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Indian Capital Declares Emergency as Toxic Smog Thickens By the Hour (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the suffocating dept.

New Delhi, the Indian capital declared a pollution emergency on Thursday as toxic smog hung over the city for a third day and air quality worsened by the hour. From a report: Illegal crop burning in the farm states surrounding New Delhi, vehicle exhaust emissions in a city with limited public transport and swirling construction dust have caused the crisis, which arises every year. The problem has been compounded this year by still conditions, the weather office said. A U.S. embassy measure of tiny particulate matter PM 2.5 showed a reading of 608 at 10 a.m. when the safe limit is 25. An hour before it was 591.

129 comments

  1. Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Cant steal the tech jobs when you choke on your own filth.

    1. Re:Karma by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Wrong logic -- if India were cleaner and safer, maybe its residents wouldn't be seeking as many opportunities abroad.

    2. Re:Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If it were cleaner and safer, it wouldn't be as cheap. That's why it costs a lot to do business in the U.S.

    3. Re:Karma by bluegutang · · Score: 1

      The tech jobs are in Bangalore and Mumbai, not Delhi.

      Anyway, tech jobs provide national wealth, which in the long run gives you the means to fix the problem of filth.

    4. Re:Karma by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

      What % of the new wealth gets sucked up by the corruption?

      It's not zero anywhere, but I doubt it's much higher than India anywhere on Earth.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    5. Re:Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That makes no sense. Costs should be dropping a lot now that the states is moving backwards towards mined fuels.

    6. Re:Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is fake news. Trump has committed to using 100% solar energy within 5 years. This will create new jobs in the US as we build massive quantities of new solar panels.

      The only downside is that his proposal is to burn the new solar panels instead of burning coal.

    7. Re:Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Nothing has really changed.

      BUT, when you have some R up there (Trump, for example) talking about rolling back environmental protections, do remember that everything comes at a price or an opportunity cost. There needs to be a balance where you're not drinking PCBs from your tap water, but you still can find a job. China and India have clearly not found that balance. One could argue that the U.S. has gone too far, as manufacturing and industry has moved overseas.

      I'm trying to build a residential driveway over a small creek (about 7 inches deep). So far I've spent TWO YEARS and $50,000 trying to get permits from all the government agencies that want to have their say in what I do with my own land. And I have yet to put a shovel to the ground. So I can say first hand that we have WAY too many environmental regulations in the U.S.

    8. Re:Karma by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Your sources are wrong. What I heard is that the USA is going to start mining its own solar panels. It's a new coal-based coating to make 83% efficient solar panels.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    9. Re: Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lul, you are doing something wrong, took me two weeks to get permits and a week to build. Inspectors came out and made sure everything was kosher, signed off. Good to go. Southern PA.

    10. Re:Karma by plopez · · Score: 1

      You mean there would be fewer externalized costs.

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    11. Re:Karma by plopez · · Score: 1

      How much of it s squandered due to poor health, early deaths, lost productivity etc?

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    12. Re:Karma by MoaDweeb · · Score: 4, Informative

      According to Transparency international's Corruption Perception Index, India is fairly corrupt.
      It is at 79th place with a score of 40 (equal with China). By comparison US is 18th - score 74 (just ahead of Ireland).

      The least corrupt are New Zealand & Denmark with a score of 90.
      Most corrupt is North Korea at 176th and a score of 8.

      --
      New Zealanders are well balanced with a chip on each shoulder. One represents Australia, the other the rest of the world
    13. Re:Karma by Altrag · · Score: 1

      Most corrupt is North Korea at 176th and a score of 8.

      Can it still be called corruption when that's practically the definition of their political system?

    14. Re:Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      All jokes aside, a photovoltaic cell with perfect thermal photon upconversion still has an efficiency limit of 73%. Realistic upconversion systems are limited to the mid 40s, with the best real panels in the lab being only a couple percent below that.

      But efficiency isn't a great metric. If one panel is cheap and 20-25% efficient, and another is 40% efficient but costs significantly more than twice as much, then the cheaper pannel is economically preferable. At least, until you've exhausted all available space for panels and/or the cost of panels drops so low that installation cost becomes significant.

