MUMBAI: To address the alarming air pollution in the capital, city’s youngsters have organised ‘#Breathe’ - a 12 day clean air campaign in New Delhi on the occasion of Earth Day, observed on 22 April.
The campaign is the brainchild of Aadyaa Singhania, a 17 year young passionate student who is an environmentalist in spirit. Aadyaa with her friends started this campaign on 10 April, 2017 at Moti Bagh Crossing and will carry it on till Earth Day. The drive is being simultaneously replicated at ITO crossing from 20, April to 22, April. They are also asking commuters to share their ideas to prevent air pollution, on the FB Page #Breathe. Later, these youngsters will help in fund raising & implementation of the best ideas.
The young enthusiasts are distributing anti pollutition masks and spreading spread information on basic steps which one generally overlooks but can play a vital role to check alarming levels of air pollution in the city. Simple things such as switching off engines at signals, getting vehicles serviced at regular periods, using recommended grade of lubricants, planning routes prior starting for some place, maintaining adequate air pressure in tyres, avoid extra loading, carpooling, preferring public transport, etc. will be cultivated among commuters.
Aadyaa is also reaching out to a number of schools to enlist volunteers amongst students. She has successfully organised awareness sessions on environment conservation at Sadhu Vaswani School, Blue Bells International & Mount Carmel in the city. Students of these schools will also take part in the campaign on Earth Day, i.e. 22 April 2017 at Moti Bagh Crossing, New Delhi.
Health issue involving asthmatic attacks since her childhood days made Aadyaa aware of the need of clean air quality which was a prime reason for suffering of many kids like hers. Amidst all this Aadya became a passionate environmentalist and because of her concern for the environment and desire to make a difference, she pursued a certificate course in “Introduction to Environmental Sciences” from Darthmothx.
Giving her perspective in the background of her present campaign #Breathe, Aadyaa Singhania noted that “Everybody in India feels that somebody else should take care of pollution problem and very easily passes on the blame to the government. We don’t contribute negatively to the air quality such as by being more mindful in the choices we make in our day to day life for example- switching to better quality fuel, reducing DG sets, making sure our cars meet the emission norms etc.”
