Delhi’s air quality has worsened, and people are condemned to breathe highly toxic air. The weekend has turned out to be very bad as pollution levels exceeded the AQI 400 mark in many areas. This is the capital of a nation that has the pretension of being, or at least becoming, Vishwaguru. Our political masters must hang their heads in shame—if they have any—at this development. Typically, the measures taken or contemplated are barely palliative with shutting down schools, halting construction activities, curbs on vehicles, and so on. This is adding to the suffering, something that begins with the onset of winter in the national capital and the surrounding regions. There was a time, not long ago, when early winters were welcomed by everyone in north India; in Hindi, it was called ‘Gulabi thhand,’ or ‘pink winter’; the temperature was cold enough to let people go outdoors and enjoy. No longer. The ambient air is so bad that it is dangerous not just for the sick, the elderly, and those who have respiratory vulnerabilities; even the healthy ones are suffering.

The national capital, indeed, large parts of north India, choke because of a variety of factors—from meteorological conditions to stubble burning and dust. Vehicular pollution plays a minor role in it, but is blamed mainly, and that is basically because there are lobbies that campaign against vehicles running on petrol and diesel. The response of our political masters is typically feckless. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has advised the people in the city to opt for carpooling and use public transport frequently to combat air pollution. According to a release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), she encourages private institutions to prioritise work-from-home arrangements in light of the prevailing pollution situation. In view of the rising air pollution in the capital, the Chief Minister had earlier decided to change the working hours of the offices of the Delhi government and the Delhi Municipal Corporation. Gupta’s statements, advisories, and decisions implicitly shift the blame from government responsibility to vehicles (which are not a major cause of pollution) and people (there will be much lower pollution if they use public transport). What Gupta and politicians of her ilk ignore is the fact that western cities have clean air despite having much higher car density than in Delhi.

We need to remember that Delhi’s deadly smog is not a normal phenomenon. This becomes evident from the fact that it was not there a few years ago. What policy and decision makers and activists are reluctant to realise or accept is that its air pollution, as also contamination of Yamuna and general environmental degradation, are the result of unregulated and mostly illegal urban spread. To be sure, this is not unique to Delhi-NCR; illegal urban spread is a national phenomenon. Local politicians, officials, and cops everywhere collude with unscrupulous builders, letting them develop unauthorised colonies and slums. No political party or leader even talks about this colossal problem. Deadly air is just a reminder of the presence of this problem. It manifests itself as an environmental issue; but what it really underscores is the total collapse of governance at the lower level. Our political and intellectual elites are busy with such esoteric matters as the importance of Vande Mataram and vote theft.