Original subtitles

In Delhi's Punjabi Bagh,

it was over 200 between 7 and 8 this morning.

Even other cities recorded high levels,

Kanpur had 222,

Lucknow had 266

with Hyderabad coming in at 232.

At these levels, the government's own advice says

stop prolonged or heavy exertion,

stop outdoor activities in the early morning,

go for a short walk instead of a jog.

In some circumstances where pollution levels are above 400,

regardless of your category,

all physical outdoor activities must be put to a stop.

Here we are outside the stadium...

We keep hearing about the Air Quality Index,

the unbearable heatwaves and the lack of water.

And frankly,

I just cannot conceive living without ACs and air purifiers.

I actually grew up as an air-conditioned child,

who couldn't even imagine the natural world outside the city.

The same year I was born, in 1991,

India opened its economy to the free market.

For the last 30 years,

India had been projected to be the world's fastest growing economy.

But I wonder,

who objectively benefits from this growth?

Meanwhile,

scientists say the last time the planet was this hot,

it was hit by a gigantic asteroid

that wiped out almost all

animal species from the face of the earth.

Today is the hottest day in the national capital, Delhi,

with 49.2 degrees Celsius.

This time in the national capital,

the temperature has gone up by eight degrees

from what's usually expected in June.

June is also the hottest month of the year.

What makes matters worse is the heatwave.

Heatwave conditions prevail during the Indian summer.

4 to 5 days of heatwave conditions which usually give way to rain

or a change in wind pattern,

which actually abates the heatwave conditions.

But this time around,

we consecutively had about 30 days of heatwave,

which makes matters unbearable.

In 2010, we had about 21 instances of heatwave.

By 2017, we had 500 instances of heatwave conditions.

It is nature's blessing...

the temperature is not in your or my control.

It is due to nature as to why it's increasing. Right?

Or maybe the scientists could tell us as to why it's increasing.

It's not as if a rickshaw driver would be able to tell you

why the temperature is increasing.

Even the government will not be able to do it.

And can the government's scientific research make it rain?

That couldn't happen either, could it?

Not even a single leaf moves without God's will.

Going into an AC'ed space causes more diseases.

AC's are only for the rich, not the poor.

Because they are always in an AC'ed environment.

AC'ed car, AC'ed house, and an AC in the office.

If a poor guy, a rickshaw driver goes into an AC'ed room,

and then goes out into the heat, he will fall ill.

AC's are only for those who are always in it.

For the longest time,

the Yamuna River was the lifeline of Delhi.

The King's Red Fort was located at the end of the river.

As he was the final user,

no-one dared pollute that water.

Growing up, I never saw a clean river.

To me, rivers were either black or white.

30 years ago,

this water was so clean that people would drink it.

We used to drink it too. We even cooked with it.

As the water becomes increasingly dirty, so...

The prayers and rituals we used to conduct, all that is vanishing.

We will not lose faith.

The mother (river) will always remain the mother.

Now, our condition is such that we look for clients,

hoping they come to us,

so that we get some work and can earn a few pennies.

Our priesthood has ended

and now the livelihood earned from boating is almost over.

If somebody comes nowadays,

they see the state of the water and turn around.

Earlier there were 2 drains.

Slowly that has increased to 32 drains.

What the Lord has given us, we have totally...

totally destroyed that nature. It is us humans who have done it.

Even all the turtles have disappeared.

All the plants and animals.

That's all gone. Now, there is nothing here.

Now, the heat is so unbearable.

The rains don't come on time. Nothing is on its usual schedule.

Even the gods have changed. We humans have changed.

Everything has changed.

Right now, if the sun were to set even for an hour,

all the temperature would cool down.

The way things are, the sun is bound to become useless.

What else can it do?

Now, even the gods can't help us.

Only humans can do something about this.

If we have to go to the office, or anywhere such,

the first thing we have to do is fill our water.

The person who is always concerned with filling their water tank

can do something useful in that time.

Now the tanker will come. And there go the children.

What is the point of leaving school for water?

We've been hoping and hoping for the last 30-40 years,

that maybe this politician or the next one will do it.

"You'll get water within 10 days!"

But after winning, they forget all their promises.

Even if you try to borrow water from someone, you won't get it.

You can borrow money, but you cannot borrow water.

Take whatever you want.

You'll be offered milk or tea but he won't give you water.

The much-awaited monsoon season came on 8th June,

usually it comes on 1st June.

This time around, two-thirds of the country got flooded.

It also snowed during the monsoon season,

which hasn't happened in the recent past.

So, the trend I'm seeing recently is

when it starts to rain, it doesn't stop.

But other days, it doesn't rain at all.

Monsoon used to be a source of celebration,

enabling us to feel the power of the natural world.

But a season that meant the renewal of life

turned into an epidemic.

Breeding mosquitoes thrive in the submerged city

and we exterminate them with chemicals toxic to all life

as a remedy to our own survival.

