(Greenpeace India organised flash mob at Delhi Haat and Select City Walk, Saket)
Sunday, New Delhi: On Sunday, Greenpeace India organised a flash mob at Delhi Haat and Select City Walk, a mall in Saket to raise awareness on air pollution and its impacts in the city. Around 30 performers took part in the flash-mob. The weekend activity under the campaign ‘Clean Air Nation’ saw a good number of people turning up for the event at both the places. Awareness initiative was appreciated by several citizens and members from civil society.
According to a report released by Greenpeace Southeast Asia, India is estimated to bear 10.7 lakh crore (US$150 billion), or 5.4% of India’s GDP annually. It also suggested that an estimated one million deaths each year and approx. 980,000 estimated preterm births, equating to an annual economic loss of 10.7 lakh crore (US$150 billion) is attributed to air pollution from fossil fuel in India.
Earlier this year, anannual Airpocalypse-IV report by Greenpeace India, identified Jharia in Jharkhand as the most polluted city in India in terms of PM10. According to the report, Delhi has shown signs of improvement compared to the last couple of years years but still remains more than 3.5 times more polluted than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and more than 11 times the World Health Organization (WHO) prescribed limits for PM10.
John Paul, a volunteer present at the event said, “Flash mob provides a visual learning to catch eyeballs of people and let them know about the worsening environment. To me, it gives an opportunity to introspect my individual actions too, how can we as individuals reduce the consumption so that it promotes sustainability.”
“Through such public activities we are not only trying to create awareness among people but also asking the governments to act immediately on pollution. Number of reports have suggested that air pollution is causing great loss to India, both in terms of health and economy,” said Avinash Chanchal, Senior Campaigner at Greenpeace India.