Aljazeera. Well as a new. Delhi india sprawling siege of government is the deadliest of all the worlds capitals exposing millions of its inhabitants to shocking range of life threatening risperdal diseases so why is it so polluted and what if anything is being done to remedy. It was born and raised in the city to find out. Delhi. A vibrant bustling metropolis with over 20000000 inhabitants the capital of a rapidly growing india expected to be the most populous city on the planet in the next decades. Its also my home i was born in delhi and ive lived most of my life but ive been away for a few years and in that time delhi has been making the headlines for an alarming reason its become the most polluted capital city in the world and its residents say theres snow leaving bison by the air they breathe air pollution is estimated to be the hard highest cause of death in india killing over a 1000000 people every year nearly 12000 people died in that lead 2017 because of the citys bad air some doctors are calling this a Public Health emergency. So ive come back to find out why like many big cities around the world this pollution from too much traffic and from industry but there are also specific local causes delis geographies one is another what im keen to know is why cant more be done to stop this i also want to hear from those worst affected the sick and dying and those on the frontline the levels of pollution are too high its a its a very dangerous situation dr ivan kumar has been a lung cancer surgeon in delhi for over 30 years most of his patients used to be male smokers in their fiftys and sixtys but thats all changed when we analyzed over data last year we follow. And the price of 5050. 00 distribution between more goods and socalled nonsmokers from hardly any lady 40 percent female then age group from fiftys and sixtys we were now seeing patients in thirtys and fortys and nearly 8 percent of my patients were under 40 years of age i rarely see along with just being even when im operating on teenagers we are fighting big black black deposits and much of this dr kumar believes is down to the citys dirty air. The only requirement for you to be affected by the ill effects of air pollution is that you should be breathing. To get a better sense of what that means i had back out to the streets its early summer and the city is gearing up for National Elections pollution levels are generally lower at this time of the year than in the winter. But things are still pretty bad. Ive met up with ron aqsa taria who has developed an equity wanted to ring network with piety con for and Duke University to my surprise he just my attention 1st to something quite mundane the road sweeping almost like 50 micrograms off of dust which was picking up just when that activity was happening ron extra vice monitors fine particles in the air including something called pm 2. 00 which is smaller than the weight of human hair this tiny particle is a mighty killer it has been linked to nearly 3000000 deaths around the world in 2017 but more than half of them occurring in china and india. Although the Indian Government disputes mortality figures to. Linked to absolution b. M. P. Work by one of the most harmful pollutants to humans you know it goes deeper than the body it settles in the lungs and over an extended eurasian you know it definitely caused all the respiratory problems many disorders people like i was fostered but the people who are actually doing the work theyre exposed to this on an extended duration day after day. Theres more to the east apple usually than just a good dust bowl. And so we set off to take measurements around the 6 x. 7 right now we have quite a bit larger than the field 2. 00 level here is higher than 60 in the last 24 hours stand out how much of a problem is that you know. The rate of that you call them or 30 to 35 percent of their lives where you should break up going over the top unless it is regulated or keep going. With around 10000000. 00 vehicles fighting for space in dallas crowded streets its unavoidable in sadly ironic that among those in the news them are some of convict him on the citys policing crisis. Im a 26 year old new delhi resident about 6 months ago i got diagnosed with stage 4 met a static lung cancer. Priyanka jin is a Digital Marketing consultant an only child she lives with her mother in south delhi the right lung is completely damaged the cancer has spread so much that its just not visible on extra has its less than a year ago she used to drive for an hour and a half one way to get to her Office Nearly 25 kilometers away. Now many of her journeys to and from the hospital the citys evolution has been a significant contribution to my health issue it was very very difficult because i was you know working i was living my daily life i was happy and then all of a sudden i started experiencing these breathing issues i would go breathless and then one day i was hospitalized i still feel that. Im not sure if i would even make it for the new year and i dont know how many how many days do i have. Let me take about it is pretty evident that shes too young to have any cancer at all and then to have a longer answer which is classically related to smoking is almost impossible because priyanka is dr new patient i think he has been on colleges in delhi for the past 7 years hes noticed a rise in the lung cancer among his patients we used to talk about smoking go back every day for 25 years causes cancer or any sex so its quite obvious that that may not be able to use their gums to Chemical Industries somebody whos exposed well shes not exposed to that either then you start thinking of Family History and she doesnt have the idea that you have to stop and. Pollution actually be your reasons for a cancer somebody dark young theres enough evidence in the world that pollution can go dark and i really wonder if that was the main cord to betray factor if so then it could be in accord with the latest state of global air report on air quality and health it states that 33 percent of lung cancer deaths in india can be attributed. Living in a city like delhi your directly but having it in handy. When all look and surf warming chemicals not for one day. Or do you been doing this for years together i can not see a stopper to say thats katie and rhonda keeps me some more disturbing news in the past 6 months he has put monitors in 15 of. The city hes noticed high levels of pollution even your hospitals in a neighborhood where i grew up. This is bad news for patients to risk of having respiratory ailments from the air that they breathe