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Journalism of Courage
L V Nilesh, a former IAS officer, has stirred a debate on social media after drawing a comparison between the air quality in Delhi and in the US, where he currently lives.
According to Nilesh, if he had not moved out of India, he would have been forced to “live and breathe in the mess otherwise known as the North Block Secretariat.” Taking to X and pointing out the sharp difference in air quality, Nilesh shared a side-by-side image, one capturing Delhi’s smog-covered skyline and another showing him against the clear, picturesque backdrop of Mount Rainier National Park in the United States.
“Note the stark contrast,” he wrote, contrasting the capital’s hazardous pollution with the clean, unpolluted surroundings abroad.
See the viral post here:
The post — which garnered over a million views — comes at a time when Delhi is battering high pollution levels, raising serious health concerns. “Well yes absolutely true sir you would have to had lived in this air… But it’s so easy for you t sit miles away in a different continent altogether and tweet from your desk… ’ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country,’ John F Kennedy,” a user wrote.
“It is good for you and delhi. The biggest problem of Delhi of population. More people means More emissions means More pollution,” another user commented. “You should keep your views to yourself since you have left the country for your sole benefits. Your verbal pollution is far more than present the AQI !!” a third user reacted.
Meanwhile, the Air Quality Index (AQI) across the National Capital Region (NCR) entered the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday as the monitoring station at Vikas Sadan recorded a reading of 314 at 7 am. In Ghaziabad too, pollution levels remained ‘very poor’ with an AQI of 334. However, data from the Loni monitoring station showed AQI in the ‘severe’ category at an alarming 420.
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data recorded at 7 am, Greater Noida and Noida reported AQI readings of 339 and 342, respectively. The AQI scale categorises air quality as good (0–50), satisfactory (51–100), moderately polluted (101–200), poor (201–300), very poor (301–400), and severe (401–500). Higher AQI readings indicate increasingly unhealthy air.
