pictures of new delhi smog tell only part of the story of india’s air pollution crisis - top air purifiers

This winter, like every winter in the past few years, is shrouded in smog in most parts of northern India.
On November, after the annual Hindu Diwali, the air quality index in the capital New Delhi soared to 980-
It is nearly 20 times worse than the World Health Organization thinks it is safe for human beings.
This was a minor improvement compared to the previous year, when pollution levels had exceeded 1,000.
Mumbai Institute of Technology, India and a study released by the United States in January 2018S. -
The Institute for Health effects found that 75% of pollution deaths occurred in rural areas.
On 2017, about 1.
24 million people died in pollution in India.
Statistics and photos of the cities covered in brown air regularly stimulate the Indian government with a population of 1.
3 billion. put into action.
The environmental court passed regulations prohibiting construction works and punishing polluters.
Residents have also responded that those who are capable are eager to buy air purifiers that cost up to $150.
India is one of the fastest countries in the world.
But the rapid pace of development has brought huge health costs.
Uncontrolled construction, weak regulation of industrial pollution and the influence of farmers burning crop crops have made India the home of 14 of the world's 15 most polluted cities, according to the World Health Organization.
India's failure to contain the problem is in stark contrast to neighboring China, the world's worst air city, but has taken steps in recent years, such as reducing high pollution coal.
Based on power plants.
While smog in New Delhi and other cities is most watched, another substantial issue is indoor air pollution, which puts millions of rural Indian families at risk for health.
According to WHO estimates, nearly 3.
Of the 8 million people killed by pollution worldwide, 7 million are caused by indoor air.
Many rural Indian residents, especially those in the north, often cook firewood, coal or cow dung in poorly ventilated places at home.
This exposes the entire family to pollutants such as harmful particulate matter and carbon monoxide.
A report from the government in December
The Indian Medical Research Council has accused the indoor air of 480,000 of the air in India.
The total number of pollution deaths in 2017 was 24 million.
As soon as people drive out of New Delhi to enter neighboring Haryana, the scale of the problem is clear, and Haryana is an agricultural power.
50 miles from the Indian capital, the village of Gehlab, the most recent morning, three women worked hard on mud stoves in a family of 15 members.
Their faces were hidden behind the veil, and in order to be modest, they made hot and delicious bread, known as rotis, alternating blocks of coal and small sticks to keep the fire alive.
They were not moved by the thick smoke hanging on the stove.
Sudesh Rani, 31, said: "I often feel a tingling eye and sometimes cough, but this is not a problem . " He cooks twice a day for her family of six.
Not far away, sitting in a small kitchen, a shiny little-
Used gas stove and a new cooking gas cylinder.
In 2016, in order to encourage villagers to stay away from contaminated biomass use, the Indian government launched a plan to provide a 50 million subsidized cooking gas connection to rural households using mud stoves.
The plan significantly expanded the number of households with gas cylinders, but the report showed that the plan did not prevent many households from burning traditional fuels.
Many people say they prefer the mud stove and think the gas is cooked faster and the possibility of burning food is greater.
Rani's family uses a gas stove just to heat water or milk, she said.
"The food cooked on the mud stove tastes better," Rani said . ".
In the nearby village of Bajada Pahari, a 45-year-
The old woman named Shyamvati uses only one name and cooks food in large buckets for more than 50 students at local schools.
Her open roof.
The kitchen in the air is black with a layer of soot.
"I cook like this from an early age and have never been sick," she said . ".
In 2016, when research group Inclen Trust International conducted a study in Shyamvati village, it found that carbon monoxide exposure levels in households using only biomass cooking were more than three times higher than in households using gas.
Kirk Smith, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who studies air pollution in India, said policymakers did not correctly define pollution problems because 24% to 52% of outdoor pollution came from home air.
"The lesson is that India cannot have clean outdoor air if most people use unclean fuel," Smith said . ".
This policy gap is evident in India's national air quality management program, which has not yet mentioned rural areas until recently.
In the latest national clean air plan released this month, the government acknowledged that rural areas were neglected and proposed to expand the gas cylinder plan to more towns and villages.
It also called for the establishment of 75 air quality monitoring stations in rural areas and the development of architectural design guidelines such as increased ventilation.
At the same time, doctors warn that the burden of air pollution is not limited to respiratory diseases.
The Medical Research Committee report found that air pollution is also an important factor in cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Government doctor, Ajay Sisodia-
The community health center, which serves two villages in Haryana, said 70 to 80 patients visited each day for breathing problems.
Although some are short-term
The impact of indoor air is obvious, he said.
"Due to long-term exposure to biomass stoves, seasonal cough can become chronic or develop into asthma," Sisodia said . ".
Masih is a special journalist.