is very high for you know places like these it is particularly more important to make sure that the air is far more cleaner. It also helps explain why we could see a lot of nebulized and mosques being sold around us people used to buy headache. Pain killers buying breathing about it is which is becoming a medical equipment you know requiring still the unfortunate reality you know what is happening to the i dont doubt. Its been shown by studies that men of lung capacity in generation born and brought up in the new cities like they really is much less than their counterparts in polluted cities. Because some of the most exposed to the cities and pollution i meet them just a few kilometers away from where i live a Poor Community that helps clean up danny but is he clearly vulnerable to its dirty and. Covered up her her. Name. But actually. Its a Learning Center run by an n. G. O. S children surprise me at the knowledge of how full eating their daily chores are but they see they have no other choice. But to. Fire you must hire a leading cause of Household Condition the Indian Government has made a commitment to replace the. With gas cylinders and 50000000. 00 homes according to official figures almost 71000000. 00 have benefited from this so far but many of the poorest communities like these have yet to be reached. By. Being here has made me realize that dennys absolution comes from many sources big and small. Its only worse by the citys unique geography and atmospheric conditions pollution from other areas gets blown here and then gets trapped. What is surprising is that the fight for clean air was 1st spotted decades ago and partially won but experts say the gains have now been lost we cleaned up the public transport sector we cleaned up the auto rickshaws the grass polluting sector but then over the top houser meant repeating it to 2013 the private freight cars warmed in our cities because we completely neglected public transport and as it is out of it we have this explosion of vehicles so need on arayan was part of a campaign that led to public transport being switched to compressed natural gas or c n g we just got complacent. We just believed that the problem had gone away but what we forgot is that any city like delhi will continue to grow and the challenges will increase so nor city in the world the job is done and i think for a city like delhi the the the knowledge is particularly painful because it affects our health every lucian is a Public Health emergency something we need to be densely what it about. So what are the authorities doing here to tackle the most obvious causes of delhis dirty air. Transport sector is one of the biggest contribution to the citys abolition this is made worse by the fact that theres a still real shortfall in the public transport system the Delhi Government says its taking steps to fix this problem. Last year then he made the commitment that we will bring in 1000. 00 we are looking buses this is the largest commitment by any city in india. Im. Just mention the Delhi Government has been working on an ambitious electric vehicle plan for the city if we are able to achieve the goal of ensuring that 25 percent of all new to start way goes in there are electric wiccans in 5 years from now our goal is that in bengal going to look at 100 percent the transition and reduce this 30 to 40 percent its contribution of transport sector for pollution from despite these commitments the Delhi Government has been accused of not doing enough in the 4 years of the Delhi Government not a single bus has been added they have given a plan for a power let me buses and for another 2000 ordinary buses but honestly. Even that is too little why this is such a short fall of buses will be strange for many people around the world to know that the elected government off there lee does not have any control over the land or which it can set of public transport facilities will bust me pause and and the Central Government can cause that and unfortunately the Central Government has not allowed their government any access to more lanka will these kind of facilities. Even when the authorities here do take action matters elsewhere can cause problems down the stations are a case in point. The citys law school fired plant rather poor was shut down nastia. Despite that the problem hasnt gone away it is very clear that air pollution is not a local problem it is a regional problem and what one finds a little ironical is that on one hand you close down by the border because it is polluting delhi but on the other hand new power plants have been approved which i have read in 100 kilometers of been in my own mental lawyer rig that has been fighting for cleaner emissions from power plants the government of india came out with a fairly progressive emission norms for power plants the idea is that they will install new equipments as a result of which the pollution level will go down by almost 30 to 40 percent. The deadline was initially fixed for 2017 but the plants are yet to switch to cleaner gnomes something which was hailed as one of the very important decisions taken by the present government to deal with the Environmental Crisis has been simply put in the back burner because there was no interest by the Power Companies and nor interest by the government to enforce these new norms. Dirty coal plants are a problem familiar to other parts of the world india has another particularly does. Sting to have pollution challenge. The fumes from millions of firecrackers set off during the hindu festival of the valley. Its the single largest sore on the atmosphere of delhi nearly 2. 