Why is pollution not an issue in the Haryana elections?

“My three year-old granddaughter has been diagnosed with a lung problem,” Jagmal Singh lamented. “The doctor told us to move out because there is too much pollution where we live.”

Singh is a resident and former sarpanch of Dholera village in the Nangal Chaudhary sub division of Haryana’s Mahendragarh district.

Dholera is one of at least 35 villages in Nangal Chaudhary, nestled within the Aravallis, suffering from severe dust pollution caused by the unchecked stone crushing in the area.

Due to this, several residents suffer from breathing ailments such as asthma, silicosis, tuberculosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Because of the dust constantly blowing in and around these villages, there is a sickly greyish-brown hue in the air. Visibility is rarely more than a few metres. Plants and trees in the villages are covered with dust.

Dholera is representative of the pollution crisis that faces Haryana. In addition to the much-talked about air pollution in the urban parts of the state in the National Capital Region, the state is also afflicted by rampant deforestation, water depletion and contamination, land degradation, lack of climate resilient planning and hazardous waste management.

However, as Haryana goes to polls on Saturday, none of these problems find mention in the election.Thick dust blowing in the background,...

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