Delhi’s air, suffocating under a toxic haze, betrays the fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Air Quality Index (AQI) this October soared to 547—hazardous by any measure—turning the capital into a gas chamber where every breath carries fine particulate matter deep into the lungs. PM2.5 levels hit 276 micrograms per cubic metre and PM10 reached 547, exceeding safe limits tenfold.

Hospitals report a 20 per cent surge in respiratory illnesses. Children wheeze through playgrounds turned poisonous; the elderly gasp for air that offers no respite. Between 2022 and 2024, more than 200,000 hospitalisations were linked to pollution, and 2025 is set to surpass that grim tally. Yet Delhi seems to embrace its toxicity, prioritising festivals over survival.

Why does no one care about the right to breathe? Because pollution has become a punchline in a city where blame games replace accountability.

This year’s crisis epitomises collective failure. Post-Diwali, AQI spiked to 356 by morning, with Anand Vihar and Akshardham logging over 400—“very poor” to “severe.” The World Health Organization deems anything above 50 unhealthy; Delhi’s air is 15 times that threshold.

Under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the so-called “three-engine” government—Delhi, the Centre and the municipal bodies, all under the Bharatiya Janata Party—should have delivered coordinated action. Instead, Diwali became a debacle.

Despite Supreme Court orders permitting only certified green crackers between October 18 and 20,........

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