as compared to other times?
01:37 Yes, Pankaj, of course, as you see, we are in this crazy toxic chamber.
01:44 Since morning, it was absolutely, you know, you could see the air was visibly, you know,
01:50 poisonous.
01:51 But we have to kind of remember that this is, you know, the time, the brief time because
01:59 of course, some of the geographical and the metrological conditions that the air is visible.
02:05 But the rest of the year as well, we have not been in any kind of air that could be
02:10 satisfactory or even moderate.
02:12 So, there were very, very, you know, negligible, almost negligible number of good days and
02:17 a few moderate days that we have seen.
02:19 So, when we look at the sky and it's a bit clear or, you know, it's the day is looking
02:25 a little better, you tend to think that the air is clean and it's not.
02:29 Absolutely, absolutely.
02:30 You know, the more said, I would say only goes on to prove that yes, the situation is
02:36 pretty dire.
02:37 Avinash, obviously, as Bhavin ma'am says that even if we consider the air to be good
02:43 in different parts of, you know, the year, still it is not up to the standards.
02:48 What is the impression there and how is Kolkata racing with the air pollution part of the
02:55 thing?
02:56 The C factor, does it work in?
02:57 Does it help?
02:58 Yes, Pankaj, up to an extent, the C factor does work.
03:02 It was quite humid here in the day when we arrived, when South African team was practicing
03:08 at the venue at Eden Gardens.
03:11 Compared to the climate and the air quality, if we talk about, as compared to Delhi, where
03:18 actually we are inhaling the toxic air, it is a respite of a sort for me, at least in
03:25 Kolkata.
03:26 If you talk about the entire environment here.
03:29 Right, absolutely, absolutely.
03:31 Bhavin ma'am, in Kolkata, it's a different ballgame altogether.
03:35 Sportsmanship is there.
03:37 That's Team India.
03:39 But in Delhi, Team Kejriwal is facing a lot of heat.
03:42 So, could you please, you know, here at One India, we try to, you know, find the solutions.
03:47 Is it just a political will that is required to clean up the air?
03:52 Is it too late?
03:53 Or is it something special about Delhi's topography that makes it so, you know, toxic at this
03:59 time of the year?
04:00 Pankaj ji, the, of course, topography or the geography, meteorological conditions, they
04:06 are obviously, they are there and they exist and they've always existed.
04:10 But if you remember, I mean, of course, you're much younger, but coming from my childhood
04:16 days, we never had that challenge.
04:18 I mean, this festive season was always a very exciting time for most of us.
04:23 And we've, you know, done everything and even bursting crackers and all that.
04:27 But, but it eventually, like it slowly deteriorated and it got worse over the years.
04:33 So, we have to realize that there is obviously the emissions have increased and it is the
04:39 sources of pollution that what, that's what the government, not the government, the governments
04:45 have to get together.
04:46 All the governments, there is nothing, you know, that it's a, it's a national emergency.
04:52 It's a public health emergency.
04:54 The center and the state all are answerable to every citizen's health.
05:00 You know, if my children are, if anybody's coming in the way of clean air, they are absolutely
05:06 liable for criminal prosecution.
05:08 It's not acceptable.
05:09 So, when it comes to sports, because we're considering, we're speaking about that.
05:14 There was a time that my twin daughters who were playing basketball in school, those years,
05:19 the awareness wasn't there.
05:21 And even for someone like me, who was, you know, working on clean air, was not able to
05:27 convince the school that the children will not be able to practice at five o'clock in
05:31 the morning.
05:32 They should not be doing that because the AQI was over 300.
05:35 And, well, but the change has happened.
05:38 And now the same schools are, you know, keeping pollution weeks and, you know, a week off
05:42 and they are taking that out of the summer holidays, stuff like that.
05:46 So, similarly, now, if we love our sports and we love our sports person, I refuse to
05:51 understand how can we risk such precious sports persons, our cricket team, you know,
05:58 that's, you know, whichever country they belong to, they are the national pride and we are
06:03 going to risk their lives and their lungs because this is irreversible damage.
06:07 And before we host anything ever in this country, we have to clean the air and there is no doubt
06:14 about it.
06:15 So, for that, I will tell you, we did a little survey out of the Feroz Shah Kotla here, as
06:20 well as in Mumbai, where the Wankhade Stadium, where the matches will be now will be played.