    15. Re:Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps Kim has 'absolute power' and cannot be corrupt 'by definition'. But that's just him. His underlings have duties & responsibilities - and sometimes he executes those who don't measure up.

      So corruption is certainly possible - when some official takes slav^H^H^H^Htax money that was supposed to go to the party^H^H^H^H^Hnational budget.

    16. Re:Karma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As usual, you could have checked. But went with your special snowflake feelings instead. Not to worry,here's a participation trophy for trying. You'll guess right next time.

  2. And the worst part is... by Type44Q · · Score: 2, Funny

    And the worst part is that it didn't even smell like samosas.

    1. Re:And the worst part is... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      Hmm.

      I guess it sucks to be them.....

      Next topic?

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    2. Re:And the worst part is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hilarious! Indian cities might smell like Indian food!

    3. Re:And the worst part is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the worst part is that it didn't even smell like samosas.

      New Delhi? Smells more like Sam's ass.

  3. Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Ever think of lowering your population, say down to a BILLION ?

    1. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever think of lowering your population, say down to a BILLION ?

      Genocide much?

    2. Re:Hey India by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Ever think of lowering your population

      The path to lower birthrates is well-understood. Reducing poverty, empowering women, and delivering education (particularly to girls) - Alongside sex education and birth control - All reduce birthrates. India is working hard on that, but it's a long road.

      You even see it in the USA, where the birthrate in Massachusetts is lower than the birth rate in Mississippi - For exactly those reasons.

    3. Re:Hey India by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      Maybe the excess can immigrate to whatever country you live in.

    4. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Either do it yourself or let nature do it. Either way it will happen. When nature does it, it will do it in a very inhumane way. With no local nature predators, we now need to kill dear every year to keep them from over-population, which causes famine, disease, and eventually mass death.

    5. Re:Hey India by butchersong · · Score: 1

      Well that and large amounts of estrogens, xenoestrogens, phytoestrogens... introduced into the environment.

    6. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And why are there no local predators? Because humans wiped them out, not nature. But hey... let's not re-introduce the predators and try to fix the damage we did to the ecosystem. Let's leave everything fucked up and hope that we can shoot enough deer to keep their populations in check!

    7. Re:Hey India by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

      Mississippi is at the ass end of half the country's watershed and continually has toxic chemicals in the water. If chemicals were the deciding factor on birth rate, Mississippi's would be among the lowest in the country.

    8. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great idea, lets introduce wolves back into highly human populated Eastern USA forests. I'm sure those wolves will avoid eating our slow fat pets and go for the lean fast deer.

    9. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As I snack on my venison jerky, I say it is working out ok. The options are manage the deer population or wipe them all out. I'd vote for managing, then the government can pay for silly things like deer birth control or let hunters pay license fees and do it.

    10. Re:Hey India by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      There's a slightly more practical reason as well. You can simply ask the question: Are children a financial benefit or a financial burden to the family?

      In most first world countries, for most of its population, rearing a child is terribly expensive, with very little financial benefit for the parents in return. In parts of the world where you can benefit from the labor of your family (subsistence farming, for example), you tend to see large families.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    11. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a slightly more practical reason as well. You can simply ask the question: Are children a financial benefit or a financial burden to the family?In most first world countries, for most of its population, rearing a child is terribly expensive, with very little financial benefit for the parents in return. In parts of the world where you can benefit from the labor of your family (subsistence farming, for example), you tend to see large families.

      For years demographers assumed this: that people in poor countries had more children than people in rich countries because children were a benefit, and therefore merely giving poor people access to birth control wouldn't help population growth.

      Actual numbers showed, however, that giving poor people access to birth control does result in smaller family size. It turns out that-- surprise-- not all women living in rural poverty actually wanted to have a family of eight children.

      This apparently came as quite a surprise to demographers.

    12. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And why are there no local predators?

      There are local predators... But they aren't usually *killing* humans they prey on, so that means they aren't totally effective for the role of lowering the population...

    13. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Empowering women destroys your society. We've been trying to tell you for years, but you're going to be riding the 'worship the wimminz!' horse until the fucking thing drops dead and a hostile competing civilization conquers us.

