Overview

2022 Delhi Air Pollution refers to memes and discussions about the air quality index score of Delhi, the capital city of India, dropping to hazardous levels in the month of November 2022. Reactions to the change in air quality generally revolved around low visibility through the thick smog, and how breathing the air in Delhi is worse than smoking cigarettes. The dip in air quality is also often attributed to the festival of Diwali in October, which is accompanied by the lighting of firecrackers.

Background

The history of pollution in India's capital stretches back to 1987, when the issue of air and water pollution in Delhi entered the Supreme Court's agenda in the late decade, and periodic statements and orders are issued from the bench.^[11] By the 1990s, Delhi had reached among the world's worst urban level of air quality. Air pollution's heavy impacts on human health, including infant mortality and asthma, leads to sustained efforts for improvement by Indian civil society. Several small and medium-size industries are relocated from Delhi as a measure to control pollution.^[12]

By the mid-2000s, Central and South Delhi remain high air pollution zones, but winds carried the smog to cleaner residential areas as well. ^[13] By the 2010,s emergency plans to tackle the city’s annual crisis are reported to have failed in the last years.^[14] Delhi’s pollution levels reach high enough to affect the respiratory and cardiac systems of even healthy people. The city now ranks among the most polluted in the world.

An August 2022 survey of air quality in 1,650 cities by WHO and 7,000 cities by Health Effects Institute deemed Delhi to be the worst of any major city in the world. ^[1] India has the world's highest death rate from chronic respiratory illnesses, with Delhi's poor air quality irreversibly damaging the lungs of 2.2 million or 50 percent of all children.^[2]

On 25 November 2019, the Supreme Court of India made statements on the pollution in Delhi saying "Delhi has become worse than narak (hell)".^[3] Supreme Court Justice Arun Mishra said that it is better to get explosives and kill everyone.^[4]

Online Reactions

On November 3rd 2022, Delhi’s Anand Vihar recorded an air quality index of 460, South Delhi’s Nehru Nagar recorded 433 and Sirifort had an air quality reading of 423. The overall AQI in Delhi was 396, just a few notches below the severe category.^[5] This led to reactions and discourse about the quality of life in Delhi.

On November 3rd, Indians began reacting to news of the severe drop in Delhi's air quality. On November 3rd, Twitter^[6] user @drriteshmalik posted a photo of Delhi from 2017^[7], and made a joke about smoking 32 cigarettes by just breathing the air, gathering over 7,000 likes in a day (seen below). ^[8] On the same day on November 3rd, Twitter^[9] user @sagarcasm posted a tweet about how smoking in Delhi is healthier than doing yoga, gathering over 12,000 likes in a day (seen below).

On November 4th, Twitter^[10] user @HaramiParindey posted a joke about Delhi pollution and smoking, gathering over 2,000 likes in under a day (seen below).

When you ask a chain smoker how he feels about Delhi pollution pic.twitter.com/BzhH6q49DU

— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) November 4, 2022

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References