The Sunday crowds around Kartavya Path looked on as a determined group of people, many of them wearing masks came to protest about Delhi’s noxious air with placards and messages. They weren’t too large in terms of numbers, a few hundred at the most, but they weren’t interested in sitting at home doing nothing. Two women Goseeko spoke to, one who moved to the city just four years ago and another who has spent her whole life here, shared their anxiety about the city they both love but find difficult to breathe in. “I was expecting more people to be present here. Pollution affects us all.”
Chetan Bhattacharji came to the protest armed his AQI monitors. Showing Goseeko the reading he said, “We’ve seen a lot of accusations and allegations that the data (on pollution) is not transparent. But there’s another issue about the data. At the moment, there are two monitors that I have over here, and one shows just the PM2.5. The other one shows the AQI. The AQI is 353. The PM 2.5 is about 160, 170 or so. The point is that air pollution starts affecting our health at far lower levels, at about 25, 30 micrograms per cubic meter. At that level, every time, every time it Increases by, say, 10 micrograms the risk of premature death, of strokes, of asthmatic attacks, that increases. This is established science, as a lot of experts say. So the protest is all very well, but the problem is that air pollution is an all round, is a year round problem.”
Another Delhi resident, Mona Mehra said, “I’m here because it is really, really hard because I’m facing it myself. My family also. Now my daughter is getting allergic. She’s got bronchitis. We can’t breathe. That is why I think it is very important we start looking at things from a different perspective. We are just focusing on money, business, job and livelihoods, and we are not focusing on anything else. We do not talk about holistic living.”
Even though pollution is an all-year-round problem, every year, Delhi goes through a similar cycle as winter sets in. Pollution levels start spiking, there is outrage, authorities show they are taking some some steps to fight it and but in terms of long term measures, there’s precious little visible on the ground.
According to global health studies, Delhi’s residents are losing an average of 10 to 12 years of life expectancy because of sustained exposure to toxic air. The city’s fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels routinely exceed safe limits by 15 to 20 times, making clean air a rare privilege. Medical experts warn that even short-term exposure increases risks of heart disease, stroke, asthma, and cancer, while prolonged exposure silently erodes lung capacity and immunity. In effect, Delhi’s air is cutting lives short, not through sudden catastrophe, but through an invisible, daily assault on health and longevity.
Many protesters were detained after police said that India Gate was not a designated protest site and asked them to disperse. Visuals of police detaining protesters flooded social media.
Delhi woke up on Monday to another morning where the air quality remained in ‘poor category’ with the overall AQI at 6am at 346 (as per Central Pollution Control Board numbers).