‘Daughter warned by teacher to not play outside’: US Ambassador on Delhi’s air

Speaking about the use of coal to run the city, Garcetti said, “It (Department of Water and Power) is the largest municipal utility in USA. There was a time when the utility was predominantly run on coal.”

United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti

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United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Thursday said that pollution in Delhi reminds him of Los Angeles back in the day. He also said his daughter at school was warned by her teacher to not go outside to play.

“On a day like this in Delhi, it brings back memories of growing up in Los Angeles where the air was the most polluted anywhere in America. Where like today, we were given warnings by our teachers that you cannot go outside to play, just as my daughter was given by her teacher today as I dropped her off to school,” he said at the Energy Transition Dialogues organised by Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet.

Los Angeles saw episodes of thick smog and polluted air, especially in the 1950s. The city’s air was famously polluted till the 1990s and while improvements in AQI have been seen in recent times, it continues to be among the most polluted cities in the United States.

Speaking about the use of coal to run the city, Garcetti said, “It (Department of Water and Power) is the largest municipal utility in USA. There was a time when the utility was predominantly run on coal.”

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai, meanwhile, said that while the air quality had dipped in the past few days, Delhi had seen the highest number of good to moderate air days since 2017 (barring 2020).

He also sought more cooperation between the Centre and neighbouring states to curb pollution.

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