Clean streets, clean air.

"Delhi's air quality continues to remain in 'very poor' category, with winter weather conditions worsening it further. This morning, "areas such as Akshardham, AIIMS and ITO were covered with layers of toxic smog, significantly reducing visibility and raising health concerns for residents." Levels of the Air Quality Index (AQI) varied from 388 to 451. News24. Thankfully, "Government-backed apps like SAFAR and SAMEER top out at 500 - the upper limit India's AQI scale, which converts complex data on various pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone, into a single number." Private sources measure AQI at 600, even at 1000, on some days. Anything above 500 is very harmful for health so the government does not want to create panic. BBC. It does not matter if someone dies of 500 or 1000 so why create panic? Pollution data went missing for a major portion of 11 November and there was no response from the Central Pollution Control Board or the Commission for Air Quality Management. TOI. It was for our good. Because yesterday Delhi Police arrested 15 people for protesting against worsening pollution and there was a brief scuffle after some protesters apparently used pepper spray. TOI. "The Delhi government...directed private offices to operate with 50% on-site staff and to allow the remaining employees  to work from home as a precautionary measure under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage III." ET. Presumably to stop people driving to work and minimizing vehicle exhausts. The government has diverted blame solely to vehicles and all vehicles in Delhi have to obtain a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate every few months (Transport Department) or be fined Rs 10,000 for not having one even if the vehicle is absolutely within limits (DH). Divert blame and collect enormous ransom. Genius. However, according to scientific studies most pollution is caused by open fires - from burning of garbage and biomass to cooking and heating - contributing over half of PM2.5 and PM10 particles. TOI. Tardy collection of waste by the municipality forces residents to burn garbage to clear their streets. In 2022, the North MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) had 32,000 sanitation workers, the East had 14,000 and the South had a total of 20,500 for a grand total of 66,500 sanitation workers. TIE. In addition, a confidential number of sanitation workers are employed by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) (wikipedia), which is in charge of the exclusive central neighborhood of Delhi where our feudal lords and ladies reside. An effective solution would be to remove all garbage from city streets throughout the day so that there is nothing left to burn. Also, remove all stray cattle so that people cannot use dung cakes for cooking and heating (HT). With domestic cooking gas costing Rs 843 for 14.2 kg (goodreturns.in), the poor save money by burning dung cakes, wood, paper or any combustible material they can collect from the streets for cooking and heating, so proper cleaning and removal of cattle will have immediate salutary effect. But, would they want to upset the vote bank  (wikipedia). The middle class, despised and neglected by politicians and civil servants, are protecting the environment by re-gifting unwanted gifts they receive during festivals, wrote Prof Tulsi Jayakumar. Others are re-gifting pollution. Just clean the streets. Please.