Smog in Delhi: The Struggle of Rickshaw Pedalers

Environment News

Environmental change hits the poorest the hardest, experts say, and in India’s toxic smog-filled capital, that includes the air people breathe. In Old Delhi, the ancient heart of the capital, 39-year-old Rizwan pedals a rickshaw tricycle, transporting passengers and heavy goods through crowded streets often too narrow for cars, earning about seven dollars on a good day. Levels of fine particulate matter – cancer-causing microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs – often hit more than 30 times the World Health Organisation’s danger limits.