Delhi's Air Crisis: A Test for Indian Democracy

Delhi's air quality crisis following Diwali 2025 has exposed critical failures in governance, data transparency, and judicial consistency aising questions about the health of India's democracy itself.

The Supreme Court's October 2024 decision to allow 'green crackers' for Diwali marked a troubling reversal. Just a year earlier, the court had upheld a complete firecracker ban, stating that "no religion encourages pollution" and affirming the fundamental right to breathe clean air under Article 21. This abrupt policy shift, coinciding with Delhi's change in government, undermined years of judicial precedent.

The results were catastrophic. Diwali night saw air quality readings spiral off the charts, making 2025 the worst since 2021.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's response defied reality. Despite the city choking under toxic smog, she praised the "extraordinary sparkle and splendour" of Diwali celebrations and claimed her government's measures had kept pollution "under control." Her emphasis on "Sanatan traditions" over public health marked a dangerous prioritisation of religious sentiment over citizen welfare.

Gupta's deployment of water-spraying tankers and anti-smog guns across Delhi's 1,483 square kilometers proved woefully inadequate against the pollution onslaught.

Perhaps most alarming was the mysterious disappearance of air quality data. Only 23% of monitoring stations merely nine out of Delhi's network provided complete readings during the crucial late-night period when pollution peaked. While Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa denied any data gaps, experts noted that stations systematically stopped recording when readings approached 1,000 µg/m³.

This data blackout follows a disturbing pattern in Indian governance, from the missing 2021 census to undisclosed COVID-19 death figures. Without accurate information, citizens cannot hold authorities accountable a fundamental requirement for functioning democracy.

India's National Clean Air Programme focuses primarily on visible dust while ignoring deadlier pollutants like PM 2.5, SO2, and NO2. The Central Pollution Control Board caps AQI readings at 500, while international platforms record values exceeding 1,000 for the same locations.

The contrast with China is instructive. Facing similar challenges with "Beijing smog," China acknowledged the crisis, took decisive action, and now leads global renewable energy efforts.

The recent Air Quality Life Index report found that pollution reduces Indian life expectancy by 3.5 years nationally—and 8.2 years for Delhi-NCR residents. When courts abandon reason, governments prioritise ideology over health, and data vanishes at critical moments, democracy itself gasps for air alongside its citizens.