Shortlist, Gas Chamber Delhi by Alessandro Gandolfi

New Delhi is one of the world’s most polluted cities. In winter especially, smoke and smog create a toxic mantle from which it is impossible to escape. In particularly poor conditions, breathing Delhi’s air could be equivalent to smoking up to 20 cigarettes a day. How are Delhi’s residents trying to combat this emergency? With masks (but these have to be of the requisite quality), with purifiers (very expensive) and with plants that emit oxygen also at night (but these aren’t enough). A bar has even opened where customers can breathe pure oxygen for 15 minutes at a cost of 400 rupees (around €5). The problem is mainly a question of socio-economic class: the poor, who live more or less on the streets and don’t use masks, are the most vulnerable.