    14. Re:Hey India by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      Actual numbers showed, however, that giving poor people access to birth control does result in smaller family size. It turns out that-- surprise-- not all women living in rural poverty actually wanted to have a family of eight children.

      This apparently came as quite a surprise to demographers.

      Correct, which is why I said "as well". I'm not discounting the effects of access to birth control and better education of women (which tends to give them more life choices, and thus control over reproduction). But I don't think it's been demonstrated that finances are not also a factor (i.e. distributing birth control doesn't lead to negative birth rates, such as in many first-world countries). The reasons are likely more complex and layered, due to a number of factors working in combination.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    15. Re: Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >eastern Us forests

      I dont think youve ever seen a forrest son, because those little clumps of ash & oak in the US sure as fuck arent forrests.

      See: Northern Quebec

    16. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Empowering women destroys your society.

      Yeah, I think the American south said the same thing about freeing slaves. If your culture won't survive without denying a large chunk of the population freedom, it's a culture that deserves to die.

    17. Re:Hey India by Kielistic · · Score: 1

      Depends on the relationship. If it was a linear or geometric relation then yes you would see that. But those aren't the only ways for things to relate.

    18. Re:Hey India by morethanapapercert · · Score: 2
      Only if said chemicals affected fertility. Some better metrics to look at would be incidence of birth defects. For high levels of oestrogens and related hormone chemicals, the rate of intersex births would be of particular value. Also look at average IQ for people born in that state compared to people of similar socio-economic brackets in states with cleaner waters. (among other things, stupid people tend to breed at earlier ages and in greater numbers, This depends on a number of factors, but then there are a number of factors which derive from this as well.) What are the cancer rates like? Especially GI, kidney and liver cancers.

      Surprisingly, another metric is murder and other violent crime rates. There is evidence to suggest that the elimination of lead in paint and gasoline caused or contributed to a huge drop in violent crimes in the late 70's and 80's.

      --
      I need a wheelchair van for my son. Help me get the word out. https://www.gofundme.com/wheelchair-van-for-jj
    19. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Empowering women is kind of a double-whammy to reducing birth rates.

      On the one hand, giving women equal social status and self-determinacy naturally results in some women choosing not to have kids, focusing instead on other forms of self-actualization. That reduces birth rates, for very good reasons.

      On the other hand, female-empowerment quickly becomes (and has become) male disempowerment. Many men, however, don't react to this by becoming submissive and having families when the women want them. They just opt-out. Some men get really hateful and misogynistic, some become "players" who insist on birth-control and pursue sex without any commitment, and others just do a cost-to-benefit analysis of romance and say "no thanks."

      The women who want to have families get kind of burned by the second phenomenon, but there isn't much they can do about it when feminism is politically popular.

    20. Re:Hey India by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      So, you agree with the Islamic Extremest Terrorists then?

    21. Re:Hey India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not quite all there is to it. The US would have a net drop in population if it wasn't for immigrants.

    22. Re:Hey India by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      So, you agree with the Islamic Extremest Terrorists then?

      When it comes to dogma, there's often not a lot of difference between Sharia-loving Islamists and Sharia-loving southern-American Christians.

  4. to put this into better perspective by nimbius · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Downtown Los Angeles air quality (PM2.5) is only 54 currently. 600 is practically thick enough to stand on.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:to put this into better perspective by Ranbot · · Score: 5, Informative

      And little more perspective... This incident in India is similar to the 1948 Donora Smog event in Donora, PA, where steel factory air pollution and an unusual weather event created a smog that over the town that sickened thousands and killed 20 people. It was one of the key events that triggered the clean air movement in the US and eventually led to the Clean Air Act. https://www.sites.google.com/s...

    2. Re:to put this into better perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was there in February as a tourist. In the morning it was hazy as heck outside. You had trouble seeing more than half a mile from the hotel window. Reminded me of Xi'an and Beijing in 2010. it's like a moderate fog.

      (The difference was in Beijing, we went out to the Great Wall at Jingshanling and it was still "foggy" 60km beyond the city limits.

    3. Re: to put this into better perspective by niftydude · · Score: 1

      Yeah, visibility is currently 0.3 miles. Which is ridiculous.

