德里受霧霾重擊 連抗霾直升機也被打敗

An ambitious plan to use helicopters to fight Delhi’s air pollution has been grounded because the aircraft cannot operate in the thick smog, underscoring growing frustration at authorities’ inability to address the toxic haze engulfing the city.

用直升機抗擊德里空氣污染的宏大計劃擱淺了，因爲飛機無法在濃重的霧霾中飛行，這更加劇了民衆對當局無力解決德里霧霾問題的懊惱情緒。

Accusations that Narendra Modi’s government is failing to take the crisis seriously were further fuelled on Tuesday when the environment minister, Harsh Vardhan, urged residents to remain calm, saying only “routine precautions” were needed, even though air quality levels remain “severe”.

週二，環保部長哈什?瓦德漢懇求居民保持冷靜，表示儘管空氣質量依然“很糟”，但只需要採取“常規的預防措施”。這一言論進一步激起人們對莫迪政府沒有認真對待這次危機的譴責。

The city authorities had engaged a state-owned helicopter company to spray water over Delhi in the hope of settling the thick haze of pollutants. But on Monday administrators were told they would be unable to help dissipate the smog until the smog itself had cleared.

德里市政府請一家國有直升機公司在德里上空灑水，希望可以藉此解決霧霾問題。但是本週一，市政府官員被告知，該公司必須等到霧霾散開才能出動直升機來清除污染物。

“Right now, with the prevailing smog, it is not possible for the helicopters to carry out operations,” the chairman and managing director of the company, BP Sharma, told the Indian Express. “We have communicated the same to the Delhi government. There was a meeting regarding this on Monday.”

“現在有霧霾，所以直升機是不可能執行任務的”，該公司的董事長兼總經理BP?夏瑪告訴《印度快報》說，“我們已經把相同的信息傳達給了德里政府。週一我們就此開了個會。”

The other hitch is that many parts of Delhi – particularly its southern quarters where parliament, the presidency and the prime minister are all based – are within a strictly policed no-fly zone.

另一個障礙是，德里的很多地區——尤其是議會、總統和總理府所在的南部地區——都是監管嚴格的禁飛區。

A 2015 study found that 52% of the particulate matter in the city’s air was from dust kicked up by the tens of thousands of cars on its roads. Uncovered sand and soil from construction sites also contribute to the choking atmosphere.

2015年的一項研究發現，德里市空氣中52%的顆粒物來源於道路上數以萬計的汽車造成的揚塵。建築工地上沒有覆蓋的沙土也是引發令人窒息的大氣污染的源頭之一。

In the last week, massive crop burning in neighbouring states and slow winds have also been a factor in sending air pollution levels in parts of north India to more than 30 times the World Health Organisation standards for daily exposure.

上週鄰近各邦大規模焚燒的秸稈和風速緩慢也是導致印度北部部分地區空氣污染超過世界衛生組織空氣質量標準30多倍的一個因素。

Doctors have declared a public health emergency in Delhi, but Vardhan was blasé, contrasting the pollution to the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal that killed at least 25,000 people.

醫生們宣佈德里突發公共衛生事件，將此次空氣污染和1984年發生在博帕爾導致至少2.5萬人喪生的氣體泄漏事件相提並論，但瓦德漢卻對此無動於衷。

Bhopal, he argued was “an emergency situation where you have to panic and you have to see what you have to do”, he said in an interview with CNN-18 news.

在CNN-18新聞臺的訪談中，他辯解說，博帕爾事故是“你有必要恐慌和採取應對措施的緊急事件”。

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t do anything about it [the Delhi smog], everyone has to respond to what he is supposed to do. But there is no need to spread panic among the people.”

“我的意思不是我們不應該針對德里霧霾採取措施，每個人都必須對自己的分內之事作出迴應。但是沒有必要在民衆當中散播恐慌情緒。”

Public pressure has centred on the city’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, a populist former bureaucrat and engineer. His proposal to ration traffic according to the last digit of number plates – odd numbers one day, evens the other – has been blocked by judges since Friday.

民衆的壓力都集中在曾做過政府官員和工程師的德里市首席部長、平民黨人阿爾文德?科基瓦爾身上。他的交通管制提案——按車牌尾號實行單雙號限行——自上週五以來就一直受到法官的抵制。

Kejriwal wants to maintain a long list of exemptions to the odd-even rule, including single women, cars transporting children and two-wheelers. Even if implemented, studies of the last time Delhi attempted the measure have found its impact was “abysmally small”.

在科基瓦爾的單雙號限行提案中，有一個長長的豁免名單，包括搭載單身女性、兒童和坐輪椅人士的汽車。但是研究指出，就算實施了限行政策，從德里上次的嘗試來看，效果“微乎其微”。

The sprinkling helicopter policy was also rubbished by experts who said it would make no difference.

專家也否定了直升機灑水的政策，表示這麼做無濟於事。

Though Delhi gets the most attention, the haze has settled across the entire north Indian plain, including parts of Pakistan. A lasting solution would require a nationally coordinated response across state and international borders.

除了最受關注的德里，整個印度北部平原，包括巴基斯坦的部分地區，也處於霧霾圍困中。解決污染的長久之道需要全國乃至國際的協調行動。

A study on Monday found the air quality in Varanasi, in Modi’s home constituency, had even worse air than Delhi. The Indian prime minister is yet to comment on the crisis.

週一的一項研究發現，莫迪的原選區瓦拉納西的空氣質量比德里還要糟。到目前爲止，莫迪還未對危機發表評論。

Polash Mukherjee, an air pollution researcher from the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said there was a “sense of despondency” among the city’s residents, who were increasingly aware of the dangers associated with breathing dense particulate matter.

總部位於德里的科學與環境中心的空氣污染研究員寶拉什?穆克吉說，德里市民有一種“消沉感”，他們越來越多地意識到吸入高濃度顆粒物所帶來的危險。

“They know it’s severe, and they know something should be done about it, but no one seems to be doing anything,” he said.

他說：“他們知道問題很嚴重，也知道應該採取行動，但是似乎沒有人採取任何行動。”

The head of the All-India Parents Association, Ashok Agrawal, said the government was “not sincere” about the issue. “It happened last year,” he said. “They could have taken steps so that it didn’t happen again, or so the density was lower.

全印度父母協會的會長阿肖克?阿格拉沃爾說，政府對這個問題的態度“不真誠”。“去年就發生過嚴重污染，”他說，“當時他們就該採取措施，好讓危機不再重演，或者讓顆粒物濃度不至於這麼高。”

“But they have done nothing to address the problem and it is a health emergency.”

“但是他們沒有采取任何行動來解決問題，這可是衛生緊急事件。”

With the city government unable to find the right steps, and the central one reluctant to take any, Delhi residents have been left to rely on the heavens.

既然市政府想不出解決問題的好辦法，而中央政府又不作爲，德里市民只能聽天由命了。