Protesters hold placards and chant slogans during a demonstration demanding immediate government action to address air pollution in New Delhi
Credit: Reuters Photo
New Delhi: Over 50% of Delhiites gave a very low rating to the new Delhi government and central government agencies on the handling of the national capital’s pollution situation, a new survey has shown. The survey also showed that 3 in 10 respondents gave the government a high rating.
In a survey of 15,785 Delhi residents who were asked how will they rate the efforts to of the Delhi Government this year to manage the pollution situation in the city, only 17% gave a favourable rating of 5/5 to the state government and 14% gave a 4/5 rating.
In the survey, 17% responded with 3 / 5, 11% said 2/5, 14% of Delhi residents gave 4/5 rating; 17% of respondents gave 3/5 rating; 11% of respondents gave 2/5 rating, another 11% gave a rating of 1/5and 27% gave a zero rating.
“To sum up, 5 in 10 Delhi residents give a very low rating to Delhi Government’s handling of pollution situation; 3 in 10 give them a high rating. Community conversations indicate that a sizeable number of Delhi residents believe that the toxic air in Delhi during winter months is due to stubble burning in neighbouring states and hence they don’t hold the Delhi Government accountable for it as much,” a release by Local Circles said.
Answers to a question on the Central government’s accountability also showed a similar trend in the answers. Out of 15,572 respondents residing in Delhi, 21% rate 5 and 12% rates 4 out of 5.
However, 12% voted 3 out of 5, 6% said 2 out of 5, 18% responded with 1 out of 5 and 22% said 0.
“A sizeable section of the Delhi resident community is upset with the way this has been handled oved the last decade and how it is handled each year despite promises made during election campaigns. Their anger is justified given how many households in Delhi have someone suffering from a severe condition which is either due to toxic air or worsens due to it. Delhiites know that this toxic air is reducing life span for them and their families but many feel helpless,” a release by the survey agency said.
The survey reached out to 30,000 respondents in 11 districts of the capital.