      --
      You can never know everything, and part of what you do know will always be wrong. Perhaps even the most important part.
    4. Re:to put this into better perspective by antdude · · Score: 1

      What about China's?

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    5. Re:to put this into better perspective by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      What about China's?

      In Beijing - similar ; in the Himalayas far lower. Unsurprisingly. On average, it's bad but slowly decreasing.

      The Chinese understand perfectly well that this is damaging to people's health, and reducing their productivity while increasing health expenditure. Which is why they're investing a lot of money in technologies to reduce their air pollution. And no matter how cheaply Trump produces American coal (by killing large numbers of Trump voters), they'll never buy the stuff.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  5. Meanwhile, back in the States by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Trump administration EPA adviser believes the air in the US is "too clean for optimal health".

    https://www.independent.co.uk/...

    https://www.visaliatimesdelta....

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Meanwhile, back in the States by Cyberax · · Score: -1, Flamebait

      Duh. The Republican healthcare plan is: "Die fast". So it totally fits.

    2. Re:Meanwhile, back in the States by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Tell me how the Paris Climate agreement would do ANYTHING to address this?

      The major issue is farmers and calm weather.

      We need farmers and can't control the wind... so give them money?

      Trump is right, climate faggots have no idea what they are talking about.

  6. Nice article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Nice article
    Good information
    Thanks for share
    www.technoadarsh.com

  7. Moar clean energy by jaredm1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    India definitely needs to invest more in cleaner energy. Population densities mean that the masses owning a combustion powered vehicle like in Europe & the US will have a greater impact. China realised this (better late than never) and are at least taking steps to clean up their cities. India needs to follow. I find it amusing that JLR (owned by an Indian company) are making their first electric car an SUV. If it were me, I'd also have been making an electric mini-car and electric motorcycle targeted at developing economies.

    1. Re:Moar clean energy by mspohr · · Score: 4, Interesting

      China does have a large campaign to install solar energy and move to electric cars.
      https://qz.com/1072643/electri...
      Recently, India’s road transport minister Nitin Gadkari quite bluntly made the government’s intentions clear. “We should move towards alternative fuelI am going to do this, whether you like it or not,” Gadkari told India’s automobile lobby group, SIAM, on Sept. 07. “And I am not going to ask you. I will bulldoze it.”

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
      Solar power in India is a fast developing industry. As of September, 2017 the country's solar grid had a cumulative capacity of 14.77 GW.[1] India quadrupled its solar-generation capacity from 2,650 MW on 26 May 2014 to 12,289 MW on 31 March 2017. The country added 3.01 GW of solar capacity in 2015-2016 and 5.525 GW in 2016-2017, the highest of any year, with the average current price of solar electricity dropping to 18% below the average price of its coal-fired counterpart.
      India's initiative of 100 GW of solar energy by 2022 is an ambitious target, since the world's installed solar-power capacity in 2017 is expected to be 303 GW.

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    2. Re:Moar clean energy by Rei · · Score: 1, Informative

      When it comes to EVs, India has brought these problems on themselves. They insist on cars sold locally being made with at least 30% locally manufactured components, a protectionist policy that has been very successful at keeping foreign-made EVs out. But local EV manufacture in India is in its infancy.

      --
      The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not âEureka!â(TM), but
    3. Re:Moar clean energy by Altrag · · Score: 1

      That just means they have to incentivize a foreign manufacturer to build a local plant and source local materials. I don't know what kind of incentives that India is willing or able to provide but I'm sure they could come up with something.. its not like they're a small powerless country.

    4. Re:Moar clean energy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      India has a terrible power infrastructure though. Wires strung haphazardly, outages all the time, etc. How the hell are they suppose to charge their electric vehicles?

    5. Re:Moar clean energy by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      India definitely needs to invest more in cleaner energy

      Or maybe they can start by not setting half the country on fire every winter through illegal crop burning. This happens every year around this time.

    6. Re:Moar clean energy by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      Seems like it'd be easy enough to declare a state of emergency and shoot a few farmers who start fires.