06:28 And it was 419, which was severe in Delhi.
06:32 And we expect our favorite, loved cricketers to be playing matches there.
06:38 So, this is absolutely, then we kind of really don't care about our sports persons and our
06:43 children, our students, you know, our youth like Avinash.
06:48 So, this is something that I think that is the reason, in fact, we've been asking that
06:52 every stadium must have an AQI display monitor, every bus stop must have, every government
06:57 hospital, every school.
06:58 So, we kind of understand that this has become a part of our life.
07:02 We need to like in, you know, in the countries where we, you know, see and check the weather
07:06 and then we carry our raincoats or, you know, this is the way that your day is dependent
07:13 on how the AQI is.
07:15 And there are schools like the British School in Delhi, but unfortunately, it's a British
07:18 school.
07:19 But, you know, the rest don't care.
07:21 And they have for many years, they have an AQI display monitor and the activities are
07:27 decided according to that.
07:28 There's a red flag.
07:29 So, if the AQI is above 80, the children know automatically there'll be no sports activity
07:35 today in school.
07:36 And there'll be only indoor activities.
07:38 So, things like that, you know, that we need to.
07:40 Yes.
07:41 Avinash.
07:42 Thanks.
07:43 Avinash, you know, we have seen it in the past also.
07:47 Cricket players have come through, you know, in white playing in India.
07:52 I mean, I remember a few incidents.
07:54 Could you please take us through them?
07:56 Sri Lanka, it was, which was not very happy to play in New Delhi earlier last year.
08:00 And this is fast becoming a norm.
08:03 As the AQI there has also deteriorated because of the known reasons happening in the northern
08:10 part of the country.
08:11 So, and yes, as you rightly mentioned, the Sri Lankan team played a test match there
08:16 in Delhi, where, I mean, they at times had fallen on the ground, complaining about the
08:23 AQI and the toxic air they were inhaling.
08:27 So, yes, it does take a lot of toll while playing cricket or a game of sports because
08:33 you're not getting the fresh air to breathe.
08:36 Obviously, as Bhavani has suggested, there could be measures where the players have their
08:44 say.
08:45 In fact, as of now, there's no official confirmation from the DCCI or the ICC whether the match
08:51 on Monday at the Pirosha Kotla, which is now renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium, is happening
08:56 or not because Bangladesh cricket team has refused to practice today at the venue.
09:01 Oh, see, the ripples have already started to show.
09:05 Absolutely.
09:06 Yes.
09:07 Bhavani ma'am, I mean, is that published?
09:09 I mean, is it said somewhere?
09:11 Yeah, it's published.
09:12 It's in the public domain.
09:13 I'll check it out.
09:14 See, this is what it is.
09:15 And if you're pitching for the Olympics, I mean, that's what we heard Mr. Modi and Mr.
09:21 Kejriwal saying that, well, until you don't clean your air, I can tell you that nobody's
09:26 want to come and play sports in our country.
09:29 I don't think, you know, I don't think it's the responsibility, could be the responsibility
09:34 only of the government, be it the state or the center.
09:36 The people are also involved.
09:38 Looking at the bigger picture, Bhavani ma'am, I have seen many of your interviews of late
09:44 in the recent past also on several, you know, broadcast medium.
09:49 And one thing that came out very eloquently is the fact that India as a nation needs to
09:56 identify this issue, which is the pollution part in this part of the year and also the
10:01 bigger picture of the climate issue.
10:03 We have had disasters in, you know, in Uttarakhand, in Shimla, we saw the kind of the wave, houses
10:11 are falling like a pack of cards, the incessant rain that is happening, floods down south,
10:16 even in the western part of the country, like states like Rajasthan.
10:19 Ma'am, in your learned opinion, what is your message and what are the immediate concerns
10:24 that we must address?
10:25 So, of course, I mean, you know, we tend to kind of mix up the climate change and the
10:30 environmental changes.
10:32 They are different.
10:33 I mean, air pollution is a different sense of problem, but they are almost connected
10:37 in a certain way as well.
10:39 And what has happened in Uttarakhand and other places is also kind of a man-made disaster
10:47 because, you know, we have obviously overstepped on the development mode and done, you know,
10:54 we are obviously seeing that for many years now.
