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JUDY WOODRUFF: There is a toxic
brew in much of the air over
India, sparked by everything

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from farmers burning their
fields to industrial pollution.

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Special correspondent
Fred de Sam Lazaro
examined this problem.

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And now he has this update.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Smoke
billows from the fields of
Northern India, as farmers burn

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remnants of their
crops after harvest.

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They say it's the easiest and
quickest way to get their fields
ready for the next planting.

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But what is convenient for
the farmers is wreaking
havoc in nearby cities.

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The smoke from thousands
of fields mixes with the
pollution from millions
of cars and trucks.

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Those noxious clouds of smog
make it hard to see during
the day and hard to breathe.

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Sakshi Chauhan is recovering
from a severe throat infection.

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SAKSHI CHAUHAN, India (through
translator): I was told
that I have an infection.

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Because of this, I cannot
eat anything from outside.

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The doctor told me not
to go out, told me not to
go out because of smog.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The smoke
is so thick that, earlier this
week, flights at New Delhi's

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international airport
were delayed or canceled
due to poor visibility.

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The city declared a public
health emergency, restricted the
number of cars allowed on the

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road, and ordered all
construction work to stop.

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MUKESH KUMAR, Construction
Project Chief (through
translator): The pollution
has risen to great

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levels.

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Our company has halted
construction since November 1.

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We had it shut even before that.

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We are following
the official order.

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We have stopped all work,
and all the precautions
and initiatives are being
taken to curb pollution

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here.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO:
Also contributing to
the rampant smog, plumes
of smoke generated by

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fireworks during the
recent festival of
Diwali, a celebration of
light where, now, during

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the day, there is less.

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Weather and wind patterns
are also blamed for trapping
pollutants over India's capital.

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Dirty fuels are the culprit
from several sources.

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Automobiles are the major one.

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On average, 1,400 new vehicles
are added to Delhi's streets
every day, most now burning

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a highly polluting diesel
long outlawed in Europe
and the United States.

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By 2021, diesel fuel here
will meet European standards.

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The government has also promised
to shut down old coal-fired
plants and restrict new ones.

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But pollution has been
worsening for years.

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Two years ago, to get an idea
of how dirty the air is, we
went to one of the cleanest

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places in Delhi, the
American Embassy School.

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It serves the children
of American and other
expats and diplomats.

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Many don face masks, but
only until they're inside.

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Ellen Stern was the
school's director.

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ELLEN STERN, Former Director,
American Embassy School: We
have an air system that goes all

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the way through the school.

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We now have four different kinds
of filters on it that filter
out various kinds of things.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Barun
Aggarwal showed me the elaborate
system his company, BreatheEasy,

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has set up in the school,
pulling out the first layer
of filter, thickly coated with

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a grimy soot.

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So, if you were to walk
outside today, this is what
is coming into your lungs?

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BARUN AGGARWAL,
BreatheEasy: Absolutely.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The fine
particle filters also show
stark before-and-after evidence

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of the harmful air outside.

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You would think such systems
would be in strong demand, but
Aggarwal says, aside from a few

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buildings mostly occupied by
expats, its been a hard sell.

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Among India's growing
middle-class, he says,
there's denial or
indifference, a sense that

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pollution is the price of
India's rapid economic progress.

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BARUN AGGARWAL: The
number of myths that are
there with regards to
air pollution in India

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are incredible.

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The first one that I get by
mostly Indians is that, if I
breathe clean air for eight

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hours, then my immunity
will come down, and when I
go out, I will fall sick.

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Completely wrong, because this
is -- if you believe that,
then you should be giving your

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children two packets of
cigarettes to smoke every day.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Kamal
Meattle is an environmental
activist who also designed
the embassy school's

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filtration system.

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It works well, he says, but
it is no panacea for a city
of 20-plus million residents.

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KAMAL MEATTLE, Environmental
Activist: You cannot have just
air purifiers and cleaning

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systems for the people
who can afford them.

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It has to be for the people
who are on the road, who
are in (INAUDIBLE) or slums.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Meattle, who
trained at MIT, has developed
lower-cost ways to cope

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with the pollution,
plants, thousands of
them in this rooftop
greenhouse of his six-story

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office building.

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Clean air is produced,
and each floor is pulling
in the air as needed.

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KAMAL MEATTLE: And there are
plants on each floor also.

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This is a central air cleaning
system for the whole building.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO:
Plants do more than
produce oxygen, he says.

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They are natural air purifiers.

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Their roots eat bacteria and
fungi and they absorb chemicals
like formaldehyde and benzene

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produced by office products.

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KAMAL MEATTLE: Areca palms
for the daytime, bamboo palm.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Installing
plants is a small step people
can take indoors, but he

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acknowledges there's a huge
complex problem outside these
clean air bubbles, not easily

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solved in India's
chaotic democracy.

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The Indian government says it's
taken steps to reduce pollution.

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But, in the meantime, for years
to come, India's capital and,
for that matter, most of its

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major cities will continue to
be among the most difficult
places on Earth to breathe.

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For the "PBS NewsHour," this is
Fred de Sam Lazaro in New Delhi.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: Fred's
reporting is a partnership
with the Under-Told
Stories Project at the

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University of St.
Thomas in Minnesota.