Welcome to Delhi's air, sulphur dioxide

Something is in the air, and it's not love. Welcome to Delhi's very own gas chambers.

Remember the lyrics from the musical Hair?

Welcome sulphur dioxide, hello carbon monoxide, the air, the air is everywhere... breathe deep while you sleep...

This could certainly become our theme, our anthem. Unless we change, and change fast.

Oxygen depleted we stagger about, still trying to find solutions, even when the most obvious ones stare us in the face. And so recently, when, trapped like mice, we even got Facebook posts asking us to send “solutions” to AAP's environment minister about Delhi's pollution issues, I was left gasping - this time with incredulity. Solutions? Surely the solutions must be pouring out of your ears, Mr Minister.

Please don't waste our time on this foolish endeavour to engage. We don't want to get to know you. We only want to breathe.

But if you want a solution, here goes... A simple start could be made by increasing public transport. Yes, the metro has helped but we still need alternatives as anyone who has travelled in the metro during rush hour will tell you.

We still lovingly retain our ever more congested roads, and subsidised diesel converting into deadly fumes while car engines idle... a deadly cocktail of poison spewing into our lungs. And then of course, we have all manner and shapes and sizes of buses coughing smoke as well: public transport does not always mean clean energy. Not only do we need more public transport, we also need cleaner emissions.

Most importantly, we then need to make alternate, greener transport look trendy.

This means making the non-usage of cars look “aspirational”. Because only then can we get the middle classes to switch from cars.

And so I have to say that the suggestion from the PM that we could all cycle one day of the week, perhaps on a Sunday, is a great idea. If we could all become pedal pushers it might improve the air quality just a tiny bit, but over time the change could become significant. However, to do this we also have to improve road conditions and introduce regulations that ensure the safety of cyclists.

Even in countries where cycling is the “in” thing, there are constant debates about increasing safety. There have to be separate cycling lanes and even zones. Pavements are essential, and so are secure areas where bikes can be parked.

I have often thought of getting onto a cycle in London... after all, the mayor is an ardent cyclist. But the thought of being at the mercy of buses and trucks, apart from the streams of fumes which emanate from vehicles, even there, often puts me off.

The situation is much worse in India, but a beginning has to be made. Indeed, if large parts of Delhi are converted into cycling areas even on one day of the week, it will be great. And if the whole of Delhi becomes a two wheeling, free wheeling fantasy, could we sing Goodbye, sulphur dioxide one day?