At only one month old, Ayansh Tiwari already wears a nebulizer mask. The infant suffers from breathing difficulties, the fault of inhaling the toxic air which poisons the Indian capital of New Delhi every winter. The alarming condition of little Ayansh forced his parents to take him to the emergency room of the Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya government hospital.
Like him, all the children in this spartan emergency room are struggling to breathe. Many suffer from asthma and pneumonia. These conditions increase with peaks in air pollution fueled by agricultural burning, industrial emissions and road transport in the megacity of 30 million inhabitants. “This poisonous fog is everywhere,” laments Julie Tiwari, mother of Ayansh who is coughing in her arms. On Thursday, the level of PM 2.5, carcinogenic microparticles that penetrate the lungs and blood, rose to 390 micrograms per cubic meter of air, or 25 times the maximum daily level set by the World Health Organization ( WHO).
“I try to keep doors and windows closed as much as possible. But we breathe poison all the time. I feel so helpless,” the 26-year-old mother confided to AFP, on the verge of tears. A study published in 2020 by The Lancet, a medical journal, attributed 1.67 million deaths a year earlier to air pollution in India, including nearly 17,500 in the capital.
An 11-month-old baby suffering from pneumonia
Additionally, children’s respiratory rates are higher than adults’, meaning they inhale more toxic air, Dr. Dhingra continues. “They can’t stay still, they move and run and the respiratory rate increases at the same time. Which exposes them more to the effects of pollution,” she explains. “This season is very difficult for them, they can barely breathe. »
“He was such a happy child. He has only been crying and coughing these last few days,” worries his mother, Chandni Begum, the infant, listless and pale, on her lap. “We cannot escape this poison in the air which makes us sick,” adds this housewife living in one of the city’s slums. Like all the parents who crowd the corridors of the hospital, where treatments and medicines are provided free of charge, she cannot pay for treatment in a private clinic or afford a single air purifier. According to Seema Kapoor, pediatrician and director of the hospital, the influx of patients has been constant since temperatures have dropped and pollutants are stagnating closer to the ground. “Respiratory illnesses represent 30 to 40% of total attendance,” she says.
Prevent outdoor activities
For Dr Dhingra, the only advice to give to parents is to prevent their children’s outdoor activities as much as possible. “You realize: telling a parent not to let their child go out and play because of this toxic environment. »
The Delhi government announced the emergency closure of schools, halting construction sites and banning the movement of diesel vehicles. But stubble burning in neighboring agricultural states, contributing significantly to Delhi’s pollution, continues unabated. The Supreme Court on Tuesday deplored “the real murder of our young people”. But for distraught vegetable seller Imtiaz Qureshi in hospital, they are just words. “We have to live in this air day after day,” recalls this 40-year-old man, who spends his time in the streets. “If I go out, the air will kill me, if I don’t, poverty will kill me. »