India’s capital Delhi is once again in the grips of a winter air pollution crisis, with AQI readings regularly 20 times the recommended WHO safe limit. The air pollution is posing a significant health hazard for Delhi’s 35 million residents, forced to breathe this toxic air for increasingly longer periods as climate change affects the weather patterns across India.In this On The Ground, Shweta Sharma and Mohammad Dawood visit a hospital in Delhi, meeting the worst-affected and speak with a doctor who fears for the city’s health.
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00:00 It's so difficult to breathe. If we don't get good air quality, where will we live?
00:05 I have breathing problems.
00:07 But now it's so bad that even when I walk a little, I breathe a lot.
00:13 And I feel like I should sit there.
00:16 One day, he suddenly had breathing problems in the morning.
00:20 Then we took him and ran away.
00:21 Then we got admitted here in an emergency.
00:24 It is not surprising if in the coming years we will call Delhi the capital city of cancer.
00:31 With such air quality and continuous constant exposure in the coming 10 to 20 years,
00:36 the cancer cases will be very high.
00:39 Of course, the lifespan will keep on decreasing.
00:41 [MUSIC]
00:55 You can actually feel it in the air.
00:57 It's heavy and hard to breathe in.
01:00 India's capital Delhi is once again in the grips of winter air pollution crisis
01:06 with AQI readings more than 20 times the WHO safe limit.
01:11 The annual catastrophe making global headlines has posed a significant health hazard
01:17 to the 35 million residents of the city
01:20 who are forced to breathe the toxic air for months at a time, year on year.
01:26 This toxic smog enveloping the city has become a part of life for many,
01:34 leaving them with health issues that range from visible symptoms like lingering cough
01:40 to hidden but deadly diseases like cancer.
01:44 With temperatures plunging to nighttime lows that can near freezing
01:52 and pollution levels remaining in the worst severe categories for days at a time,
01:58 authorities in the city have issued a health advisory to the public.
02:02 The warning of lung related health impacts due to the cold wave combined with dense smog.
02:10 The most severely affected by the pollution are those who are already suffering with lung and cardiovascular diseases.
02:17 Doctors say there is a sharp uptick in patients who are being admitted to the hospital
02:23 and some requiring ICU care.
02:25 The independent Wizards Delhi's Akash Hospital and speaks to some of these patients.
02:32 The patients say they have been coughing relentlessly and the pollution is only making their situation worse.
02:38 The pollution is making their situation worse.
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03:30 The number of cases that we usually see during the non-winter days are like around 5 to 6 patients in a day
03:39 who come with flare up of their pre-existing respiratory disease like asthma and COPD.
03:45 But since Diwali, since November, the number of cases has increased by almost 2 to 3 folds.
03:51 Now the patients are coming with complaint of not just increase in their respiratory symptoms,
03:57 that is asthma and COPD, the number of infective cases have also rised.
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05:06 So far all the interventions by the court and the government have proved futile.
05:12 And it remains to be seen how long the silent killer will continue to haunt the people of Delhi.
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