1 00:00:01,966 --> 00:00:05,366 JUDY WOODRUFF: There is a toxic brew in much of the air over India, sparked by everything 2 00:00:06,733 --> 00:00:09,333 from farmers burning their fields to industrial pollution. 3 00:00:09,333 --> 00:00:14,333 Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro examined this problem. 4 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,133 And now he has this update. 5 00:00:17,133 --> 00:00:20,566 FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Smoke billows from the fields of Northern India, as farmers burn 6 00:00:20,566 --> 00:00:23,200 remnants of their crops after harvest. 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:28,200 They say it's the easiest and quickest way to get their fields ready for the next planting. 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,433 But what is convenient for the farmers is wreaking havoc in nearby cities. 9 00:00:32,433 --> 00:00:37,433 The smoke from thousands of fields mixes with the pollution from millions of cars and trucks. 10 00:00:39,500 --> 00:00:43,500 Those noxious clouds of smog make it hard to see during the day and hard to breathe. 11 00:00:45,466 --> 00:00:48,966 Sakshi Chauhan is recovering from a severe throat infection. 12 00:00:48,966 --> 00:00:53,066 SAKSHI CHAUHAN, India (through translator): I was told that I have an infection. 13 00:00:53,066 --> 00:00:56,166 Because of this, I cannot eat anything from outside. 14 00:00:56,166 --> 00:00:59,633 The doctor told me not to go out, told me not to go out because of smog. 15 00:00:59,633 --> 00:01:04,000 FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The smoke is so thick that, earlier this week, flights at New Delhi's 16 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:09,000 international airport were delayed or canceled due to poor visibility. 17 00:01:10,933 --> 00:01:14,300 The city declared a public health emergency, restricted the number of cars allowed on the 18 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:17,600 road, and ordered all construction work to stop. 19 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,033 MUKESH KUMAR, Construction Project Chief (through translator): The pollution has risen to great 20 00:01:22,033 --> 00:01:23,433 levels. 21 00:01:23,433 --> 00:01:25,966 Our company has halted construction since November 1. 22 00:01:25,966 --> 00:01:27,566 We had it shut even before that. 23 00:01:27,566 --> 00:01:30,233 We are following the official order. 24 00:01:30,233 --> 00:01:34,700 We have stopped all work, and all the precautions and initiatives are being taken to curb pollution 25 00:01:35,166 --> 00:01:37,200 here. 26 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,833 FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Also contributing to the rampant smog, plumes of smoke generated by 27 00:01:42,833 --> 00:01:46,066 fireworks during the recent festival of Diwali, a celebration of light where, now, during 28 00:01:46,833 --> 00:01:50,800 the day, there is less. 29 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:55,433 Weather and wind patterns are also blamed for trapping pollutants over India's capital. 30 00:01:55,433 --> 00:01:58,633 Dirty fuels are the culprit from several sources. 31 00:01:58,633 --> 00:02:01,800 Automobiles are the major one. 32 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:06,800 On average, 1,400 new vehicles are added to Delhi's streets every day, most now burning 33 00:02:08,766 --> 00:02:13,133 a highly polluting diesel long outlawed in Europe and the United States. 34 00:02:14,533 --> 00:02:18,233 By 2021, diesel fuel here will meet European standards. 35 00:02:18,233 --> 00:02:23,233 The government has also promised to shut down old coal-fired plants and restrict new ones. 36 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,133 But pollution has been worsening for years. 37 00:02:27,133 --> 00:02:31,966 Two years ago, to get an idea of how dirty the air is, we went to one of the cleanest 38 00:02:31,966 --> 00:02:35,433 places in Delhi, the American Embassy School. 39 00:02:35,433 --> 00:02:39,833 It serves the children of American and other expats and diplomats. 40 00:02:39,833 --> 00:02:43,766 Many don face masks, but only until they're inside. 41 00:02:43,766 --> 00:02:45,800 Ellen Stern was the school's director. 42 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:47,666 ELLEN STERN, Former Director, American Embassy School: We have an air system that goes all 43 00:02:47,666 --> 00:02:49,700 the way through the school. 44 00:02:49,700 --> 00:02:54,166 We now have four different kinds of filters on it that filter out various kinds of things. 