5 percent of a new york pollution is caused by those 3 days of fireworks cobalt shank on the line and is a Senior Supreme Court advocates who joined other parents in filing a petition for clean air on behalf of their toddlers my middle child was having serious broken issues because of the amount of pollutants we had in the school to the sniffling and coughing tossing and turning at night the toddler skiis move the Supreme Court to fast ban the sale of firecrackers and lead to allow them with strict conditions but despite this millions of firecrackers was set off. And its this kind of ignorance that has brought children outside the Environment Ministry to ask for more Government Action on pollution will not be released completely were not. Leaving i dont believe. We are not if you dont believe. Me nobody gave evolutionism your would expect i have to have a bad heart. I accept it we are. In answer to these and other concerns authorities have introduced a slew of measures including planting trees around the City Building expressways and banning the import of dirty feel. In january 29000 delhi was among the cities listed in the countrys 1st ever National Clean air programme by the aquila he is still not good enough to go to india stop in. Vironment official to ask why i got figures from your office and the number of quality days in delhi last year was 0 which is quite alarming one of the critical factors in the quality is the mature logical fact the continuous layer of washed over daily or this does is the. They prevent the dispersal of it here because of the moisture level of the dispersal is very bad and that is why you rarely get to say a good day that said to have an absolute number of 0 good air quality days in delhi despite so much Government Intervention doesnt that surprise you well that just means that we need to do more work there is one point i would like to make it cannot and should not be the governments responsibility alone peoples participation is a huge thing unless that happens an individual start caring for the environment we will not be able to really clean up. The combative and labyrinth tiny chel of indian politics is also a barrier one of the most contentious issues has been the burning of rice stubble outside of delhi which leaves the city in a peak here is every winter commodity immigrants here struggle mightily but unfortunately they were in this common scenario or money saudia is Delhis Deputy chief minister he says the federal government must do more to bring down stubble fires outside the city of his consolation of the news and. Is Company Nothing is regional crisis one case cost and 2. 00 werent going to really come up with the entire solomon holmes and lawrence about a bargain with the cynically meeting symbol out there but meeting successful is a little calmer but historically reducible under saddam usually going to approach and anybody who plan malarkey. But i am saying to the delhi chief minister goldblum someone else i think pollution is too big a Public Health emergency for us to deteriorate into indias favorite game which is to blame another Political Party and get into screaming on television whats more says suneet on arayan the problem is not a lack of regulations its getting them in forced implementation is indias at police heel too because the institutions for governance for in force women are very disabled they are poor so there are enough orders that are there but our institutions really lack teet and according to data from the National CrimeRecords Bureau violators on to being prosecuted or sent to jail this is what the state of delhi has done it has not registered a single case and so theres no question of anybody getting convicted because theres no has been registered at all so that they get the straight and in all of them we dont have a single conviction basically means all of that is complying with the law there is no political gain and everybody complains with a lot of its definitely is not true either way they will not see such alarming level of pollution so it is a clear instance where the enforcement agencies have kept their eyes completely closed to every single violation that is happening in the state. As i go around the city makes shocking revelations still ring in my yes meanwhile delhi citizens continue to wrestle with Health Problems that pollution causes. But there is at least some good news for priyanka all of these blasts for us this big one is all kinds of this is 3 months ago a look at the seams can hear you see this doctors completely disappear you can see these black supporter of virtually gone except the smaller doctor excellent news for you go green how do we thank you they should scale so you think this is like increase but life is certainly really crazy lives for the goods its working you know what we dont bowl and you being nobody can predict believing hes a bad mouth so many years. Out on the streets campaigning is getting now although after you send has made it to Party Manifestos for the 1st time ever its still not a major election issue but for the recently bereaved family just outside delhi it became a matter of life and death. Struggle to beit means there were windows open there were is and she was asking for and she was. Some tall mara died a few weeks ago at the age of 35 she left behind her husband of a and her 10 year old son study on church who now wants to become a doctor i want to be an uncle no just because the cancer spreading in india continues to go to the streets so we have to stop 8 destroying. Every bit that its affecting my mom and some of the people. Im trying hard to become a fog. She was my best friend she wasnt my lover and she was a low its like. Meeting some of the worst affected. And has made me realise there is little time to lose in the fight folk clean up and. Grieving is the most important. Fact is that you know that youre doing every moment and thats your source of life. The government really needs to take it up as a one of its priorities before anything else. The air that we breathe is so polluted that its causing 1 so many deaths every day. As i leave. My beloved city is facing its greatest challenge from an invisible killer. And the government and citizens treat this as an emergency millions will continue to risk their lives just by creating. When is the last time you out on the streets. Whether on line you feel the weight of the system when you walk through each and every layer further and further into the jail or if you join us on say entry has to start from day one whether again youre in detention or youre incarcerated this is a dialogue everyone has a voice so far there are states that supply kalashnikov rifles to varying accounts but i want to give people the reason for joining the Global Income the same amount is iraq more than 7 decades ago a country was split into. Anything and. All it took was a pan a map and a collapsing empire when the british had to draw a line they pulled 67200 have been to india before aljazeera examines the violent birth of india and pakistan and asks what the future holds for these neighbors partition borders of blood. This is al jazeera. Hello im daryn jordan this is the news hour live from doha coming up in the next 60 minutes Turkeys Parliament passed a vote on Troop Deployment in libya and tripoli is fight against the warlords after all greece and cyprus are expected to sign a pipeline agreement with turkey and libyas plans in the same area. Taiwans top military officer is among 8 people have been killed in a helicopter crash. And a dramatic rescue