03 November 2012, 11:00 AM IST
Delhi, as you all know, is full of Bhavans of all sorts. We spend a lot of our tax-payers money so that nobody knows what really goes on inside, Santhanam Commission Report of mid-'60s is such a threat, you know? So.
Across Lodhi Gardens on the Lodhi Road side stands in grand splendour a building known as "Mausam Bhavan". With an annual budget of almost 4 billion rupees, what they are able to achieve is something many of us as seafarers know, and finesse out sense of humour on. Met reports, especially predictions, were and often are like astrological forecasts. Which is why we shippies also acquire such dry humour as natural traits. But that's not the real issue.
The real issue from the local Delhi point of view is a multi-coloured LED board outside this office, facing the road, giving us indicators on weather and air quality and other such information. And therein lies the rub - is this information fact, or fiction? Fiction, as the saying goes, is often stranger than truth. In a Delhi where a New scam is released every other hour, can the weather and pollution information afford not to be related to every other scam?
Truth, a serious allegation of truth or honesty against you, as any santri/mantri/babu will tell you, can present you with an enquiry against you, worse, you can be transferred. So. The board is there. It tells you what they want you to know. Which is not the truth. But.
The said board is supposed to give us not just weather conditions, but also air quality and other pollution related data, a bit difficult to imagine in the sylvan surroundings nearby. And just as the peacocks still wander around and howl from inside Mausam Bhavan, the data on the board keeps telling us, "all is well".
Is it?
If you've been in Delhi over the last few days, then you know one thing - what you are breathing is a potentially life threatening cocktail consisting of more than just fumes, smoke, oil and dust. The last time it was so bad, that you could almost bite into it, was late '90s - when the war against lead in petrol and reduction of diesel in public transport gained momentum.
Matters have reached a point where it is likely that what is coming out of your motor vehicle's tail pipe is cleaner than what went in. This is no tall tale. I crap thee not. Very often, when I head off somewhere rural, the fresh air hits me like a fist in the stomach. I can't sleep. The body doesn't need more than 4 hours of sleep time out of the full day there. Here in Delhi, our bodies need, 8 hours, more?
Actually, that's the real reason why things are going from bad to worse in India, everybody's asleep. In Delhi. Because of the foul air. In between, it had gone away, and we saw blue skies too.
Well, the crap in the air is back again, sky is as grey as the English Channel in winter, and this time around we also have all these scams, so many people rushing from studio to studio, adding to the pollution. There is an uncomfirmed rumour that the pollutants hanging around in the air can be collected, mixed with water, and used as a cooking medium. If you can find cooking gas, that is. Aren't the bread pakoras tasting better lately?
Oh yes, as any Delhiite will tell you, they had to climb flyovers so that their wives could spot the Karva Chauth moon. What they will not tell you is that it is likely that through the gloom they could only spot the high mast lights. The moon's a balloon, sure, and David Niven said that. Not just me.
On their side, the Delhi State Pollution Control Board and the Committee and the rest of them have simply stopped displaying data from the badly impacted parts of Delhi like ITO Crossing, Moolchand Crossing, Ashram Crossing and most of Shahdara. In addition, if you look closely, the "prescribed standards" have simply been removed where things are terrible. No prescribed standards, no problems, all is well?
Don't believe me? Take a look here:-
http://www.dpccairdata.com/dpccairdata/display/index.php
Dear fellow Delhiites, do you remember what fresh air in Delhi tasted like? It will need more than just prayers to fix things.
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