45 00:02:56,166 --> 00:02:59,800 FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Barun Aggarwal showed me the elaborate system his company, BreatheEasy, 46 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:08,766 has set up in the school, pulling out the first layer of filter, thickly coated with 47 00:03:08,766 --> 00:03:10,800 a grimy soot. 48 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,433 So, if you were to walk outside today, this is what is coming into your lungs? 49 00:03:14,433 --> 00:03:16,400 BARUN AGGARWAL, BreatheEasy: Absolutely. 50 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,500 FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The fine particle filters also show stark before-and-after evidence 51 00:03:21,366 --> 00:03:23,400 of the harmful air outside. 52 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,266 You would think such systems would be in strong demand, but Aggarwal says, aside from a few 53 00:03:28,700 --> 00:03:32,933 buildings mostly occupied by expats, its been a hard sell. 54 00:03:32,933 --> 00:03:37,933 Among India's growing middle-class, he says, there's denial or indifference, a sense that 55 00:03:39,300 --> 00:03:41,700 pollution is the price of India's rapid economic progress. 56 00:03:41,700 --> 00:03:45,000 BARUN AGGARWAL: The number of myths that are there with regards to air pollution in India 57 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,133 are incredible. 58 00:03:47,133 --> 00:03:51,266 The first one that I get by mostly Indians is that, if I breathe clean air for eight 59 00:03:53,333 --> 00:03:56,466 hours, then my immunity will come down, and when I go out, I will fall sick. 60 00:03:56,466 --> 00:03:59,466 Completely wrong, because this is -- if you believe that, then you should be giving your 61 00:03:59,466 --> 00:04:02,066 children two packets of cigarettes to smoke every day. 62 00:04:02,066 --> 00:04:05,766 FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Kamal Meattle is an environmental activist who also designed the embassy school's 63 00:04:05,766 --> 00:04:07,833 filtration system. 64 00:04:07,833 --> 00:04:12,400 It works well, he says, but it is no panacea for a city of 20-plus million residents. 65 00:04:14,366 --> 00:04:16,233 KAMAL MEATTLE, Environmental Activist: You cannot have just air purifiers and cleaning 66 00:04:16,233 --> 00:04:19,066 systems for the people who can afford them. 67 00:04:19,066 --> 00:04:22,700 It has to be for the people who are on the road, who are in (INAUDIBLE) or slums. 68 00:04:22,700 --> 00:04:27,600 FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Meattle, who trained at MIT, has developed lower-cost ways to cope 69 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:32,600 with the pollution, plants, thousands of them in this rooftop greenhouse of his six-story 70 00:04:33,233 --> 00:04:35,233 office building. 71 00:04:35,233 --> 00:04:38,833 Clean air is produced, and each floor is pulling in the air as needed. 72 00:04:38,833 --> 00:04:41,466 KAMAL MEATTLE: And there are plants on each floor also. 73 00:04:41,466 --> 00:04:46,033 This is a central air cleaning system for the whole building. 74 00:04:46,033 --> 00:04:49,233 FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Plants do more than produce oxygen, he says. 75 00:04:49,233 --> 00:04:51,566 They are natural air purifiers. 76 00:04:51,566 --> 00:04:56,566 Their roots eat bacteria and fungi and they absorb chemicals like formaldehyde and benzene 77 00:04:57,433 --> 00:04:59,066 produced by office products. 78 00:04:59,066 --> 00:05:02,966 KAMAL MEATTLE: Areca palms for the daytime, bamboo palm. 79 00:05:02,966 --> 00:05:07,366 FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Installing plants is a small step people can take indoors, but he 80 00:05:07,366 --> 00:05:12,366 acknowledges there's a huge complex problem outside these clean air bubbles, not easily 81 00:05:13,566 --> 00:05:16,266 solved in India's chaotic democracy. 82 00:05:16,266 --> 00:05:19,700 The Indian government says it's taken steps to reduce pollution. 83 00:05:19,700 --> 00:05:24,533 But, in the meantime, for years to come, India's capital and, for that matter, most of its 84 00:05:24,533 --> 00:05:29,533 major cities will continue to be among the most difficult places on Earth to breathe. 85 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,366 For the "PBS NewsHour," this is Fred de Sam Lazaro in New Delhi. 86 00:05:34,366 --> 00:05:39,366 JUDY WOODRUFF: Fred's reporting is a partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project at the 87 00:05:40,533 --> 00:05:41,166 University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.