Emergency That Never Ends

India’s air pollution crisis persists not because it is inevitable, but because governance treats it as a temporary inconvenience rather than a systemic public health failure

- SUDHEER KUMAR SHUKLA

Every winter, India rehearses the same script. As smog engulfs Delhi and much of north India, emergency measures are announced, courts intervene, schools shut and political attention briefly sharpens. When winds change or the monsoon arrives, pollution fades from view — and accountability fades with it. This cycle persists not because air pollution is seasonal, but because India has chosen to govern it as an episodic inconvenience rather than a structural failure.

The science is unequivocal. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is the most harmful air pollutant, penetrating deep into the lungs and bloodstream and increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, lung cancer and premature death. The World Health Organisation’s safe annual average limit is 5 micrograms per cubic metre. India’s national average remains close to 50 micrograms — a level that constitutes a continuous public health emergency. Yet this exposure has been politically normalised.