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India Vs Bangladesh: Environmentalists urge BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly to shift Delhi T20I as AQI turns 'severe'

As the air quality index in Delhi continues to deteriorate, the environmentalists have requested the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly to consider moving the first India-Bangladesh T20 outside Delhi.

India Vs Bangladesh: Environmentalists urge BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly to shift Delhi T20I as AQI turns severe

New Delhi, Oct 30: As the air quality index in Delhi continues to deteriorate, the environmentalists have requested the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly to consider moving the first India-Bangladesh T20I outside Delhi. The AQI on Wednesday (October 30) slipped into the 'severe' category.

In the letter addressed to the former India captain, the environmentalists said the toxic air in the national capital could prove a health risk for the players and thousands of spectators. The rapid spike in the pollution level after Diwali has become a cause for concern ahead of the international match at Arun Jaitely International Stadium on November 3.

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In December 2017, the Sri Lankan cricket team was left gasping for breath during a Test match at the Kotla, forcing most of their players to wear protective masks even as some fell ill.

"In the light of extreme pollution in Delhi, we would like to request you to consider shifting the venue for the first T20 outside of Delhi. Making our cricketers play a physically demanding sport for 3-4 hours in Delhi's toxic air will end up doing more damage to our cricket team's health in the long run," Jyoti Pande of Care For Air and Ravina Raj Kohli of My Right To Breathe said in the letter. Care For Air and My Right To Breathe are clean air awareness and advocacy non-profit organisations.

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"Thousands of innocent spectators at the venue will also be putting themselves at risk in order to watch the match in the prevailing situation," they said.

Former India captain Bishen Singh Bedi also took to his Twitter handle and asked if Delhi deserves to host an international sporting event with such alarming level of pollution.

Bedi tweeted, "In present state of 'hazardous air quality' n Delhi Let's spare a thought fr Ind/B'Desh teams having to play T-20 on 3rd Nov at Kotla...Let's accept our man-made frailties w/Mother Nature..& ask does Delhi deserve any sporting event o International standard at all..?!!!,"

The environmentalists said outdoor aerobic activities raise the respiration rate of the human body, thus depositing even higher levels of toxins into our lungs and organs.

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"This puts our sportspersons at even greater risk when they play outdoors. Any match played outdoors harms the health and very lives of the players and it is irresponsible to schedule such sporting activities during times of such toxic air quality," they said.

On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had hoped pollution will not affect the T20 match, emphasising that his government has been taking steps such as the odd-even scheme to improve the air quality.

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A day later, a smoky haze turned Delhi's skies grey as the air quality dropped further and entered the second-worst "severe" category.

According to Air Quality Index (AQI) data, the major pollutants PM 2.5 at 500 (severe) and PM 10 at 379 (very poor) has been recorded in Lodhi Road area.

(With PTI inputs)

Story first published: Wednesday, October 30, 2019, 13:59 [IST]
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