Coronavirus: Containment brings pollution down in New Delhi

Text by: RFI Follow

One of the positive aspects of stopping the world economy is the fall in pollution. This is particularly impressive in New Delhi, the most polluted capital of the world, which has seen its level of fine particles reach historically low levels since the confinement of the country a week ago.

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With our correspondent in New Delhi, Sébastien Farcis

In New Delhi, the song of birds and squirrels replaced the noise of cars and motorcycle taxis. And the grayish veil has disappeared from the sky, rejoices Jyoti Pande Lavakare, founder of the anti pollution NGO Care for Air. “ I have never seen such a blue sky in New Delhi. Today I did yoga in my garden, including breathing exercises. I have never been able to do this in 10 years, ”she explains.

Since the city has been shutdown for a week, the concentration of fine particles has been halved. Authorities have also replaced cell phone tones with information messages on the Covid-19.

“ It's a brilliant idea because it also affects the poor. This shows that the government has the means to inform the public, and it should also do so when we have pollution peaks. Because today, my cleaning lady knows that you have to put on a mask to protect yourself from the coronavirus but does not understand that this mask can also protect it from pollution. Pollution kills more than a million Indians each year, far more than the coronavirus, "says Jyoti Pande Lavakare.

The heavy pollution also damages the lungs of the Indians, which today makes the population more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

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• India
• Coronavirus
• Health and Medicine
• Pollution

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