smoking fog, jerks me off!!!

Millions of Delhi people would find the bickering and shouting about the smog in and around the city quite trivial. It’s totally absurd that all of a sudden people wake up and start screaming about all the oxides and dioxides knocking on the doorsteps of their nostrils. Trivial it may seem to the dweller of the metropolitan city Delhi, but when your mind starts pondering about the intricacies, things do turn out nasty! Particularly when the smog has a peculiar smell accompanying it.

Smog generally is supposed to be a mixture of smoke and carbon monoxide along with sulphur compounds, unburned fossil fuels and loads of atmospheric crap (mostly related to us). In case of Delhi, the smog has a few more toxic, rather exotic ingredients which really make it a serious case of concern. The pernicious smoke has been banging heads, crushing lungs, poking eyes, pinching skin and blocking sight since time immemorial but hardly does it tend to bother any of the citizens, leave alone the authorities. I read somewhere in my 9^th grade, that according to the legendary Charles Darwin, species do evolve along the course of time to adapt to their surroundings. It justified their struggle for survival and eventual triumph of the fittest species to do so, but believe me, adapting to the daily dose of yokozuna size toxic in Delhi is really a tough bet. What maybe the reason for this gaseous onslaught on us? Presumably answering this question would be a cakewalk, instead a moonwalk.

The 2^nd most populous metropolitan city after Mumbai, with a population of 16.3 million people, Delhi is in no position to dishearten you in terms of pollution problems. Within each of these restless citizens is the craving to purchase a new car/ vehicle. As per the government sources, the current automobile population in Delhi is even greater than 65 lakh which is even higher than the combined total of automobiles in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. There were nearly 5.6 lakh vehicles in 1981, this roughly averages to 1000 vehicles being added to the fragile Delhi roads every day. Numbers do seem appalling, no matter which emission norm is being implemented, PUC certificates, high parking fees; nothing seems to deter the valiant Delhi dweller from opting against public transportation. We (Delhi citizens) like to feel grand, travelling in a car not only saves you from the daily hustle and bustle, rubbing shoulders against the billions but also assures you of an elevated social status. There are a trillion more reasons for the automotive surge in the domestic population. No wonder the sales graph has been escalating high beyond the stratosphere. The CNG introduction in autos and other vehicles did help in curbing the population, even the metro played a great role in the cause, but the astronomical surge in the vehicular population has negated the effect totally. Ask the clueless CM of Delhi about the pollution shrouding the city, she defends the administration as well as the citizens by saying that the smog has resulted from the burning of hay and straw in the nearby states of Harayana, UP and Punjab. The answer is only an attempt to wash hands of the irresponsible handling of pollution in the city. I feel very anxious when I see nearly a billion faces ready to board the subway train, hour long traffic jams, opaque smog blocking sight every morning, asthmatic patients going outside with a trunk load of emergency drugs…I can go on and on…it still remains a trivial issue for many citizens who are too busy with their life, too busy to even think about the environment…life, it seems goes on with ourselves adapting to new hazards every second. So best wishes for your nostrils, oesophagus, lungs and your sanity…keep breathing, else you know what happens!