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Delhi's Silent Crisis: Air Pollution Becomes a Political Elephant in the Room

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  Published in Politics and Government on Monday, December 15th 2025 at 23:03 GMT by DNA India

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Delhi’s Silent Crisis: Why Air Pollution Has Become a Political Elephant in the Room

India’s sprawling capital, Delhi, has been a global headline in the last decade for its choking skies. The recent DNA India Explainer piece—“Delhi is choking, Parliament is silent: why air pollution is no political issue”—presents a sobering portrait of a city fighting a relentless chemical onslaught, while the national legislature appears to be on mute. In what follows we distill the article’s arguments, statistics, and policy context, and trace the links that shed light on the deeper mechanics behind this environmental paradox.

1. A City in the Smoke

The article opens with stark data from the National Pollution Control Board (NPCB) and the Delhi Pollution Control Board (DPCB). In January 2023 Delhi’s PM2.5 concentration peaked at 180 µg/m³—over four times the WHO's 10 µg/m³ guideline. The average annual PM2.5 in Delhi during 2021–22 was 107 µg/m³, well above the 100 µg/m³ threshold that the World Health Organization (WHO) sets for safe breathing. For context, the United Nations’ Global Burden of Disease Study estimates that 1.2 million deaths worldwide annually are attributable to ambient air pollution, a figure that includes over 13,000 Delhi residents who die prematurely each year.

The sources are varied and complex. Vehicular emissions from an estimated 5 million cars, trucks, and two‑wheelers are the most visible culprit. However, the article stresses that Delhi’s pollution is also a regional problem: biomass burning in the adjoining states of Punjab and Haryana, construction dust from an ever‑expanding real‑estate market, and the seasonal burning of agricultural waste all contribute to the dense smog that envelopes the city. In 2021, satellite imagery captured a “black haze” across northern India during the winter months, confirming that Delhi’s skies are a patchwork of local and trans‑regional pollution.

2. The Political Vacuum

Despite the scale of the crisis, the article underscores that Parliament has yet to initiate a formal debate or propose a comprehensive bill on Delhi’s air quality. The only activity noted is a Committee on Environment review that produced a report last year but failed to translate into legislative action. Even the Lok Sabha Standing Committee on Environment, Forests and Climate Change has recommended increased funding for the DPCB, but no parliamentary vote has yet taken place.

Why has Delhi’s smog been “no political issue”? The article argues that the problem straddles jurisdictional boundaries. While the central government can legislate under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the Delhi Metropolitan Council—the city’s governing body—has limited authority to regulate large industrial plants, which are largely located in neighboring states. As a result, politicians feel they can blame the “outside world” and avoid taking ownership. Moreover, the article points out that environmental policy is frequently deemed a technical matter rather than an electoral platform. The article draws a parallel to how the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s party, AAP, has championed “clean air” in their manifesto, yet the actual implementation is left largely to federal agencies.

The silence also extends to the media: while news outlets report on daily PM2.5 spikes, they rarely link headlines to policy inertia. The article criticises this detachment and suggests that the issue could be framed as an “electoral asset”: a tangible public welfare cause that could rally voter support in upcoming elections.

3. Policy Instruments and Their Gaps

The piece examines existing policy frameworks and highlights both their ambition and shortcomings.

a) National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

Launched in 2019, the NCAP aims to reduce PM2.5 levels by 20–30 % by 2024. The program includes 12 priority cities—Delhi among them—and proposes a “Clean Air India” platform that integrates monitoring, mitigation, and technology transfer. However, the article notes that NCAP’s budgetary allocation of ₹5,500 crores in the 2021-22 fiscal year is insufficient relative to the cost of implementing scrubbers, upgrading public transport, and expanding green cover. Critics argue that the NCAP’s monitoring network is under‑funded and that data collection is inconsistent, making progress hard to gauge.

b) National Green Tribunal (NGT)

The article also mentions the NGT, which has issued orders compelling Delhi to reduce emissions from the Delhi Metro and public buses. Yet the tribunal’s orders are enforced through a slow judicial process, and its rulings are often circumvented by administrative loopholes. For instance, the NGT’s directive to the Delhi Transport Corporation to shift to compressed natural gas (CNG) was met with a partial compliance report that cited “budgetary constraints”.

c) Local Legislation and Enforcement

Delhi’s Metropolitan Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has drafted ordinances that restrict idling times for commercial vehicles and impose penalties for illegal construction. However, the article emphasises that enforcement is patchy: the MPCB has no dedicated fleet for dust‑control inspections and is reliant on community reporting. In addition, Delhi’s municipal corporations are financially strapped; they can’t afford to invest in advanced monitoring stations or public awareness campaigns.

4. Linking to Broader Contexts

The article interlinks with several other DNA India pieces and external resources that provide additional layers of understanding:

• The “Delhi Pollution Control Board (DPCB)” page explains the board’s history, structure, and recent initiatives such as the “Urban Forest Development Programme” aimed at increasing green cover.
• The “National Clean Air Programme” page details the strategic actions—from vehicle emission standards to industrial effluent treatment—and offers a progress tracker.
• A referenced UN Environmental Programme article on ambient air pollution and health outcomes contextualises the human toll—linking Delhi’s case to a global trend.
• The “World Health Organization” guidelines are cited for the thresholds used in the article, adding scientific credibility.

5. The Human Face of the Crisis

Beyond numbers, the DNA India piece paints a vivid picture of Delhi’s inhabitants. The article quotes a school teacher in Rohini who says her children’s school bus is often grounded because of high dust levels. An elderly woman from East Delhi recounts suffering a heart attack after a severe PM2.5 spike in January 2023. The author juxtaposes these anecdotes with a policy memo from the Delhi Municipal Corporation, which lists “air quality improvement” among its top three priorities for 2025–26.

6. Toward a Political Turnaround

In its concluding paragraphs, the article offers a call to action. It argues that to transform air pollution from a silent crisis into a political rallying point, several steps must be taken:

1. Parliament must schedule a dedicated debate on air quality, perhaps under the Standing Committee on Environment.
2. Central ministries should increase funding for NCAP, earmarking specific funds for Delhi’s green infrastructure.
3. State and local governments should implement stringent enforcement mechanisms, perhaps through smart‑city monitoring dashboards that provide real‑time data to both officials and citizens.
4. Public awareness campaigns—highlighting the link between air pollution and respiratory diseases—could be integrated into school curricula and media broadcasts.

The article ends with a stark reminder that Delhi’s future generations will inherit the consequences of today’s inaction. The current lack of parliamentary engagement not only perpetuates a health crisis but also threatens Delhi’s economic competitiveness, as businesses are reluctant to invest in an environment that hampers productivity and worker health.

In Sum

The DNA India Explainer effectively argues that Delhi’s choking smog is a multi‑layered problem—technical, environmental, and deeply political. While a host of government programmes and legislative frameworks exist, the absence of political will and parliamentary action means that the city’s air remains a silent, escalating threat. By following the article’s links to the National Clean Air Programme, the Delhi Pollution Control Board, and international health studies, readers gain a nuanced perspective of why this crisis has been sidelined, and what might be required to bring it to the center stage of Indian politics.