Delhi Toxic air Crisis Laid Bare by Tharoor Pointed Social Dig
Updated on Nov - 08 - 2025, 05:59 AM
The annual fog of debate and concern has again settled over the Delhi-NCR region, but beneath it lies a recurring, persistent crisis: air pollution. Taking aim at the delay in effective action, Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament and public commentator, revived a striking social-media post from six years ago that bluntly asked: “How long will you spend your life on cigarettes, bidis and cigars? Spend a few days in Delhi-NCR instead.”
Tharoor’s point was clear: Six years on, the post remains “sadly, frustratingly relevant”. Since the festival of Diwali, the air-quality index (AQI) across the capital has lurched into the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ range, flirting with the dreaded ‘severe’ classification. At one point, monitoring stations reported an overall AQI of 311 a dramatic red flag.
In plain terms: many parts of Delhi-NCR are breathing air worse than that of a heavy smoker. And yet, year after year, this pattern recurs. In the city of wide highways and mighty monuments, a yellow-brown haze blankets the skyline. Cold winter mornings bring fog but the fog now carries a different flavour: microscopic particles, soot, chemical compounds.
One of the most polluted spots, Bawana, registered an AQI of 366. Jahangirpuri followed closely at 348. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) scale: 301-400 is ‘very poor’; 401-500 is ‘severe’.
Tharoor’s act of sharing the old post isn’t mere symbolism it underscores the absence of meaningful progress. Six years of slipping change, six years of public health risk, six years in which millions inhale something deeply harmful. The meteorological conditions (cooler temperatures, more humidity, stagnant air) may heighten the smog but the root causes (vehicle emissions, crop-stubble burning in neighbouring states, industrial pollutants, construction dust) remain entrenched.
For residents, the consequences are tangible: increased respiratory problems, deteriorating visibility, rising frustration. When politics, policy-making and public health intersect so directly, the stakes are higher than headlines. Delhi may glitter at night with lights, but by morning, the air can feel like an invisible choker.
Of course, recognising the problem is one step; solving it is another. Tharoor’s dig is a public reminder but what’s needed is sustained action: clean-fuel vehicles, stricter industrial controls, regional cooperation on crop residue, improved public transport, green cover, citizen awareness.
Until then, the warning remains: it’s no longer just discomfort; it’s injurious to health. And as that six-year-old message implied, spending a few days in Delhi-NCR now is less a distraction, more a health experiment many wouldn’t willingly choose.