NEW DELHI: In an online poll, about 35 per cent population of Delhi claimed they are willing to leave Delhi due to dangerous pollution level. Despite the concerns shown by the Supreme Court, NGT, Centre and other authorities, the pollution levels in Delhi NCR remain to be at a critical level.
Online community platform LocalCircles conducted a 3-poll survey to understand how pollution is affecting the citizens of Delhi NCR and what they are doing to cope with it. The survey received over 23,000 votes from 12,000+ unique citizens living in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad.
The first question asked that assuming central and state governments continue to enforce against pollution the way they have in the last 3 years, what will their plan be to come with the Delhi/NCR pollution.
Shockingly, 35 per cent said they would like to leave Delhi NCR and move somewhere else. 26 per cent said they will stay in Delhi NCR and equip themselves with things like air purifier, masks, more plants etc. 12 per cent said they would stay in Delhi NCR but would get away during this period. The last 27 per cent said that they have no option to stay in the city and cope with the pollution.
High prices of masks and air purifiers have also caused frustration among people. Many companies have launched masks but the prices of the good ones which give protection against PM 2.5 are on the higher side. Air purifiers also range from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 25,000 taking them out of the reach of a large middle-class population.
On the question on how the Delhi NCR air pollution has affected them and their family in the last 3 weeks, the results show a worrisome picture. 57 per cent said they are having health issues related to pollution but have not visited the doctor or a hospital yet. 23 per cent said 1 or more of their family members have already visited a doctor, while 7 per cent said 1 or more of their family members have already visited a hospital. A meagre 13 per cent said pollution has had no impact on them or their family.
In the final poll, 56 per cent citizens said that they do not have a maskanor a air purifier to protect themselves for the Delhi pollution. 8 per cent said they have an air purifier while 15 per cent said they have a mask. 21 per cent have both mask and air purifier at home.