I mean, we've also made the plants like us.

They get one illness or another...

Just like man started getting illnesses,

similarly, the plants have also started getting illnesses.

Now, look, I'll speak for myself.

If I don't use chemicals or spray any fertilizers,

I'll get a harvest of 100 bags.

Now, if we apply other methods, apply scientific methods,

then I'll surely get a harvest of 150-200 bags.

So, it's all for money, isn't it?

I increased the harvest for money. Why else would I increase it?

How can we get rid of pollution? How?

The industries will keep going, goods will be made,

cars will continue to run on the streets.

How will it reduce? I don't... I can't say anything about it.

I'm a driver by profession.

If I can't be a farmer, I can at least earn my living by driving.

So, I haven't thought too deeply about it.

1.2 million people died in India due to air pollution.

That's about 10% of all deaths that took place in that year.

It's the third biggest killer in India,

more than smoking, traffic accidents or terrorism.

In one week, the amount of people that died because of air pollution

is more than the amount of casualties in the India-Pakistan war.

Minsters are saying they'll bring down pollution by 20-30%

in a matter of 3 years.

The big question being: how will they manage to solve this problem?

Pollution levels will be very high on Sunday

when the match is to be played

but even though the winds are expected to pick up speed,

air quality is likely to be in the very poor category,

a notch lower than today.

A quarter of Delhi's pollution is in Punjabi and Haryana,

where many farmers are setting fire to their stubble.

For years now, no government, BJP, Congress or even AAP

has been able to cut this effectively.

When there's a fog, nothing is visible at that time.

Then, we use the yellow light or switch on the indicators.

But still if nothing is visible...

otherwise, if there's a big vehicle passing by,

if there's absolutely no visibility, if there's a truck passing by,

we move our vehicle behind it and drive accordingly.

In our minds, we wonder why we start coughing,

and then we are forced to think why do we cough only in these days?

The first time I caught a cough, I ignored it,

thinking, maybe I am sick.

The second time also I didn't think much.

But the third time I caught it...

We also watch the news on TV that Delhi is polluted.

We ourselves feel that pollution is high.

The smog... We can't see half... 2 kilometres ahead.

It's not mist, it's fog, you know...

It's not fog. What do you... what do you call it in English? So...

Because the air is humid, it coagulates in the air.

I have a 4-year old son.

Since I brought him here, he has been falling ill every day.

I took him home the other day,

after 3 days in the children's hospital.

He has been ill every day since I brought him here.

As soon as he eats anything, he vomits it out.

He needs treatment every day.

And he was completely fine in the village.

Then, in foreign countries, there...

where they have fewer vehicles, their economy must be zero, then?

It's always the poor that get trampled,

like little ants.

There must be some solution for this. Every problem has a solution.

50% of the lungs of all children in Delhi

have been irreversibly damaged because of pollution.

We have taken up 14 spots of the 50 most polluted in the world.

One of the scales that you judge how developed a country is,

is the per cap it a steel consumption.

We are always working towards making things better, cheaper, etc.

How we are able to do that is through science.

Obviously, we have now reached a point where

instead of using, we abuse,

that's where all this pollution and problems come.

We have to control that.

But you can't deny that we should stop

industrialisation or evolution,

that needs to go on.

10,000 years from now,

people will blame this generation that they allowed this to happen

and that is the reason for all this mess in those days.

We don't know what effect it will have.

This is what nature does. It allows you...

to go do more and more modern crimes.

Then with a swift swipe, in one action,

it kills everybody and corrects the whole thing

for the next 10,000 years.

Arrange a place for us to live.

Yes. You can speak. Wait a bit.

Rolling.

We are in the national capital on yet another severely polluted day.

We were here on this spot earlier this morning,

which is the worst time of the day.

Pollution levels were at 463 points.

That's the average as far as the AQI is concerned.

At this point in time, no change, it's still at 463.

The sun is playing hide and seek,

so the pollution levels should improve

but there's been no improvement.

However, when we take into account the PM2.5 levels,

at this point in time, they are more than what they were in the morning,

at 539 points.

It is the most polluted point as far as the day is concerned.

Here, we have little kids.

The schools have been shut,

but the ones that are most affected are the homeless,

who have to be outside day in and day out.

They breathe this highly toxic, poisonous air

especially at night, when it is the worst.

As you can see, there's so much traffic all around,

which means that this area is more polluted than most parts of Delhi.

- Okay, what's your name? - Dinesh.

Okay, do you have problems due to pollution? No?

- Child, do you have any problems? - Yes.

Yesterday, my chest was hurting a lot.

- I see. - I coughed very hard.

- I see. Okay. - Enough. That's all.

Madam, what problems are you facing due to pollution?

Because of pollution, my eyes are hurting,

I feel suffocated, a burning sensation.

You know, pollution affects the poor the most

and they do not contribute to pollution as much

as the people who have it better in life.

A huge lesson to be learned.

