Air quality in the national capital has plunged to hazardous levels, prompting Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a senior figure in the Indian National Congress and MP for Wayanad, to appeal directly to Narendra Modi, Bhupender Yadav and Rekha Gupta for swift intervention. Gandhi described the blanket of smog over the city as a “grey shroud” and called on central and state governments, regardless of political motivations, to “act immediately” to lift the “filthy smog we are all breathing”.
Gandhi’s comments follow data from the Central Pollution Control Board showing stagnant wind speeds of less than 8 km/h combined with high pollution levels, leading to air quality index readings above 400 in multiple districts of Delhi. Key monitoring stations such as Wazirpur have recorded AQIs at or above 439—well into the “severe” category.
Gandhi said that upon returning from travels to Wayanad and Bachwara in Bihar she was shocked by the condition of the air. She wrote on social media that the pollution “enveloping this city is like a grey shroud thrown over it”. She stressed that vulnerable populations—children commuting to school, senior citizens and individuals with respiratory problems—face acute risk under the current conditions.
State and national authorities are already facing criticism for their long-standing failure to address Delhi’s air-quality crisis effectively. Analysts point to multiple contributing factors: vehicular emissions from the capital, industrial and construction dust, and crop-residue burning in neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab. The current weather conditions—including low wind speed and fog—have exacerbated dispersion problems, trapping pollutants near ground level.
The government’s existing mechanism to deal with pollution is the Graded Response Action Plan, which triggers preventive steps such as halting construction, implementing vehicle-restrictions and deploying dust-control measures once AQI crosses certain thresholds. Current reports indicate that GRAP Stage II is already in effect.
Gandhi’s demand highlights a broader political dimension: she has offered full cooperation from her party but stressed that action must rise above political lines. Her appeal specifically addressed Narendra Modi as prime minister, Bhupender Yadav as union environment minister, and Rekha Gupta as chief minister of Delhi. Gupta assumed the role in February 2025 following the February assembly election.
The central government faces pressure to coordinate with state authorities on cross-border pollution issues. Previous efforts to curb stubble-burning in adjacent states have seen only incremental success, while the arrival of winter and typical climatic shifts signal a repeating seasonal pattern. According to CPCB data, the AQI at 7 am rose to 377 from 233 the day before.
Gandhi criticised the pace of government action, saying that each year citizens of Delhi “are subjected to this toxicity with no recourse”. She urged immediate deployment of measures to clear the smog and protect public health—even before the worst phase of the pollution cycle traditionally sets in.
Environmental health experts warn that prolonged exposure to such high pollution levels increases risks of respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular problems and premature death. While aspects like emergency hospital admissions and school closures have been triggered in past years, sustained long-term measures such as enforcement of emission norms, promotion of clean fuel, and regional coordination remain weak.
Authorities in Delhi are now under pressure to escalate actions: scaling up monitoring networks, activating emergency response mechanisms, and coordinating with neighbouring states to stem particulate-matter inflows. Political momentum generated by Gandhi’s appeal may push a more aggressive and transparent strategy.
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