德里受雾霾重击 连抗霾直升机也被打败
德里这次的空气污染究竟严重到什么程度呢? 德里首席部长凯杰里瓦尔在推特上说,这座2000万人口的大城市已经变成一个“毒气室”。印度医学协会将当前的状况称为“卫生紧急状态”,并表示呼吸这种空气等同于一天抽50支烟。 空气污染持续令德里及周边地区的就诊率激增,德里各大医院迎来呼吸道疾病就诊高峰,就诊率较平时增长20%。全印医学研究院的古勒亚医生说,如今德里的空气状况堪比1952年的伦敦烟雾事件——那起灾难导致近4000人死亡。 浓厚的雾霾不仅导致航班大面积延误,还引发交通事故。当地媒体报道,几天来仅德里邻近的哈里亚纳邦和旁遮普邦高速路上就有至少9人死亡。8日晚些时候,在旁遮普邦,一些学生正在等公交车,一辆卡车冲过,导致8名学生丧生。 显然雾霾已经严重影响到了人们的生活,那么印度政府是如何应对的呢?来看看外媒的报道: An ambitious plan to use helicopters to fight Delhi’s air pollution has been grounded because the aircraft cannot operate in the thick smog, underscoring growing frustration at authorities’ inability to address the toxic haze engulfing the city. Accusations that Narendra Modi’s government is failing to take the crisis seriously were further fuelled on Tuesday when the environment minister, Harsh Vardhan, urged residents to remain calm, saying only “routine precautions” were needed, even though air quality levels remain “severe”. The city authorities had engaged a state-owned helicopter company to spray water over Delhi in the hope of settling the thick haze of pollutants. But on Monday administrators were told they would be unable to help dissipate the smog until the smog itself had cleared. “Right now, with the prevailing smog, it is not possible for the helicopters to carry out operations,” the chairman and managing director of the company, BP Sharma, told the Indian Express. “We have communicated the same to the Delhi government. There was a meeting regarding this on Monday.” The other hitch is that many parts of Delhi – particularly its southern quarters where parliament, the presidency and the prime minister are all based – are within a strictly policed no-fly zone.
A 2015 study found that 52% of the particulate matter in the city’s air was from dust kicked up by the tens of thousands of cars on its roads. Uncovered sand and soil from construction sites also contribute to the choking atmosphere. In the last week, massive crop burning in neighbouring states and slow winds have also been a factor in sending air pollution levels in parts of north India to more than 30 times the World Health Organisation standards for daily exposure. 注:世界卫生组织认为,PM2.5平均浓度小于10微克/立方米是安全值。PM2.5指直径小于等于2.5微米的颗粒物。
Bhopal, he argued was “an emergency situation where you have to panic and you have to see what you have to do”, he said in an interview with cnn-18 news. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t do anything about it [the Delhi smog], everyone has to respond to what he is supposed to do. But there is no need to spread panic among the people.” Public pressure has centred on the city’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, a populist former bureaucrat and engineer. His proposal to ration traffic according to the last digit of number plates – odd numbers one day, evens the other – has been blocked by judges since Friday. Kejriwal wants to maintain a long list of exemptions to the odd-even rule, including single women, cars transporting children and two-wheelers. Even if implemented, studies of the last time Delhi attempted the measure have found its impact was “abysmally small”. The sprinkling helicopter policy was also rubbished by experts who said it would make no difference.
A study on Monday found the air quality in Varanasi, in Modi’s home constituency, had even worse air than Delhi. The Indian prime minister is yet to comment on the crisis. Polash Mukherjee, an air pollution researcher from the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said there was a “sense of despondency” among the city’s residents, who were increasingly aware of the dangers associated with breathing dense particulate matter. “They know it’s severe, and they know something should be done about it, but no one seems to be doing anything,” he said. The head of the All-India Parents Association, Ashok Agrawal, said the government was “not sincere” about the issue. “It happened last year,” he said. “They could have taken steps so that it didn’t happen again, or so the density was lower. “But they have done nothing to address the problem and it is a health emergency.” With the city government unable to find the right steps, and the central one reluctant to take any, Delhi residents have been left to rely on the heavens.
“对我们这些生活在这里的人来说,空气污染削弱了我们的力气。许多人整天感到恶心,就像在晕车。空气中有一股烟味,刺激咽喉,在一些地方,空气闻起来像油漆。”一名当地记者这样描述生活在雾霾中的感受。 一名德里商人告诉BBC:“我在车里都喘不过气来,我更不能打开房间的窗户。” 德里一位资深胸外科医生表示,空气污染为该地区人民带来愈发严重的健康危机。“即使是不抽烟的健康年轻人,都已经没有粉红色的肺部了。加护病房里全是肺炎患者。短期内导致急性哮喘发作,长远来看,将会增加肺癌的风险。” 然而,“重霾之下,仍有勇夫”——其实是出于无奈,7日,比利时国王菲利普夫妇按既定行程访问印度,硬着头皮参加了印度政府“情深深雾蒙蒙”的欢迎仪式。8日,英国查尔斯王子携夫人卡米拉在雾霾中抵达印度访问。激发起许多英国人的“幽默灵感”,有人在推特上说:“查尔斯王子和卡米拉今天和明天将在德里,如果他们能看到从机场出来的路。” |