    7. Re:Moar clean energy by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      portable generators.

    8. Re:Moar clean energy by Rei · · Score: 1

      The problem is that decent EVs aren't just made off the shelf. They're designed from the ground-up as EVs, and involve a lot of high-tech products as a significant portion of both their part counts and value. India is the last place you would look to to try to source parts for a modern EV.

      --
      The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not âEureka!â(TM), but
  8. All teary-eyed for them. by Seven+Spirals · · Score: -1, Troll

    All those poor street-shitting urchins and train rapists. Maybe we should give them some more H1B jobs to make it all better?

    1. Re:All teary-eyed for them. by bluegutang · · Score: 2

      You have no sympathy for the rapists, that's fine, but what about sympathy for their victims? Not to mention the kids, who may shit in the street, but they're still kids.

    2. Re:All teary-eyed for them. by Falos · · Score: 0

      la la la can't hear you from inside my bubble and hand-drawn worldview

    3. Re:All teary-eyed for them. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sound fun

      die in a fucking fire

    4. Re: All teary-eyed for them. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only American children matter, and only until they're old enough to be tried as an adult (12) or forced into military service to avoid jail (16).

      Viva la Amerikkka!

  9. Use AI to escape from smog by ickleberry · · Score: 4, Funny

    Surely there is an AI-Based app that will let them escape the Smog. AI and Apps are the answer to everything now.

    1. Re:Use AI to escape from smog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here's someone who can app the apps with the appiest of them!

    2. Re:Use AI to escape from smog by cyborg_monkey · · Score: -1

      no more ridiculous than praying.

    3. Re:Use AI to escape from smog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      no more ridiculous than praying.

      And there's an App for that.

    4. Re:Use AI to escape from smog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget "machine learning"...

    5. Re:Use AI to escape from smog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There must be a blockchain based solution!

    6. Re:Use AI to escape from smog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In this case, the problem is the cloud...

  10. Ob by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    They should introduce designated smogging streets.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  11. is it warm? by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    But is it warm there? It's not warm here. I like warm

  12. Paris Climate Agreement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wait...what? Isn't India in the Paris Climate Agreement? How does this happen?

  13. Easy solution: bike paths by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    No, I'm serious.

    Replace all parking lanes on arterials with barrier-separated bicycle and transit lanes.

    Destroy all vehicles other than public transit and bicycles using those lanes.

    Problem solved.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Easy solution: bike paths by boudie2 · · Score: 1

      Donald Trump doesn't like bicycles.
      “I will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. And we won’t be using a man like Secretary Kerry that has absolutely no concept of negotiation, who’s making a horrible and laughable deal, who’s just being tapped along as they make weapons right now, and then goes into a bicycle race at 72 years old, and falls and breaks his leg. I won’t be doing that. And I promise I will never be in a bicycle race. That I can tell you.”
      So it is spoken, so it shall be.

    2. Re:Easy solution: bike paths by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure the capital of India doesn't care what either of these two Americans think.

      Did you know that China has 10 times more emissions per capita than India? It's just that a lot of people in India use cars, cabs, and motorcycles that are very polluting.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    3. Re:Easy solution: bike paths by boudie2 · · Score: 1

      They don't use bicycles in India because they want to. Hardly anyone can afford cars and trucks.

  14. When public transportation = diesel busses by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    When public transportation = diesel busses we all lose. Subsidized taxi, er, "ride sharing" is a lot more efficient and environmentally friendly compared to a bunch of empty busses on fixed routes with really expensive drivers.

    1. Re:When public transportation = diesel busses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah but the Left likes it more when it's communal even though it's always worse for everybody.

    2. Re:When public transportation = diesel busses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Non just buses, which billow voluminous black smoke, but also diesel cars. Diesel cars are preferred by many Indians as diesel is cheaper than petrol by about 15%. Delhi: petrol = $4/gallon; diesel = $3.40/gallon.

    3. Re:When public transportation = diesel busses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When public transportation = diesel busses we all lose

      Agreed.

      Subsidized taxi, er, "ride sharing" is a lot more efficient and environmentally friendly compared to a bunch of empty busses on fixed routes with really expensive drivers.

