近日，印度德里被雾霾笼罩，空气污染指数大幅度超标，攀升到危险水平，小学被令停课，多趟航班及列车服务延误。
德里这次的空气污染究竟严重到什么程度呢？
德里首席部长凯杰里瓦尔在推特上说，这座2000万人口的大城市已经变成一个“毒气室”。印度医学协会将当前的状况称为“卫生紧急状态”，并表示呼吸这种空气等同于一天抽50支烟。
空气污染持续令德里及周边地区的就诊率激增，德里各大医院迎来呼吸道疾病就诊高峰，就诊率较平时增长20%。全印医学研究院的古勒亚医生说，如今德里的空气状况堪比1952年的伦敦烟雾事件——那起灾难导致近4000人死亡。
浓厚的雾霾不仅导致航班大面积延误，还引发交通事故。当地媒体报道，几天来仅德里邻近的哈里亚纳邦和旁遮普邦高速路上就有至少9人死亡。8日晚些时候，在旁遮普邦，一些学生正在等公交车，一辆卡车冲过，导致8名学生丧生。
显然雾霾已经严重影响到了人们的生活，那么印度政府是如何应对的呢？来看看外媒的报道：
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.
用直升机抗击德里空气污染的宏大计划搁浅了，因为飞机无法在浓重的雾霾中飞行，这更加剧了民众对当局无力解决德里雾霾问题的懊恼情绪。
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”.
周二，环保部长哈什•瓦德汉恳求居民保持冷静，表示尽管空气质量依然“很糟”，但只需要采取“常规的预防措施”。这一言论进一步激起人们对莫迪政府没有认真对待这次危机的谴责。
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.
德里市政府请一家国有直升机公司在德里上空洒水，希望可以借此解决雾霾问题。但是本周一，市政府官员被告知，该公司必须等到雾霾散开才能出动直升机来清除污染物。
“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.”
“现在有雾霾，所以直升机是不可能执行任务的”，该公司的董事长兼总经理BP•夏玛告诉《印度快报》说，“我们已经把相同的信息传达给了德里政府。周一我们就此开了个会。”
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.
另一个障碍是，德里的很多地区——尤其是议会、总统和总理府所在的南部地区——都是监管严格的禁飞区。
想靠直升机驱霾，但直升机要等霾散了、能见度提高了才能上天，这本身就是个悖论。话说回来，德里这次“雾霾危机”是由什么原因造成的呢？
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年的一项研究发现，德里市空气中52%的颗粒物来源于道路上数以万计的汽车造成的扬尘。建筑工地上没有覆盖的沙土也是引发令人窒息的大气污染的源头之一。
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.
上周邻近各邦大规模焚烧的秸秆和风速缓慢也是导致印度北部部分地区空气污染超过世界卫生组织空气质量标准30多倍的一个因素。
注：世界卫生组织认为，PM2.5平均浓度小于10微克/立方米是安全值。PM2.5指直径小于等于2.5微米的颗粒物。
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.
医生们宣布德里突发公共卫生事件，将此次空气污染和1984年发生在博帕尔导致至少2.5万人丧生的气体泄漏事件相提并论，但瓦德汉却对此无动于衷。
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新闻台的访谈中，他辩解说，博帕尔事故是“你有必要恐慌和采取应对措施的紧急事件”。
“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.”
“我的意思不是我们不应该针对德里雾霾采取措施，每个人都必须对自己的分内之事作出回应。但是没有必要在民众当中散播恐慌情绪。”
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.
民众的压力都集中在曾做过政府官员和工程师的德里市首席部长、平民党人阿尔文德•科基瓦尔身上。他的交通管制提案——按车牌尾号实行单双号限行——自上周五以来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”.
在科基瓦尔的单双号限行提案中，有一个长长的豁免名单，包括搭载单身女性、儿童和坐轮椅人士的汽车。但是研究指出，就算实施了限行政策，从德里上次的尝试来看，效果“微乎其微”。
The sprinkling helicopter policy was also rubbished by experts who said it would make no difference.
专家也否定了直升机洒水的政策，表示这么做无济于事。
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.
除了最受关注的德里，整个印度北部平原，包括巴基斯坦的部分地区，也处于雾霾围困中。解决污染的长久之道需要全国乃至国际的协调行动。
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.
周一的一项研究发现，莫迪的原选区瓦拉纳西的空气质量比德里还要糟。到目前为止，莫迪还未对危机发表评论。
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.
总部位于德里的科学与环境中心的空气污染研究员宝拉什•穆克吉说，德里市民有一种“消沉感”，他们越来越多地意识到吸入高浓度颗粒物所带来的危险。
“They know it’s severe, and they know something should be done about it, but no one seems to be doing anything,” he said.
他说：“他们知道问题很严重，也知道应该采取行动，但是似乎没有人采取任何行动。”
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.
全印度父母协会的会长阿肖克•阿格拉沃尔说，政府对这个问题的态度“不真诚”。“去年就发生过严重污染，”他说，“当时他们就该采取措施，好让危机不再重演，或者让颗粒物浓度不至于这么高。”
“But they have done nothing to address the problem and it is a health emergency.”
“但是他们没有采取任何行动来解决问题，这可是卫生紧急事件。”
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决问题的好办法，而中央政府又不作为，德里市民只能听天由命了。
那么，只能听天由命的印度市民，如今是个什么生活状态？
“对我们这些生活在这里的人来说，空气污染削弱了我们的力气。许多人整天感到恶心，就像在晕车。空气中有一股烟味，刺激咽喉，在一些地方，空气闻起来像油漆。”一名当地记者这样描述生活在雾霾中的感受。
一名德里商人告诉BBC：“我在车里都喘不过气来，我更不能打开房间的窗户。”
德里一位资深胸外科医生表示，空气污染为该地区人民带来愈发严重的健康危机。“即使是不抽烟的健康年轻人，都已经没有粉红色的肺部了。加护病房里全是肺炎患者。短期内导致急性哮喘发作，长远来看，将会增加肺癌的风险。”
然而，“重霾之下，仍有勇夫”——其实是出于无奈，7日，比利时国王菲利普夫妇按既定行程访问印度，硬着头皮参加了印度政府“情深深雾蒙蒙”的欢迎仪式。8日，英国查尔斯王子携夫人卡米拉在雾霾中抵达印度访问。激发起许多英国人的“幽默灵感”，有人在推特上说：“查尔斯王子和卡米拉今天和明天将在德里，如果他们能看到从机场出来的路。”
