New Delhi, the capital of the world’s 4th largest economy by nominal GDP is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Abnormally high, toxic AQI levels, though an annual phenomenon peaking in November-December, are worsening every year. For instance, on 24th November 2025 the city’s real-time AQI was reported at 559 firmly in the “hazardous” category.
From deploying and attempting various sorts of operational, technological and scientific measures, including the failed cloud seeding to cutting emissions, the newly formed government hasn’t really moved the needle. True that efforts are being made, but the AQI charts keep rendering those efforts almost futile.
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| Photo by abhijeet gourav on Unsplash |
Curtailing pollution and easing the lives of Delhiites was a major talking point for the BJP government, which wrested power from the (then) structurally broken Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in February this year. The promise added goodie-points to the BJP’s tally in the capital. Whether the ruling government has lived up to the expectations of its new voter-base remains to be seen, but for sure, in terms of providing a healthier air, the voters have faced a suffocating setback as usual. Interestingly, comparisons of the two regimes suggest that the previous AAP government may not look so faulty now in this one respect at least.
Certainly, a long list of reasons ranging from geographical, climatic, societal to civic, complicates the issue beyond simply blaming the government. Delhi’s geographical and climatic disadvantages, mostly out of any authority’s power, including wind flows in a disadvantaged manner, temperature inversions, and low temperatures amplify pollution and trap pollutants. However, the human-induced side list is long and avoidable. Stubble-burning in Punjab and Haryana (although a sharp dip has been witnessed this year), vehicular emissions from almost 10 million vehicles (a lot already in the must-be-scrapped state), rampant construction dust, and nearby industrial and thermal plant emissions. Unlike the geographical and climatic factors, these can be curtailed, but if only policy, monitoring and enforcement are aligned with intent.
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Living in Delhi is akin to smoking 3/4/7/10 cigarettes a day, depending on the location and AQI. Pulmonologists and respiratory-medicine consultants keep raising their voice against this bleak state of affairs and the media keeps making catchy headlines. But quite unfortunately, not many people still pay heed. Step outside and you’ll see very few people wearing N95/N99 masks. Why? Because immediate repercussions aren’t visible with breathing in poison.
We humans are conditioned to focus on things with immediate visible change and that’s the reason many of us don’t succeed in whatever we aim for in health, career, relationships, or life. Tiny efforts over months and years can yield big change, and yes, unfortunately, same goes for the negatives, i.e., tiny downs aggregate to a scathing damage in the longer run, and Delhi’s air will do the exact same with the Delhiites in the years and decades to come.
It’s high time the government regulates emissions and revives the life expectancy of its people that’s rapidly being cut short with the rising PM 2.5. Wearing the hat of being one the most polluted cities in the world is an honour that will only dampen the Viksit Delhi trajectory, won't it?