As I sat down to write this piece from my home nestled in the hills of the Western Ghats in Kerala, I had to try hard to summon a memory of the sharp sting of Delhi’s air on a bad air day.
Unlike the residents of Delhi, I do not have a daily lived experience of pollution, but I have visited the city often enough to witness its impact. Each time, stepping into Delhi feels like entering an entirely different world – one where the air itself seems heavy with history, movement and struggle, all burdened with an inescapable haze. For me, moving to the hills was both a privilege and a personal choice shaped by my career path. But for millions in Indian cities, leaving isn’t an option – it’s where their lives, livelihoods and families are rooted. This makes one thing clear: The real challenge for Indians isn’t escaping polluted cities, but ensuring they become liveable and healthy for its people.
My last memory of Delhi is from a cold winter morning of December 2023. When I arrived in the city, the air – thick with the acrid smell of burnt aviation fuel mixed with burning garbage and dust – immediately crawled into my throat. As I made my way through the streets, I noticed a fleet of trucks trundling along, spraying water onto the roads in a futile attempt to temporarily settle the dust. In the distance, smog guns released mist into the air – like a ritual meant to cleanse the city of its invisible demons. But the haze lingered.
This is the reality of Delhi’s battle against air pollution – a series of emergency measures that are neither rooted in sound science nor designed for long-term relief. The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), hailed as the capital’s defence against its annual airpocalypse, is nothing more than a reactive checklist. Like giving aspirin to a terminally ill patient, it attempts to manage symptoms while ignoring the disease. If the goal is to truly tackle Delhi’s air quality crisis, we must move beyond the illusion of control and confront the systemic failures enabling the crisis.
The mirage of GRAP: Too little, too late
The fundamental flaw of the GRAP lies in its very premise. Instead of functioning as a proactive pollution prevention strategy, it operates like a fire alarm that only sounds once the house is ablaze. By the time GRAP restrictions kick in, thousands of Delhiites have already inhaled toxic air for weeks.
Consider the tiered response system: Stages I through IV are activated based on the Air Quality Index, ranging from ‘poor’ to ‘severe-plus.’ Only at the highest levels do we see bans on construction, curbs on heavy vehicles and restrictions on industrial emissions. But air pollution does not emerge overnight; it builds up over time through a combination of emissions from industries, vehicles and seasonal factors like crop burning. Yet, authorities treat it as a sudden crisis rather than an ongoing public health disaster.
Among the most baffling interventions deployed under GRAP are smog guns and water sprinkling – technologies that, at best, provide momentary relief and, at worst, serve as expensive distractions from the real culprits of pollution.
Smog guns, designed to spray fine droplets of water into the air, operate on the flawed assumption that binding particulate matter (PM) with mist will significantly reduce airborne pollutants. However, trial runs by the CPCB have shown that smog guns are ineffective – in fact, the diesel-powered trucks powering these guns are probably adding to the pollution load. Their inefficacy is particularly glaring when one considers Delhi’s pollution load – where PM 2.5 concentrations can exceed 500 µg/m³ (over 20 times the safe limit). Even the most optimistic assessments of smog guns suggest they can only marginally reduce PM levels in enclosed spaces, let alone across an entire city.
Similarly, water sprinkling on roads is often touted as a measure to control dust pollution, but this intervention ignores the nature of Delhi’s pollution crisis. Road dust is just one component of the toxic mix; vehicular emissions, industrial pollutants, biomass burning and coal-based power plants contribute far more significantly to the problem. Moreover, given the city’s chronic water scarcity, using vast amounts of water for this futile exercise is an environmental irony we can ill afford.
The political economy of inaction
Despite the overwhelming evidence, why do ineffective solutions like water spraying and smog guns persist? The answer lies in the political economy of air pollution management. Quick fixes are politically convenient – they create the illusion of action without challenging powerful polluting industries. The construction sector, real estate lobbies and fossil fuel industries wield considerable influence, ensuring that stringent long-term measures – shutting down coal plants or enforcing vehicle restrictions – are avoided in favour of superficial interventions.
Additionally, the overall environmental governance framework in the country and the deep-seated lack of trust in agencies form a significant part of the puzzle. The state’s tight control over pollution data raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability. Past instances have seen allegations of monitoring stations being shut down to avoid negative press coverage during high-profile events. Without independent, community-driven air quality monitoring, the possibility of data manipulation remains, further undermining efforts to address the crisis. Data democracy must be a crucial element of any policy intervention.
Health: A key indicator
Air pollution’s biggest casualty is human health and Delhi’s story is incomplete without a reference to its health impacts. Studies show it causes premature deaths, worsens heart and lung diseases, weakens the immune system, damages DNA, affects child development and even impacts brain function, leading to issues like anxiety and memory loss. Current PM pollution levels in the city are linked to 7,350-6,200 premature deaths and 6 million asthma attacks annually. In fact, Indian insurers are considering making New Delhi residents pay 10 to 15 percent more for new health policies after an extraordinary spike in claims related to air pollution in 2024 in India’s capital.
A call for meaningful action
Delhi’s air pollution crisis is not just a seasonal emergency – it is the result of decades of flawed urban planning, unchecked industrial expansion, and policy choices that have prioritised short-term economic growth over long-term public health. While emergency measures like smog guns and water sprinklers provide a temporary illusion of action, they do little to address the systemic sources of pollution: coal and biomass combustion (stubble burning), vehicular emissions, agricultural burning, construction dust and unregulated waste incineration. Add to this the declining green cover and unfavourable meteorological conditions, and the city remains trapped in a deadly cycle of pollution and reactionary governance.
A note on the issue of meteorological conditions and stubble burning – often cited as key reasons behind the annual haze. Recent studies show that annual PM2.5 levels rose in 2024 for the second consecutive year, despite a drop in stubble burning and climatic conditions which are seasonal.
The stark reality is that Delhi still needs a 60 percent reduction in pollution to meet national air quality standards. Meanwhile, vehicle emissions continue to rise, waste management remains inadequate, and public transportation is underfunded and poorly integrated. Political will remains the missing ingredient, as solutions like sustainable urban planning, strict emissions enforcement, and regional pollution control remain underfunded and politically inconvenient.
Need for long-term, science-backed approach
Delhi’s air pollution crisis is not just a city-level issue but a regional one, with nearly 60-70 percent of particulate matter originating outside the city. A coordinated airshed management approach across Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan is essential to tackle transboundary pollution effectively. Equally critical is the need to expand and electrify public transport, reducing reliance on private vehicles, which contribute to over half of Delhi’s PM 2.5 levels. Strengthening congestion pricing, parking restrictions, and last-mile connectivity can make public transport the default choice, easing the pollution burden. Similarly, industrial pollution control must be prioritised, with real-time emissions monitoring across sectors, strict penalties, closures and incentives for cleaner production to curb unchecked emissions from outdated factories.
I do not have any revolutionary suggestions, beyond these standard policy prescriptions – which would work if implemented diligently. Delhi’s problem is well-documented, and such solutions have been studied exhaustively, and millions have already been spent on expert recommendations yet meaningful implementation remains elusive.
Delhi’s air pollution crisis is a test of political will and governance. The solutions exist, the science is clear, but as long as policymakers continue to rely on symbolic gestures over substantive reform, the city will remain trapped in an endless cycle of emergency responses. It is time to abandon the smog guns and water trucks and embrace real change. Until then, the haze will persist, and so will the silent suffering of millions.
This piece is part of a collaborative campaign to tackle air pollution. Here’s how you can join the Fight To Breathe. Click here to power this campaign.
The author is part of the panel of experts guiding the campaign.
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