      Ehh, not so agreed here. The fixed routes and predictable schedules are good things. Ride sharing, when it is often just single riders, is no better than everyone simply having a car of their own--except that it reduces parking congestion. If the cars are all super efficient, sure fine, but most of the ride share vehicles are diesel or petrol... not many are even hybrid in areas because the cost is too difficult to offset as driver. Maybe if Uber/Lyft started offering premiums to electric and hybrid drivers?

      What we need are more electric transportation options. Ideally more electric buses and trams. It's the most efficient way to move large volumes of people during commute times and during off-peak times they are the least environmentally offensive of the large scale transit options. You can also run single-car versions at off peak instead of 2-4 car trains.

    4. Re:When public transportation = diesel busses by kamapuaa · · Score: 2

      All the empty buses in Indian would be a huge problem if such a thing actually existed. Driver salaries are not high. Taxis are everywhere.

      Why are you posting on a subject you clearly know absolutely nothing about?

      --
      Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
    5. Re:When public transportation = diesel busses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why are you posting on a subject you clearly know absolutely nothing about?

      I think the OP is off India specifically and on to problems that cities face in general.

      I agree, it's not often you see an empty Indian bus, and labor is relatively cheap, those are non-issues... though moving from diesel to electric or even natural gas, would be better... but you need the infrastructure for those things and it's simply not practical in many parts of India now.

    6. Re: When public transportation = diesel busses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forget "ride sharing" vans can also serve as mobile rape stations, which is great for any society right?

    7. Re:When public transportation = diesel busses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would avoid ride-sharing in India - especially if one does not speak a native language and doubly so if one were a woman. Heck some people wouldn't even let you in their vehicle once they found out your caste (if you're from the area).

    8. Re:When public transportation = diesel busses by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I don't know what your poorly designed public transport system that has empty buses driving around has to do with diesel.

      Also have you seen Indian public transport? Not only will the buses not be empty, but there'll likely be 10 people hanging onto the roof.

    9. Re:When public transportation = diesel busses by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      Subsidized taxi, er, "ride sharing" is a lot more efficient and environmentally friendly compared to a bunch of empty busses on fixed routes with really expensive drivers.

      You really don't have a clue, do you? Perhaps you got your ideas about India from some fictional movie or TV program with an idealized view of the country?

      India has lots of "ride sharing": "auto-rickshaws". You may know these as "tuk-tuks". They predominantly use two-stroke engines, which spew out large quantities of particulates.

      Finally, taxis (whether traditional or "ride-sharing") are never the answer. They are no better than individual cars, except in one respect: no need to provide parking.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  15. Please send... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... those H1B "innovators" home to "do the needful" and solve this problem. The homeland needs you!

  16. can't follow rules if you live in India by supernova87a · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The problem isn't smog. It's that the Indian system of government + their citizens' learned behavior in such a system makes the country ungovernable, and so it's impossible to get people to follow rules.

    It's a societal problem, and note I didn't say that Indian people are the problem. Take Indian people out of India and here in the US, they follow rules.

    The problem is when enough people don't follow rules in a country, the otherwise-willing rest give up and say, "why should I follow the rules?"

    Sometimes, democracy isn't great, and you need a little bit of authoritarianism...

    1. Re:can't follow rules if you live in India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sometimes, democracy isn't great, and you need a little bit of authoritarianism...

      As a person who has been to India many times, I agree with most everything you say--but would like to comment that I don't agree democracy isn the problem, people will vote for good politicians and laws.

      As you said, it's a society that turns their eyes on those who don't follow those laws that is the problem.

      It's like a child that is well behaved for their friends' parents, but at home with their own parents they are disobedient... they have learned that they can get away with nearly anything and so they do, and the parents at some point become ineffective at discipline.

      I believe America has the same issue in some places where there are strict laws on the books but are selectively enforced--when that happens you have a system that become corrupt because now the ones who should be enforcing the law become de facto prosecution and judgement.

    2. Re:can't follow rules if you live in India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      A great example of laws that are ignored in North America are bylaws/city ordinances. Every city has unbelievable piles of these, to the point that I can't find anyone on my street without a violation.

      Since the laws are written to make things feel good/look good, they are consistently ignored except by quacks who want to start a feud with neighbours by calling the city and having the laws enforced against a particular person. For an example in my city, the books say you can't park on the street for longer than 3 hours ANYWHERE.

