1071. 837. 811. 736. These are not lottery figures but the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded in and around Delhi on Wednesday. The AQI has remained in severe or severe+ category in Delhi-NCR for over a week and, in a big step towards becoming the world leader in air pollution, it breached the “Hazardous” mark and scored hazaar (1000) AQI in some parts of Delhi, as per aqi.in website.
This is not something new, year after year the national capital, and almost all of North India, grapple with this problem. Every winter, the air in Delhi fills with toxic smog. Schools close, hospitals fill with patients battling respiratory illnesses. The AQI reaches a level so hazardous that breathing outdoors is like smoking dozens of cigarettes a day, and yet, this has become the “new normal.” If democracy is about ensuring dignity and a better quality of life, one wonders: what happened to ours? The smog surrounding Delhi is not just a natural consequence of the season; it is a symptom of a deeper ailment in our democracy—its inability to provide citizens with a life of dignity.
Democracy is supposed to be more than just elections or speeches. Democracy, in its truest form, is supposed to guarantee safety, freedom, and dignity. Yet, in a nation where access to something as fundamental as clean air depends on socioeconomic status, can we really claim to uphold these ideals? Political philosopher John Rawls, in his Theory of Justice, argued that “justice is the first virtue of social institutions.” He believed that a just society must protect the most vulnerable and provide them with a foundation for a dignified life. Can we call ourselves just when millions are forced to inhale air so toxic it steals years from our lives?
The causes of pollution in Delhi are not hidden mysteries. They lie in plain sight, and are as familiar as the annual promises to fix them: Vehicles choke the streets, farmers in neighbouring states burn stubble because affordable alternatives remain out of reach, construction dust fills the air, and so on.
These problems persist not because they are unsolvable but because solving them has never been prioritized. Successive governments have treated these issues like seasonal inconveniences. The state and central governments exchange accusations while people suffocate. One politician talks about turning Delhi into Paris or London, and the other wants India to become a “Vishwaguru”, but they fail to provide as basic a thing as clean air.
The smog is not just about policy gaps or administrative inefficiency. Beyond the smog lies a greater betrayal: a violation of the social contract. Political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau said governments are bound by a pact to serve the collective good. “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains,” Rousseau wrote. Except in Delhi, it’s the air that chains us. If a government cannot ensure the air isn’t actively killing its people, what exactly is its role? Are we merely spectators to a performance of blame games and platitudes?
Consider this: a child born in Delhi today will lose over a decade of life expectancy due to air pollution. According to a 2024 report by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, Delhi’s air is among the world’s most polluted, making daily life a slow, inevitable march toward disease and premature death.
The Indian Constitution guarantees the right to life under Article 21, which the Supreme Court has interpreted to include the right to live with dignity. In MC Mehta vs Union of India (1987), the Court declared that a clean environment is essential for this right. Yet, decades later, citizens continue to breathe some of the dirtiest air on the planet. Philosopher Hannah Arendt once observed, “The right to have rights” is the foundation of any society. What use is a right enshrined in the Constitution if it remains inaccessible to millions?
In a democracy, the people should hold power, but when was the last time a meaningful, sustained movement forced the government to act decisively on pollution? Citizens protest, courts issue directives, and governments announce measures, but the smog returns, thicker and deadlier, every winter.
The Preamble to the Constitution speaks of securing “Justice, social, economic, and political” and ensuring “the dignity of the individual.” But in today’s reality, these words feel hollow. What dignity is there in struggling to breathe? What justice is there in a society where even the air turns against its people?
And so, the questions pile up, suffocating like the smog itself: Can a democracy call itself successful when it fails to ensure its citizens can simply live? Does the right to vote mean anything when the right to breathe is threatened? What does it say about our democratic ideals of justice and dignity when millions are left to choke, year after year, with no end in sight?
These questions remain, unanswered, and hang heavy in the air. And as we search for answers, all we’re left with is a bitter realization—there may be none.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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