Something needs to be done.

Just shutting schools and the ordinary formula

is not going to cut it.

We need to practise. What more can we do?

Bravo!

If we close our eyes and we think of a colour

related to what we are smelling,

it's just black.

Jet black.

It's the smell of extinguished fires.

In scientific words, we can say,

unburnt carbon is present.

We used to make one car every 3 minutes.

I could see iron ore getting converted into steel,

taking the form of a car and getting shipped out of this factory.

One truck every 20 minutes.

6 cars getting out of the factory.

Where do we get our tyres from?

We cut down forest, establish a rubber plantation,

drip the sap out of the rubber tree,

collect this huge chunk of raw rubber,

convert it into vulcanised rubber,

make a tyre out of it,

use it for a few months

sometimes days, sometimes even a few hours,

and then what happens to this tyre and all the rubber?

Will it ever go back to the soil, go back to the tree?

That doesn't happen.

You see, most of the ancient civilisations of the entire world,

have evolved in forests.

This would have been what Delhi was

a few hundred years ago.

They are saying to wait in here.

We are supposed to wait.

Sir, will you speak about pollution or only about the weather?

- Weather. - Okay.

Tell us the condition "off the record."

It will improve.

It will improve tomorrow, right? Today, it appears to be quite bad.

Today, it's too much. Just like it was on 3rd November.

When it went up to 494. It feels like that.

- It was 460 in the morning, sir. - It's severe plus.

Hmm, severe plus, right? Critical condition.

It's a health emergency.

So it won't be severe tomorrow, then?

Hmm?

Pollution levels are in the severe plus category

in the national capital.

Will this turn out to be the worst polluted day of the season?

Well, it depends a lot on the weather.

To find out what the weather conditions are going to be like,

we're joined by the DJ of the Met Office, Mr Mohapatra.

Please tell us, will the weather get better

and when will it get better?

In the morning, the wind was calm.

Gradually, the wind is changing.

In the afternoon, we are expecting south-westerly winds.

Speed may go up to 5 to 10 km/h.

Again, the wind will change tomorrow.

So, Sir, we can say that things will improve by Saturday?

Compared to today it will be better on Saturday.

But for things to calm down and to become better

we need the winds to pick up speed so we can say by Monday?

The weather is improving. By Monday, it will improve.

Sorry, Sir. Thank you so much, Sir.

It was in fact the most polluted day of the year.

So, I set out to capture the deadly airborne particles on my camera.

There they are.

If you split one hair in tens of pieces,

that's how small these particles are.

Almost invisible to our naked eyes.

I see them as poisonous darts, piercing our lungs.

Suck. Blow.

Keep blowing. Keep blowing. Don't stop. Keep blowing.

Keep blowing. Keep blowing. Keep blowing. Now, suck.

Use more force.

More.

This was from the throat, now from the stomach.

Blow! Keep blowing. Very good. Keep blowing.

Keep blowing. Don't stop. Keep blowing. Keep blowing.

Keep blowing. Keep blowing. Keep blowing. Keep blowing.

Now, suck hard.

Blow!

Blow with a jolt. Suck.

Blow. Suck.

Blow. Keep blowing. Keep blowing. Keep blowing.

Keep blowing. Keep blowing. Keep blowing. Keep blowing.

Take it off. Take it off.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Why does the government work at all?

Why even does the government have any work?

They are the sovereigns. They are serving the people.

People don't want to die.

It is their duty to the people to ensure this doesn't happen.

We choose them to represent us and work for us.

They're contractors basically. This is their duty.

Technically, it is their duty.

If they don't do that, that is a different thing.

Why is it their duty?

It's in the constitution that they are serving the people of India.

That is the sole purpose of any government.

To serve the society.

You won't believe, actually, if it's a 12-story building...

Now, we don't even know about the sun,

where it rises from and where it sets.

Earlier it used to be dark,

and because of the darkness the lights would sparkle.

Now, it's bright everywhere. All the time.

All of Noida is always bright.

My childhood was all spent here, in the fields here.

When one's childhood is spent in the fields, and then it goes away,

then it doesn't feel nice.

Like, if a mother goes far away, it doesn't feel nice.

All those who have sold it, must have sold it to the banks.

Maybe people don't consider the land as their mother.

We consider the land our mother. Mother Earth.

Here are the top developments in the Coronavirus pandemic.

492 cases are now in the country,

9 people have died in India.

48 districts have announced a complete lockdown,

partial curbs have been announced in Uttar Pradesh,

Madhya Pradesh as well as in Odisha.

This includes 80 districts where COVID-19 cases have been confirmed.

India was mentioned at the WHO press conference

where they said the future of the pandemic

depends on how India handles it

and India must lead the way.

We have 4 landfills like this in Delhi.

The highest points around the city.

If this is what development looks like,

let's imagine what would a world without development look like.

It's 50 Celsius outside and I'm turning on the AC.