February 5, 2019 -
“India happens to be a rich country inhabited by very poor people."
- Manmohan Singh
The above shot is not a good photograph. But it is an accurate one. We are in Agra. Can you see the Taj Mahal? You can just barely if you use your imagination. It is completely obscured by air pollution. That is the haze you see. The AQI (Air Quality Index) is very poor making prolonged exposure here very unhealthy.
We thought it might be limited to Delhi being such a massive city. Delhi has the worst air pollution on earth. But in truth the pollution covers all of Northern India. There is no place on our extensive itinerary that we will see clear air.
The vast majority of it is the result of unregulated industry and cars. It is not sustainable and likely a cause of a lot of illness here. But a large portion of the population is very poor by
American standards and cannot afford cleaner energy. Wood burning and kerosene use is common here. It is cheap, but very polluting energy. Thus, the permanent haze. Anyone who doubts humans can make the atmosphere much worse only needs to take a walk here.
It is unfortunate because in truth this is a beautiful country filled with environmental treasures. The area is slowly dying in the increasingly noxious air.
So as we progress on this journey you will see some sights with a lot of haze around them. It is not some Instagram filter. Now you know what the haze is actually.
Here is an interesting supporting article-
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