Hospitals across Delhi are witnessing a surge in children suffering from breathing difficulties as the capital remains smothered in toxic haze. While pollution spares no one, it is the city\u2019s youngest residents who are paying the steepest price for Delhi\u2019s worsening and recurring air-quality crisis.<\/p>\n
At a paediatric clinic in Noida, visited by the BBC on a weekday morning, the impact was unmistakable. In a crowded waiting area, anxious parents queued with children who were coughing, sneezing, or struggling to breathe. Most had fallen sick in October, when Delhi\u2019s air quality plunged to hazardous levels and waiting times for appointments grew longer than usual.<\/p>\n
This toxic air emergency returns every winter across Delhi and large parts of northern India. The causes are multiple: low wind speeds, industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, falling temperatures, and the seasonal burning of crop residue in neighbouring states.<\/p>\n
Over the past month, Delhi\u2019s Air Quality Index (AQI) has hovered between 300 and 400 \u2014 more than 20 times the World Health Organization\u2019s recommended limit. Readings above 400 harm even healthy individuals and can severely affect those with existing conditions, but the fine particulate matter PM2.5 is especially dangerous for children and the elderly.<\/p>\n
Hospitals across the capital have reported a wave of young patients falling sick due to the unbreathable air. \u201cThese particles affect a child\u2019s immunity because their system is still developing and cells are learning immune responses,\u201d said Dr Shishir Bhatnagar, the paediatrician at the Noida clinic. \u201cThese cases have increased tenfold in recent years. If I usually see 20\u201330% patients with such complaints, the number jumps to 50\u201370% during the pollution season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every year, the government introduces emergency measures \u2014 halting construction, banning polluting vehicles \u2014 and this year even attempted cloud seeding to induce artificial rain. None of it has eased a pollution crisis that fuels deep anxiety among the city\u2019s 20 million residents, especially parents of young children.<\/p>\n
High exposure to PM2.5 remains most harmful for children.<\/p>\n
Khushboo Bharti, 31, still trembles when recalling the night of 13 November, when she rushed her one-year-old daughter Samaira to the emergency room. \u201cShe woke up with a violent cough and vomited several times,\u201d she said. Home remedies failed, and as they drove to the hospital, Samaira stopped responding altogether. \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t lift her head. It was the worst moment of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors treated the toddler with strong steroid nebulisation, and she spent two days on oxygen support before being diagnosed with pneumonia. Though Samaira has recovered, her mother remains on edge: \u201cEven if she coughs just a few times, I panic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other parents share the same fear. Gopal*, who recently took his two-year-old daughter Renu* to a government hospital for chest congestion, worries the lethal air may have caused lasting harm. \u201cDoctors told me she might have to be on inhalers for some time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Years of research have documented the severe toll of air pollution on young children \u2014 from stunted development and weaker immunity to reduced cognitive ability. A recent University of Cambridge study involving nearly 30 million people also linked prolonged exposure to certain pollutants with a higher risk of dementia, including Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
These mounting risks have pushed many parents, like Ms Bharti, to consider leaving Delhi. \u201cWhat\u2019s the point of living in a city where my daughter can\u2019t even breathe safely?\u201d she said. \u201cWe can\u2019t just drop everything because my husband\u2019s business is here, but the moment we get a chance, we\u2019ll move.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the meantime, authorities have postponed outdoor sports and shifted primary classes to hybrid mode to reduce children\u2019s exposure. But these measures mostly benefit relatively privileged families. For hundreds of thousands of economically disadvantaged children living in cramped homes, roadside settlements, or shanty towns, the situation is far grimmer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe onslaught on their lungs is enormous,\u201d said Dr A Fathahudeen, a Kerala-based pulmonologist. Indoor pollution from cooking fuels, traffic, and poor ventilation only adds to the toxic air outside. Continuous exposure weakens their lung defence systems, and untreated childhood infections can cause permanent lung damage. Studies show that early infections caused by polluted air can lead to chronic obstructive airway disease in adulthood \u2014 similar to patterns seen in smokers.<\/p>\n
Dr Fathahudeen advises families who can afford it to keep children indoors, ensure proper hydration, and use N95 masks \u2014 which filter out 95% of pollutants \u2014 when outside. But parents say such precautions are difficult to sustain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re growing, they need space to play,\u201d said Seema*, a mother. \u201cThey get brief moments outdoors, but we\u2019re forced to stop them. They protest, but what choice do we have? We know how important physical activity is \u2014 just not at the cost of breathing this toxic air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hospitals across Delhi are witnessing a surge in children suffering from breathing difficulties as the capital remains smothered in toxic haze. While pollution spares no one, it is the city\u2019s youngest residents who are paying the steepest price for Delhi\u2019s worsening and recurring air-quality crisis. At a paediatric clinic in Noida, visited by the BBC …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,24,26],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-50480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-education","category-india","category-south-asia","tag-headline"],"yoast_head":"\n