Friday, November 20, New Delhi: Lung Care Foundation, in collaboration with United  Residents’ Joint Action (URJA) of Delhi, organized an eGOSHTI (virtual roundtable) with the community influencers from various RWAs across Delhi. During this webinar Dr. (Prof.) Arvind  Kumar gave a keynote on “Understanding Air pollution and its Health Impacts”. It was followed by a virtual roundtable that focused on finding solutions to various problems related to air pollution in Delhi. 

The virtual roundtable was attended by 40 individuals, all working with RWAs across Delhi.  During the session, the speakers spoke about the situation of air quality and suggested steps that can be taken to reduce air pollution in their locality. The program was highly interactive and received active engagement from all participants throughout the session. 

Speaking to the participants, Dr.(Prof.) Arvind Kumar, leading Chest Surgeon from Sir Ganga  Ram Hospital: “If we wait for others to take actions and think that they will act to make the situation better, then we are harming ourselves. The entire nation must awaken at the individual  level and take the lead to bring clean air for a better future.” 

Atul Goyal, President, United Residents’ Joint Action (URJA): “We talk about pollution only when the pollution level rises and leave the issue behind as soon as the situation gets a little better. We need to take continuous actions and must find local solutions starting from our own households. We must focus on local area planning with phase-wise implementation.” 

Wg Cdr JS Chadda, Chief Convenor, United Residents’ Joint Action (URJA): “The current situation is such that we can see the poison in the air. We have to workout time-bound plans and actions to make a difference. It may be difficult but not impossible. We as residents can take  multiple actions & if we won’t act now, we will have to pay the cost & moreover our future  generations will have to suffer.” 

Rajiv Khurana, Founder Trustee, Lung Care Foundation: “It is not the time to point fingers at each other, instead it is time to point fingers at ourselves on how we can make a difference through positive & affirmative actions. It is time to decide whether we want to be aimers or  blamers.” 

Based on the virtual roundtable, Rajiv Khurana highlighted a few key points, which were  unanimously agreed upon by all the influencers: 

∙ A sprinkling of water to subdue dust 

∙ Adopt a tree 

∙ Waste segregation at source 

∙ Setup sewage treatment plants

∙ Environmental-friendly ways of disposing of animal waste  

∙ Clean non-polluting celebrations of festivals 

∙ Develop green areas 

∙ Convince MCDs to create sanitary landfills 

Closing the session, Rajiv Khurana concluded by re-defining CARE – Collective efforts,  Acceleration of actions, Regaining clean air, and Enthusiasm in our efforts. CARE is a series of eGOSHTI (virtual roundtable) sessions that will be held in collaboration with URJA every month. 

At the end of the session, participants responded to a poll stating- 100% of them found the session very useful. Also, all participants took a pledge to talk to others and promote actions towards clean air.