Air pollution in India is often considered a Diwali or winter problem, but it is a persistent and structural challenge that can only be solved through a long-term approach and citizen participation.
In most Indian cities, air pollution is mistakenly considered a seasonal or festival-specific problem. The discussion fades after Diwali or winter, while the sources of pollution—vehicles, industries, construction dust, and stubble burning—remain active year-round. This temporary thinking also leads to reactive policies. India must adopt a long-term, scientific, and behavior-based strategy that combines clean energy, public transport, sustainable agriculture, industrial reform, and citizen participation to make clean air a universal right.
Air pollution in Indian cities today is not just an environmental problem, but a profound threat to health, economy, and social stability. Every year, as winter approaches or the festival of Diwali approaches, discussions about air pollution suddenly intensify across the country. Images of haze and smog fill news channels, newspapers, and social media. For a few weeks, people wear masks, governments make emergency plans, and then the issue is gradually forgotten. This tendency—to treat pollution as a seasonal problem that lasts only a few days—is actually the biggest mistake. Air pollution in India is not a temporary or limited problem to festivals, but a multi-source, multi-sectoral challenge that persists throughout the year.
Air quality remains poor throughout the year in most Indian cities. According to the World Air Quality Report 2024, nine of the ten most polluted cities in the world are in India, including Delhi, Ghaziabad, Bhiwadi, Faridabad, and Ludhiana. Delhi’s average PM 2.5 level was found to be eighteen times higher than the World Health Organization’s limit. Attributing this solely to firecrackers during Diwali hides the true extent of the problem. The main causes of pollution are active year-round—vehicular exhaust, industrial emissions, construction dust, burning of garbage and stubble, particulate matter from thermal power plants, and the use of domestic fuels.
Considering the problem merely seasonal also leads to reactive policies. Governments only act when pollution reaches its peak. Schools are closed for a few days, odd-even schemes for vehicles are implemented, firecrackers are banned, or construction activities are temporarily halted. These measures provide temporary relief but do not address the root causes. As soon as the weather changes, all policies become ineffective. This approach is meant to postpone the problem, not solve it.
The effects of air pollution aren’t limited to just a few weeks. It impacts our bodies year-round. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.7 million people in India die prematurely each year due to air pollution. A study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences found that cases of asthma, allergies, and lung diseases among children in Delhi increased by 10 to 15 percent throughout the year. This proves that the effects of pollution are not seasonal, but permanent.
It also severely impacts the economy. A 2023 World Bank report indicates that India loses more than a tenth of its gross domestic product each year due to air pollution. Lost working days, increased health expenditures, reduced productivity, and increased medical burden all impact the country’s economic progress.
When it comes to sources of air pollution, the transportation sector is the biggest culprit. India has millions of vehicles on the roads, most of which run on petrol or diesel. Old trucks and buses emit significant amounts of smoke. The number of small vehicles is so high that their emissions are continuously increasing the amount of nitrogen oxides and fine particles in the air. The industrial sector also contributes significantly to pollution. Many small and medium-sized industries still do not use clean fuels. Old boilers and coal-fired plants emit sulfur dioxide and metallic particles.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57711127/GettyImages_871511920IndiaDelhi.0.jpg)
Dust from construction activities also contributes to widespread pollution. Exposed soil on roads, open piles of construction materials, and the transportation of sand and cement in uncovered trucks release particles into the air. Similarly, stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana annually poisons the air in cities across North India. Research suggests that stubble burning increases pollution levels in Delhi and surrounding areas by 30 to 40 percent.
Burning household fuels such as wood, coal, or dung cakes also significantly increases pollution levels, especially among poor households. Coal-fired power plants still provide about 60 percent of the country’s energy, and many of these older plants operate without pollution control equipment.
Controlling all these sources requires a long-term approach to policy and governance. Lack of coordination between the central, state, and municipal bodies remains a major obstacle. Many cities lack air quality monitoring stations, preventing the availability of realistic data. Public awareness is also extremely low. Citizens associate pollution only with bad air days, rather than considering it a daily responsibility. Unless society recognizes that clean air is a shared responsibility, the full impact of any policy will remain elusive.
India launched the National Clean Air Program in 2019, aiming to reduce pollution levels in major cities by 40 percent by 2026. This is a commendable initiative, but it must be implemented with rigorous monitoring and local enforcement, not just a budgetary announcement. Each city’s geographical and industrial situation is different, so city-specific action plans are needed rather than a blanket policy.
The transportation sector must rapidly transition to clean energy. The proliferation of CNG, electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel, and public transport is essential. Following the implementation of the electric vehicle policy in Delhi, the share of EVs in new vehicles has reached 17 percent. This demonstrates that citizens embrace change if policies are clear and incentivized.
To prevent stubble burning in agriculture, it is essential to provide technical and financial support to farmers. Organic technologies like the Pusa Decomposer and Happy Seeder machines are yielding positive results, but they need to be widely promoted and the subsidy system strengthened. Concrete steps must be taken to encourage crop diversification and replace rice with crops that require less water and less residue.
Continuous emission monitoring systems should be mandated in the industrial sector. It is essential to install desulfurization units in coal-fired plants, and promote the use of cleaner fuels such as LNG or PNG. It is also important to rapidly transition to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, so that by 2030, India can obtain half its energy from clean sources.
Incorporating green infrastructure into urban planning is also crucial. Cities should adopt green belts, rooftop plantings, open spaces conservation, and modern street cleaning systems. Measures such as covering and sprinkling water at construction sites should be implemented regularly.
Administrative reforms are also necessary. The Air Quality Management Commission should be given greater powers to ensure effective coordination and enforcement across states. Clean air campaigns in schools, residential associations, and local groups are useful for citizen participation. Measures such as car-free days, public transport weeks, and waste segregation can increase civic awareness.
From a technical perspective, we must move towards data-driven policymaking. Real-time monitoring, satellite-based tracking, and the use of artificial intelligence can identify and predict pollution sources. This will allow for action before a crisis occurs.
India should learn from other countries around the world. Beijing, China, reduced pollution levels by 35 percent between 2013 and 2020 by reducing its dependence on coal, relocating industries out of cities, and making public transportation cheaper. Los Angeles, USA, overcame a smog crisis in the 1970s and cleaned its air through strict emission standards and technological innovation. These examples clearly demonstrate that improvement is possible if the government demonstrates strong will, the public cooperates, and industries adopt technology.
Air pollution must be viewed not just as an environmental but also as a public health crisis. In India, polluted air reduces life expectancy by an average of five years. The health system must also be prepared to address this issue. Respiratory disease care units should be established in primary health centers, and the importance of clean air should be included in health education.
Future policy must involve equal roles for government, citizens, and industry. Governments must implement strict regulations and transparent monitoring, citizens must change their daily behavior, and industries must be encouraged to adopt clean technologies.
The time has come for India to move beyond treating air pollution as a temporary crisis and place it at the center of its long-term development policy. Clean air is not a luxury, but a fundamental human right. This right cannot be secured by restrictions imposed during festivals or by a few days of vigilance. It requires sustained year-round efforts, a scientific approach, policy firmness, and social cooperation. Only when both government and society collectively resolve that clean air is a shared duty for all will India be able to make its cities truly breathable.