      Of course, in residential areas, people have friends over and they will park on the street for the day. This bothers nobody as the streets are plenty wide enough for it.

      If you own a home in a city, go ahead and look at the codes. I guarantee if you look hard enough you will find one you're violating. Perhaps your fence is an inch too tall, your car parked with a wheel slightly on the grass, maybe you left your bike beside the fence despite property setbacks? Or that $599 tiny shed you got from Home Depot actually needed a permit. Is your driveway wide enough or long enough? Do you have a planter on the corner to stop people cutting through your lawn? Did you make even the slightest sound outside at any time? Let your kids sleep in a tent in the backyard one night? Hung a clothesline to your house? And so on...

      I know those stupid rules well because I have a quack neighbour who likes to call the city. Fun fact: You can make your home a total eyesore and pass the cities rules if you read them well enough (turns out I can put swingsets and other children's playtoys all over my front yard, only took one night to move them from the backyard, more convenient to make sure nobody gets hurt to boot!). I should know, that was my passive aggressive way of getting that neighbour to quit calling the city. :P

    3. Re:can't follow rules if you live in India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      From they way you write, I suspect it is you who is the quack

    4. Re:can't follow rules if you live in India by sysrammer · · Score: 1

      From they way you write, I suspect it is you who is the quack

      If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...shoot it. You can call me anything you want, just don't call me late to dinner!

      --
      His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
    5. Re: can't follow rules if you live in India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So much for "the land of the free". We already know "the home of the brave" is horseshit.

    6. Re:can't follow rules if you live in India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And then they wonder why people go so out of their way to hide when they're doing interior renovations rather than taking out permits. As such I avoid them unless absolutely necessary but wouldn't have minded taking them out if they didn't make the process so arduous, not to mention expensive as they claim it is about safety yet some counties like mine really make it another tax as they demand X% of the job estimate rather than having an actual schedule of fees for different permits.

    7. Re:can't follow rules if you live in India by NewYork · · Score: 1

      people will vote for good politicians and laws

      Not True
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
      http://m.timesofindia.com/indi...
      http://m.timesofindia.com/indi...

      --
      Casteism
  17. Indian Quality Assurance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    or the lack of it.. nothing of any great quality ever came from India, due to their cultural lack of foresight and the willingness to do anything more than the bare minimum. Even the air is unusable!

    1. Re:Indian Quality Assurance by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      Math?

    2. Re:Indian Quality Assurance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      citation required, according to Wikipedia it is first observed in Greek history

  18. Burning fields [Re:Moar clean energy] by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 3, Informative

    India definitely needs to invest more in cleaner energy.

    I agree, but I will point out that the pollution in question comes from burning fields, not from energy production or transportation.

    http://indianexpress.com/article/india/stubble-burning-punjab-farmers-amarinder-singh-ngt-air-pollution-4897240/

      http://www.dw.com/en/burning-fields-in-punjab/av-41233497

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  19. Damn it M$ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does this have anything to do with those new crop farming apps put out by Microsoft? It seems we have a real world farmville incident of someone playing sim overlord.

  20. Easy Solution... to the Wrong Problem by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No, I'm serious. Replace all parking lanes on arterials with barrier-separated bicycle and transit lanes. Destroy all vehicles other than public transit and bicycles using those lanes. Problem solved.

    And that will solve the problem of pollution caused by burning agricultural waste in the fields how, exactly?

    see: "Farmers’ Unchecked Crop Burning Fuels India’s Air Pollution"

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  21. Did they try fixing it? by TimothyHollins · · Score: 2

    Did they call tech support? Did they try turning it off and on again?

  22. Population control. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the one country that should avail itself of it. They keep packing more and more people into this limited area.

  23. No, they need to invest in birth control. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    More condoms, less samosas. Seriously.

  24. Stop stupid stupid by plopez · · Score: -1, Troll

    India, China, and other advancing nations had a prefect opportunity to learn from the mistakes the west made in terms of health, safety, and environmental damage. They threw that opportunity away. Stupid.

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    1. Re:Stop stupid stupid by plopez · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure why this is a troll. All I did was point out a failure in progressing counties to learn from the past.

