In the packed waiting room of a pediatric clinic near Delhi, the toll of the city’s toxic air is measured in the coughs of small children and the anxious faces of their parents. Since October, when a hazardous haze settled over northern India, doctors have been overwhelmed by a surge of young patients with respiratory distress, weakened immunity, and worsening chronic conditions.
“These cases have increased tenfold in recent years,” says Dr. Shishir Bhatnagar, a pediatrician in Noida. “If I normally see 20-30% of patients with such complaints, that number shoots up to 50-70% during the pollution season.”
The cause is no mystery. For weeks, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) has consistently registered between 300 and 400—levels more than 20 times the World Health Organization’s safe limit. This pollution, a cocktail of vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, and agricultural burning, hits children the hardest, their developing lungs and immune systems uniquely vulnerable.
A Parent’s Worst Fear
For 31-year-old Khushboo Bharti, the crisis became terrifyingly personal on the night of November 13. Her one-year-old daughter, Samaira, woke with a violent coughing fit that made her vomit repeatedly. “On the way to the hospital, she didn’t react to anyone or anything… It was the worst moment of my life,” Bharti recalls.
At the hospital, the toddler was diagnosed with pneumonia, placed on oxygen support for two days, and treated with strong steroids. Though Samaira has recovered, the trauma remains. “Even if she coughs just a few times, I panic,” Bharti admits. She is now among a growing number of parents considering leaving the city altogether. “What is the point of living in a city where my daughter can’t even breathe safely?”
A Lifelong Health Sentence
The damage extends beyond temporary illness. Research shows early exposure to pollutants like PM2.5 can lead to stunted development, weaker immunity, and lower cognitive ability. Pulmonologist Dr. A Fathahudeen warns that childhood infections from polluted air can cause permanent lung damage, leading to chronic diseases in adulthood similar to those seen in smokers.
This threat is most acute for the city’s most vulnerable children. While some schools have moved classes online and postponed sports, hundreds of thousands of children from working-class families live in cramped homes near busy roads with little escape from the smog.
“The onslaught on their lungs is enormous,” says Dr. Fathahudeen. For these children, and for anxious parents watching every cough, Delhi’s air is not just a seasonal nuisance—it’s a public health emergency stealing their children’s health and their own peace of mind.
By James Kisoo
