On a slightly chilly and distinctly smoggy morning in New Delhi, Khushboo Arora was looking for another air purifier for her mother, who has underlying health complications, before the city's air quality deteriorated further.
asserted
quality → look → complications
"Already, I am starting to get a recurring headache," she said.
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she → start → headache
"These days when I wake up, I don't feel fresh.
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I → wake → ?
As the day progresses, I feel a heaviness in my head, itching in my eye and a constantly parched throat.
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I → progress → eye
Not too long ago, the unpacking of woolens announced the advent of winter in Delhi.
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unpacking → announce → Delhi
Arora said she has already stopped doing yoga in the park and taking her morning walks.
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she → say → walks
She has also filled her house with air-purifying plants and started spraying water mist inside the house to bring down the level of pollution.
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She → fill → pollution
"My parents look at me like I have gone mad.
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I → look → me
But I feel people are not realizing the gravity of the situation," she said.
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she → feel → situation
A recurring crisis
Winters in Delhi increasingly follow a familiar pattern: Air quality deteriorates, residents struggle to breathe, emergency restrictions kick in and governments exchange blame.
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governments → recur → blame
Then the season changes, only for the cycle to repeat the following year.
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cycle → change → ?
On Thursday, Delhi's air fell into the "Very unhealthy" category, according to Swiss air quality monitor IQAir, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 157.9 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
uncertain
air → fall → air
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an annual safe limit of no more than 5 micrograms.
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Organization → recommend → micrograms
Studies have shown that exposure to PM2.5 — air particles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometers that can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream — is associated with an increased incidence of head and neck cancer (HNC), like oral, nasal and throat cancers.
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that → show → cancers
But despite years of attempted interventions, India's capital continues to struggle with the same pollution crisis.
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capital → attempt → crisis
What is causing the air pollution?
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What → cause → pollution
Delhi is not dealing with an unknown problem.
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Delhi → deal → problem
A 2026 assessment by an expert panel reviewed by the Delhi government identified the major winter contributors of PM2.5 as vehicular emissions, industrial activity, road and construction dust, biomass and waste burning, and pollution from neighboring regions.
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assessment → review → regions
Sunil Dahiya, founder of the environmental group EnviroCatalysts, said Delhi is part of a larger airshed.
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Delhi → say → airshed
On most winter days, more pollution comes into Delhi than is generated inside it, according to the environmentalist.
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pollution → come → environmentalist
"Analysis of the government's Decision Support System (DSS) data for winter 2025 found that around 65% of Delhi's PM2.5 came from outside the city and about 35% from sources within it," he told DW, adding that neighboring Noida and Gurugram, which comprise the National Capital Region (NCR), are some of the biggest contributors.
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which → find → contributors
Coordinating action across the NCR, which spans Delhi and parts of three neighboring states, remains a major obstacle.
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which → coordinate → states
"This is a shared problem, and no single city can solve it alone," Dahiya said.
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Dahiya → share → it
Why aren't anti-pollution policies working?
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policies → work → ?
To understand why existing policies have not delivered sustained improvements, Dahiya highlighted the gap between scientific recommendations and state action.
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Dahiya → understand → recommendations
"Scientists have said for over a decade that we need airshed-wide, year-round, source-specific action.
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we → say → action
What we mostly get is seasonal and reactive," he said.
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he → get → What
According to the environmentalist, emergency restrictions kick in only after pollution has reached dangerous levels.
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pollution → accord → levels
Short-term measures such as water sprinklers and smog towers provide little relief, while bigger structural changes are slow to materialize.
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changes → provide → relief
These include stricter enforcement of industrial emissions, cleaner fuels, expanded public transport, vehicle electrification and viable alternatives to crop burning for farmers.
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These → include → farmers
Implementation, regional coordination and political will are," said Dahiya.
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Dahiya → say → ?
"Until targets are tied to emission reductions at each source, and someone is held accountable for meeting them, we will keep having the same conversation every November."
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we → tie → conversation
Bhavreen Kandhari, co-founder of Warrior Moms, agrees that official responses focus on reacting rather than preventing.
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responses → agree → Moms
"They allow pollution to occur and then try to clean it up — producing nice photo opportunities of water sprinklers and smog guns, or talking about cloud seeding," Kandhari told DW.
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Kandhari → allow → DW
"Creating pollution only to clean it up later is a waste of public funds, time, and health."
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Creating → create → funds
Kandhari also added that incinerating waste instead of proper waste management has only exacerbated the situation.
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incinerating → add → situation
Another obstacle to a lasting solution has been the political blame game that starts as soon as the air quality worsens.
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quality → last → solution
On Thursday, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said stubble-burning in the neighboring state of Punjab is contributing to the capital's rising pollution, according to public broadcaster All India Radio.
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burning → say → Radio
He insisted that in Delhi, construction, vehicle and industrial sources were controlled.
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sources → insist → Delhi
Dahiya agreed that seasonal crop-burning fires in neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana "is an episodic but sharp contributor" which "can tip 'very poor' air into 'severe'" for a few weeks.
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which → agree → weeks
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