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  25. As the saying goes... by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 1

    And why are there no local predators?

    Homo homini lupus est.

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com
  26. Hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about open defecation?

    Do we really expect them to address abstract pollution when they can't get people to stop shitting in the streets?

    1. Re: Hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apparently you've never been to San Francisco...

  27. This is not surprising. by DaMattster · · Score: 2

    I recently saw a documentary about India's energy issues. It turns out that in many of the major cities, the power grid is so unstable that businesses depend upon the almost daily use of backup generators. These backup generators are, of course, fossil-fueled. Imagine several thousand diesel generators running on top of the daily traffic and it is easy to see why air pollution is a significant problem.

  28. Nope by seven+of+five · · Score: 0

    "Capital" == assets. "Capitol" == seat of government.

    1. Re:Nope by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      Nope:

      "Capital" == money or other liquid assets, or the the most important city in a region, typically, the city that is the seat of government and its administrative center.

      "Capitol" == the building that houses the legislature.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  29. Paris accord? Why are they receiving money? by aristotle-dude · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Why are they receiving money from the Paris accord on pollution? Is the Accord just a scam to transfer wealth from Europe and North America to nations like India? How does that help the environment?

    --
    Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
  30. Remember the proverb by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    That which does not kill you makes you stronger.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  31. Yea... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Probably doesn’t help matters when they all shit in the street as well. India is such a miserable shit hole. Just fence it off from the rest of the planet and call it a day.

  32. Democracy + Free Speech = Best Solution Available by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yeah, it was a bad argument flaw. Clearly the other side of "authoritarianism", here meaning simply having sane laws and enforcement of sane laws, is either not having sane laws, or not having enforcement of sane laws. Democracy as a concept has nothing to do with it, except perhaps the factor that the will of the majority is very often wrong, if not outright evil/racist/sexist/religious-nuttery/etc. Democracy is the solution, if it is a worthwhile democracy with a foundation of Free Speech. The theory (which I was both propagandized with, but which I continued to believe well into late adulthood), is that the worst problems will get voiced via Free Speech, and thus *eventually* turn the scales against an ignorant/evil/whatever democratic majority. But the key word there is *eventually*. It often takes a significant bodycount to override the historical majority's previous stupidity regarding what constitute sane laws or a sane level of enforcement of those laws.

  33. Wrong Advice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Shouldn't the advice be to go outside and run around a lot? This will render the problem self-limiting ...

  34. It's a pollution emergency by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and apparently, the only solution is for EVERY OTHER COUNTRY to cut their emissions, while India and China do not!

  35. Seasonal Factors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While there is a lot of air pollution in the National Capital Region, it gets exacerbated in winters due to a couple of factors:

    1. Cold air which settles down and does not get circulated around the region

    2. Massive amounts of pollution from crop stubble which is burned in the farming areas surrounding the region during this time

  36. 569 million Indians still poop outdoors by gosand · · Score: 1

    I may have to go to India this year for work. While I have worked with Indian people here as well as in India for many years, I simply do not want to go. I have no desire to see dead bodies rotting in a river, or public feces. These are things that should not happen at this scale in this day and age. It's their society, but I don't understand their caste system or why they can't solve sanitation issues that cause
    569 million people poop outside.

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

    1. Re:569 million Indians still poop outdoors by Seven+Spirals · · Score: 1

      No doubt. I have had at least three "opportunities" to go to India. I refused (at one point with my employer threatening to fire me otherwise). Co-workers who went came back with horrible stories of illness and crime. I still have *zero* regrets and will *never* willingly go to India.

  37. fucking Indian bitches,, killing them selves. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Eyes n teeth.,.
    This may sound racially biased, but this applies to any people in the same situation..
    In this case well.....

    Eyes n teeth kiling themselves..
    fucking stoopid..
    and they claim they have the right the lie cheat and steal to perpetuate their culture like its their "right"
    Well fuckers, look how that mode of thinking has turned out..
    even worse, what about the the individuals whom cant get away, like the Animals..

  38. Diversity society will fail by NewYork · · Score: 1

    http://www.boston.com/news/glo...

    --
    Casteism