New Delhi: World Health Organisation states that Air pollution kills 600,000 children across the world every year and India accounts for more children deaths due to air pollution as compared to any other country in the world. On the other hand, the national capital region has been ranked as the world’s most polluted city. A day after Diwali, New Delhi’s Air Quality Index was recorded at 999 in Anand Vihar and areas around Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. This is the maximum level the monitors can record and that is almost double the upper limit of what’s considered ‘hazardous’. According to the experts, if newborns are born in the current Delhi smog conditions, they are gulping air equal to 25 cigarettes in a day. Worried about these disturbing facts and figures, an expecting mother from New Delhi, Urvashi Dagar decided to draw the attention to the ‘right to breathe’ cause in a unique way.
Also Read: Not Just Respiratory System, Air Pollution May Also Severely Affect Eyes: Doctors
Urvashi stood in front of India Gate, wearing a mask and holding a plea board in her hands that read, ‘We all contributed to this crisis, and we all have to be a part of the solution, #StopAirPollution,’ the mother-to-be decided to get her maternity shoot done for this cause. Her motto was to demand a safer environment for herself and her soon to be born baby.
Also Read: Air Pollution Exposure Linked To Breast Cancer: Study
Urvashi is demanding a safer environment for herself and her soon to be born baby
Not just authorities, Urvashi also asked people for their help to make this planet green and a healthier place. Her message was,
I promised my baby a clean air. Will you help me? #StopAirPollution
This mother-to-be decided to get her maternity shoot done for the cause of air pollution
Along with Urvashi, her 5-year-old daughter, Vasundhara also decided to take part in the photoshoot. In her own way, Vasundhara highlighted the grim reality. She carried her dolls for the shoot and put a mask on them, saying that even they would be affected from the air pollution crisis. Her message to authorities and everyone out there was, “This planet is my future, please keep it healthy. #StopAirPollution.”
Urvashi’s 5-year-old daughter Vasundhara makes an appeal to #StopAirPollution
The official photographer, Siddharth Malkania, who has captured these crucial moments, shared these pictures on his social media urging everyone to rethink their lifestyle choices.
We tried to send out a wake-up call with the help of Urvashi to the people fighting air pollution in Delhi. Hopefully, these will get addressed.
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.
Ishvinder Singh Gill
December 1, 2018 at 12:01 pm
We made an assessment of air quality not only in delhi but areas surrounding delhi and found that PM 2.5 Particle size is there all over northern india with its values ranging from 150 to 250 while permissible is less than 60. As such this is a base value all over northern india and not just in delhi. In delhi there is addition of pollution over this base level. All discussions are related to main cities only but if this base level pollution is all around then just reducing the automobile ollution, construction pollution and other additional factors is going to make a difference but only to the extent that it shall bring it to the base level of pollution of 150 to 250. As such the solution has to be for most of india how to reduce that base level and making people aware that it is not only delhi but people all over most of India even villages and in mountainious areas need to protect themselves and at least wear Face masks and change them everyday. We have used PM 2.5 filters in our Air-conditioning filters and they choke in 3 days that is the gravity of the situation all over india. If you are using air Purifiers ensure they are cleaned every two days.