Chronicle: "Several Delhibas assume to live a shorter life because of the air"

Several Delhibas I know assume that they will live shorter lives. Like my friend Shambhavi Shukla. Even though she is young, she has only half her lung capacity.

The last time we met she had been indoors for several months to avoid the air when it is at its worst between November and March. When we were about to take a spring walk, her breath was quickly strained.

The large mouthguard helps her avoid the harmful particles from which the air is thick, but also makes it difficult for her to breathe. On the way home, Shambhavi gasped that she was not getting enough oxygen and was desperately rooting for any of the inhalers she constantly has close at hand.

The contamination strikes new records is felt directly in the waiting rooms at the hospitals. The children are most severely affected because their lungs and immune systems are not fully developed. Air pollution is the most common cause of death of children under five and India has the most children in the world living in extreme pollution. Everywhere you hear hacking persistent cough.

When I accompany Shambhavi to the doctor, he examines her lungs and shakes her head. She is getting worse, just like most of his patients. The doctor explains to me that never before has a generation been exposed to such harmful air as those now growing up in Delhi. He does not dare to predict what the consequences will be, but urges Shambhavi to leave the city as soon as possible.

Companies are already hesitant to establish themselves in Delhi because of the air, and embassies recommend employees with children to apply for other positions. The gray smog is deeply depressing. It stings in the throat and runs into the eyes. Everyone talks about the air. Those who can afford invest in air purifiers and mouthguards, while taping their windows so as not to get into the harmful small particles. In the worst case, those who are worse off are forced to sleep along the edges of the exhaust fumes. It's like a horrible dystopia, but that's the reality.

There are several reasons for the bad air. One is that the farmers outside the city set their fields on fire to be able to do so again. The smoke settles as a cover over Delhi, which in this season lacks both winds and rain. Other reasons are that the number of cars, construction sites and industries is steadily increasing as India develops rapidly.

But if India is to achieve the same standard of living as we in the West, it cannot happen in the same environmentally unfriendly way as we were once industrialized. India needs to develop in a smarter way. That children cannot go to school and adults cannot get to their jobs is unsustainable. The pollution is already costing the country several percent of GDP and affecting millions of people with premature death and ill health.

Hopefully, the delirious protests of the Delhibas will increase the pressure on politicians. In recent days, Twitter has boiled down to angry comments. At the same time, more and more people are getting involved, such as my friend Shambhavi who has chosen to stay in Delhi - to fight the pollution.

She has been given a job at India's largest environmental organization CSE, where she checks, among other things, that cars do not emit more exhaust than allowed. When I ask how she can expose the contaminants when she is already ill, she replies:

- I don't want the next generation to suffer the same way I do.