10:57 And even now in our policy that we are kind of favoring deforestation and many such activities
11:05 are going and interfering with the nature when you are actually cutting through hills
11:11 and making tunnels out of them.
11:13 So this is a repercussion.
11:15 And the climate change will obviously is happening.
11:18 We know that that is there.
11:19 The temperatures are going above the 1.5 degree and that is inevitable.
11:24 But how soon can the world globally come together and stop this is going to be totally dependent
11:31 on how religiously we are going to give up the fossil fuels and bring clean energy, which
11:37 is the renewable energy.
11:39 And that should be our most important, you know, ask and something that and something
11:48 that's being done.
11:49 It's not like we are not going to it, but it's slow.
11:52 And this El Nino effect, which was even supposed to come a couple of years later, that came
11:57 and this year, it's not only about India, the whole global, in the global sense, everything
12:02 was a disaster.
12:03 Flash floods, heat waves and all that we've seen.
12:05 And this is going to be the best year, actually, in the further years when we look back, if
12:10 you and I speak in the next few years, we're going to say, oh, wow, 2023 was the best year.
12:15 So so it's scary and we need to kind of everyone.
12:18 But this is the leads will have to come from the government.
12:20 The lead will have to come from the leaders.
12:23 And only when policies are good and they are implemented, will the citizens join in.
12:29 You cannot ask people to give up cars.
12:31 They won't.
12:32 You will have to snatch it out of them.
12:33 So that's exactly how we met.
12:35 Yeah.
12:36 Now, before I take, you know, one final question from Avinash, I just wanted to ask you, he
12:40 is in city of joy.
12:41 He's in Kolkata.
12:42 And you know, once again, if you talk in terms of population, Kolkata has known to have a
12:48 lot of football and population there being a metropolitan city in the east.
12:53 Now, in Delhi, what is this curious is, is there any specific link to the population
12:59 load also on Delhi to this air pollution?
13:03 No, I that's the that's the whole thing that, you know, of course, population is always,
13:08 you know, difficult to kind of, you know, kind of manage, but it is not the masses who
13:18 are responsible for the pollution.
13:20 If you see the masses, they never drive a car.
13:23 They never ever even probably they'll never get a car.
13:26 They'll never get to sit in a car.
13:28 They will never be able to, you know, if you go to the most lesser privileged areas, the
13:32 plastic waste is negligible.
13:34 I'm just saying this.
13:35 And, you know, of course, all the waste, all the waste that we are mostly reaching the
13:41 landfills is all coming from the bigger industries and people and residential areas where the
13:47 richer people live.
13:48 So, I mean, in everything that you'll see, it's not those the masses who are responsible
13:52 for this.
13:53 So we cannot say that the air pollution or climate crisis is because of them.
13:56 They are the victims of air pollution.
13:59 In fact, those children who live under the flyover or the slums or various other places,
14:04 they'll probably never sit in a car.
14:06 But look what our cars are doing to them.
14:08 What is the emissions doing to them?
14:10 The construction waste that's the CND, the PM10, you know, what, how it's harming them
14:16 because they're actually on the streets outside.
14:18 So, so we are a very small percentage of people who are responsible for this air pollution.
14:24 Absolutely.
14:25 Absolutely.
14:26 Abhinash, thank you so much.
14:27 Bhavna ma'am, Bhavna Kandari, noted in one of the lists.
14:29 Thank you so much.
14:30 One thing is pretty clear.
14:31 One thing is pretty clear, ma'am, that as you put up that 2023 could be the best year
14:37 that we would look back in the future.
14:40 Let's try and get to the better years, obviously.
14:43 And obviously, to host Olympics, we really need to do something about the air.
14:47 And it's not just a simple one government or two governments responsibility.
14:50 You and I and everyone, our viewers also could play a very significant role in it.
14:55 Thank you so much.
14:56 Thank you so much, Bankar.
14:57 And thank you for taking up this responsible sports.
14:59 Very important.
15:00 Nobody's talking about it.
15:01 I appreciate it.
15:02 Very appreciated.
15:03 Thank you.
15:04 Thank you, ma'am.
15:05 Thank you.
15:06 Thank you so much.
15:07 Bye-bye.
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15:09 update.