Delhi Air Pollution Crisis Deepens amid Governance Deficit

Since its February victory, the Gupta-led BJP government in Delhi has struggled to address public concerns, drawing criticism over governance lapses.

By MANISH ANAND

New Delhi, November 10, 2025 — Deepening air quality crisis in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) has by all accounts bared the governance deficit. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta seemingly basking on a self-gifted honeymoon period almost camped in Bihar for past one month to canvas for the candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Gupta hit the campaign trail in Bihar in hopes that her appeal with the people of the state will resonate due to the demographic profile of Delhi. Before she headed for Bihar, Gupta has mostly been seen taking parts in celebratory functions.

While Gupta sought votes for the BJP in Bihar, children, wearing masks, accompanied their parents to the India Gate to demand good quality of air. For almost one month, Delhi NCR has almost been condemned to a gas chamber like situations as heavy haze of pollutants carpet the region in gloomy and depressive air.

Protestors at the India Gate were not welcomed, and they were soon bundled into buses as the police dispersed the crowd. The people from across the Delhi NCR region had converged at the India Gate in the hope that their voices will be heard by the powerful policy makers of New Delhi.

For past several years, the air pollution crisis in Delhi NCR is met with routine meetings, in the PMO and the Delhi secretariat. But these impacts failed to cut the pollution levels even remotely.

Incidentally, the Central government has not yet paid any heed this year to the alarming level of air pollution. The Supreme Court’s controversial decision to permit “green crackers” and the beginning of the farm residue burning rituals in Punjab and Haryana are largely blamed for the acute air pollution crisis in Delhi NCR.

Environmental experts have annually been warning that the Delhi NCR’s unique topography, which traps gases and pollutants for lack of wind speed during November-December, mandates an inter-state response. Yet there has been no initiative on the part of the Centre to bring the stakeholders on the table for remedial measures.

Since winning the February elections in Delhi, the BJP government led by Gupta has been seen missing from action. Her government attempted a controversial bid to force artificial rains which failed. With the BJP ruling at all the three tiers of governance in the national capital alongside Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the saffron outfit appears apathetic to the concerns of the people.

(This is an opinion piece, and views expressed are those of the author only)

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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