Should India now shift its capital from Delhi to another? This question has been raised by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. This is because Delhi is currently in the grip of pollution. The Air Quality Index (AQI) level has exceeded 500 for the second consecutive day. It is considered serious. That is, the air in Delhi is so bad that, leaving aside the sick, even healthy people can face a lot of problems.
But this is not just the story of this year. This is the story of every year in Delhi. Now it seems that living in a polluted environment has become the ‘new normal’ for the people of Delhi. Perhaps this is the reason why Delhi has been ranked number one among the most polluted capitals in the world.
But pollution is not the only problem here. Although there are many problems in Delhi, there are some problems that people living here have to face.
Poison in the air or poison in the air!
One of the biggest problems for Delhiites is polluted air. There comes a time when one cannot understand if there is poison in the air or if there is air in the poison.
Air quality begins to deteriorate from September onwards. And then when winter comes, even breathing becomes difficult. According to the data, there was only one day in 2023 when the AQI level was less than 50. While the AQI level was in the category of “satisfactory” for 60 days, “moderate” for 145 days, “poor” for 77 days, “very poor” for 67 days and “severe” for 15 days.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), this year there have been 322 days from January 1 to November 17 and there has not been a single day when the AQI level has been ‘good’. Of 322 days, 54 days have been “very bad” and 60 days have been “bad.” While AQI has been in the “very serious” category for seven days.
Winter breaks records!
Winter begins in Delhi at the end of November and ends in the second week of February. In December and January it is very cold and all records are broken. However, now the winter days are decreasing in Delhi.
Last year the temperature in December was above normal. December 2023 was the hottest since 2017. Last December, the average maximum temperature was 24.1 degrees Celsius, above normal (22.8 degrees). While the average minimum temperature was 8.6 degrees, higher than normal (8.4 degrees).
Although December may have been a little warm, January broke all records. January 2024 was the coldest in 13 years.
The average maximum temperature in January was 17.7 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature was 6.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest in 13 years. On January 14 this year, the temperature in Delhi reached 3.5 degrees Celsius. Last winter there was not a single cold wave in December, but in January there was a cold wave for 5 days and 5 days were the coldest.
scorching heat
When winter passes, when summer comes, it also burns. For some years now in Delhi, the mercury has exceeded 45 degrees in summer. While the average temperature in summer is 39 to 40 degrees Celsius. According to the Meteorological Department, the mercury exceeds 30 degrees in Delhi since March and remains the same until October.
This year’s May and June heat broke the 74-year record. The average maximum temperature was recorded at 41.4 degrees Celsius in May and 41.9 degrees Celsius in June. By early May and June 1951, the average maximum temperature had exceeded 41 degrees.
Even in July, the average maximum temperature in Delhi was 27.7 degrees Celsius, the highest in 10 years. Until a few years ago, the temperature began to drop in November and winter arrived. But according to the Meteorological Department, the minimum temperature between November 1 and 15 this year has been above normal. From November 7 to 14, the temperature remained 3 degrees or more than normal for eight consecutive days.
Water scarcity is also a big problem
The people of Delhi also struggle with water scarcity every year. This water problem usually occurs more in the summer season. In summer, in many areas of Delhi there is no water for several days.
According to the Economic Survey 2024-25 of the Government of Delhi, people of Delhi need 129 million gallons of water every day, but in summer, Delhi Jal Board cannot supply even 95 million gallons of water every day. The situation is such that in most areas water does not arrive for many days and, even if it does arrive, it is not enough to cover needs.
This is because Delhi does not have any major source of water of its own. It has to depend on Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab for water. Haryana also has the largest share in this.
The Haryana government supplies water to Delhi from the Yamuna River, the Uttar Pradesh government from the Ganges River and the Punjab government supplies water from Bhakra Nangal. According to the economic study of the Delhi government, 38.9 million gallons of water are received from Yamuna, 25.3 million gallons from River Ganges and 22.1 million gallons from River Ravi-Beas every day from Bhakra-Nangal. Apart from this, 9 million gallons of water comes from wells, tube wells and groundwater. In total, Delhi receives 953 million gallons of water every day.
Not only this, dirty water is also a big problem for the people of Delhi. Complaints about dirty water persist in many areas.
The mountain of garbage is also a big problem
Not only cold, heat or pollution is a big problem for the people of Delhi, but the ‘garbage mountain’ is also one of the big problems. There are three landfills in the capital Delhi. This is the place where garbage from the entire city is collected. There are landfills at Okhla, Ghazipur and Bhalswa in Delhi.
There is a mountain of garbage in all three places. According to the Delhi Pollution Control Board, till October 31, 2023, 36.62 lakh tonnes of garbage has accumulated at the Okhla site. 61.25 lakh tonnes of garbage was collected from the Bhalswa site. In the Ghazipur land there was a maximum of 81.33 lakh tonnes of garbage.
The largest mountain of garbage in Delhi is located at the Ghazipur landfill site. In July 2019, its height reached 65 meters. That is to say, the mountain of garbage here had become so tall that it was only 8 meters shorter than the Qutub Minar.
According to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee report 2022-23, 11,352 tonnes of garbage is generated every day in the homes of the capital. Of these, 7,352 tons of garbage are recycled or electricity is generated from them. But the remaining 4,000 tons of garbage are dumped in the landfill. That is, 35 percent of the garbage generated each day is dumped in landfills. The result is that due to so much garbage that is thrown away every day, a mountain of garbage is formed.
A study in the scientific journal Lancet shows that people who live within a five-kilometer radius of a landfill have a higher risk of asthma, tuberculosis, diabetes and depression.
Jam problem is also common
The Delhi Government’s Economic Survey 2023-24 shows that more than 85 lakh vehicles are registered in the capital. An average of more than 6 lakh new vehicles are registered here every year. Apart from this, more than 11 lakh vehicles enter and exit Delhi every day. Two- and four-wheelers are increasing at the rate of 15 percent every year.
Due to all this, the problem of traffic jam is becoming common for the people of Delhi. TomTom, an organization based in the Netherlands, publishes a traffic index every year. According to this, the capital Delhi is the 44th most congested city in the world. The congestion level here was 48 percent. This means that travel time here is 48 percent longer.
Think of it as if it takes you 30 minutes to get somewhere. But in Delhi this time will be completed in 44 minutes instead of 30 minutes. That is to say, there is so much traffic here that the same journey, which can be done in half an hour, takes more than a quarter of an hour in Delhi.
On an average, it takes 21 minutes and 40 seconds to cover 10 kilometers in Delhi. The average speed of trains in the morning is 26 km per hour, while in the afternoon it reaches 22 km per hour. Delhiites spend an average of 81 hours a year, i.e. 3 days and 9 hours, in traffic.
