FT reporter Victor Mallet provides a personal narrative on living in the world’s most toxic city.
“The air is so bad that readings often surpass the official index of the US, writes Victor Mallet…”
“The holiday photos that friends have posted on Facebook are making me jealous. It is not the food, culture or wildlife. What drives us Delhi-ites into fits of envy are the clear blue skies of European, American and African cities.
The view from my office window suggests a nearby forest fire. Trees less than 100m away are obscured by smog and dust. Each day in winter, the automated weather apps on our smartphones describe conditions in the Indian capital as “smoke”. But there is no burning forest…
“…For more than two months we have barely seen the sky by day or the stars by night. At 3pm the day before I wrote this the air was so thick that I could stare straight at the sun, which appeared as a copper-coloured disc through the brown smoke of burnt wood, cow dung, coal and diesel — all used as fuel…” FT.com. Read it on delhiair.org
Blue-sky dreaming in Delhi, a city where the sun doesn’t shine
delhiair.org - be informed and active about air quality in New Delhi, India 