Spectator by Seema Goswami: Smoke and mirrors

Delhi is coughing, wheezing and sleepless. But plenty can be done to fix it. Here’s where decision-makers should start

I won’t lie. It’s been a struggle. Ever since the pollution kicked in with a vengeance in Delhi, I have been — quite literally — breathless. As an asthmatic, at the best of times, breathing can be a challenge. But when the air is as noxious as it has been in the national capital for weeks on end, drawing a breath becomes a battle — and one that I regularly lose.

Even with air purifiers humming and inhalers at the ready, Delhiites are gasping for every breath. (ADOBE STOCK)

So, for the last month or so I have been locked away in my house, air purifiers going on at full blast in every room, inhaler at the ready, and nebuliser on red alert. And despite all these measures, I have a hacking cough that refuses to quit, an inexhaustible supply of phlegm that I constantly cough up, burning eyes, et al. And because of this, I can’t remember the last time I had a good night’s sleep. So, I wake up exhausted every day, spend the entire day wheezing, and then prepare for another sleepless night.

In Delhi, it’s becoming tougher and tougher to deal with the toxic air. (ADOBE STOCK)

But I did not fully comprehend how much the Delhi pollution was contributing to my ill health until I landed in Dubai one morning last week. The change in my health was almost miraculous. It took only a couple of hours for the persistent hacking cough to disappear, the phlegm was missing in action, my eyes ceased to burn, and most important of all, I could actually breathe without recourse to my inhaler. That night I slept the sleep of the innocent, waking up the next morning feeling like a completely different person from what I am in Delhi.

That’s the difference good air makes in people’s lives. And yet, nobody in charge in Delhi — not the central government; the state government; the municipal authorities — seems to care enough to do anything about it.

And before the naysayers weigh in, there is plenty that can be done. For starters, they could move all polluting industries outside of the National Capital Region. It wouldn’t happen overnight but it certainly would make a difference by next winter.

Travel from Delhi to a city like Dubai, and the clean air helps you instantly breathe better. (ADOBE STOCK)

There should be a plan to stop all construction work during the pollution season. It is not enough to wait until the air deteriorates completely before enforcing this rule. By then, it is already too late.

One way of reducing vehicular pollution would be to enforce work from home orders for everyone and have online classes for schools and colleges. It happened during the lockdown and we were none the worse for it. So why not do it when there is an another public health emergency?

Yes, there will be an economic price to pay. But what is more important? The bottom line of construction companies, the profit margins of corporations, or the health of our citizens? Should we be sacrificing the future of our children and grandchildren, shortening their life spans, ruining their health in the long run on the altar of short-term profit-making?

I think you know the answers to these questions as well as I do. The question is what are we willing to do about it?

From HT Brunch, November 29, 2025

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