Political deadlock, fragmented efforts and citizen apathy have led to the country’s pollution crisis

Most of India’s coal-burning plants are set to again fall short of a major pollution target, adding to the deadly smog that’s enveloped large parts of the country.

“An increase in PM 2.5 levels has occurred because all existing perennial sources of pollution haven’t been controlled in a systematic and comprehensive way. The base emissions load is already high so in episodic events, we can see this kind of spike,” explained Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead air quality analyst at Envirocatalysts.

Environmental advocates and public health experts criticised the apparent delay in implementing Stage-3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), arguing that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) appears to have lost sight of its primary mission—to act pre-emptively before air emergencies arise, not after.

From October to the first week of November this year, PM2.5 and PM10 levels in Gurgaon were 45% and 77% lower than those in Delhi, respectively.

The month is on its way to becoming the warmest October experienced by Delhi at least since 2011, from when India Meteorological Department (IMD) data on average maximum and minimum temperatures are available.   

Nehru Nagar, Sonia Vihar, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, ITO and Patparganj are among the emerging pollution hotspots in the city, exhibiting high PM2.5 concentrations.