No magic wand to clear Delhi's air pollution

DELHI’s polluted winter has once again forced the nation to confront an unpleasant truth: the crisis is now so chronic that even the highest court in the land feels compelled to remind citizens that it does not possess a “magic wand” to clear the air. The Supreme Court’s observation is an indictment of decades of blame-shifting and institutional complacency. For years, Delhi-NCR has witnessed air quality sinking to hazardous levels every winter. Yet, the political debate continues to circle familiar culprits: stubble burning, vehicular emissions, construction dust, industrial pollution. As the Supreme Court noted, there is no single reason — because there has never been a single, coordinated, year-round strategy.Experts have long emphasised that clean air cannot be secured through sporadic firefighting. But governments have perfected the art of short-term optics. They resort to temporary bans, emergency meetings and high-decibel blame games while the problem persists. The court’s insistence that experts and scientists must lead the solution-building process reinforces what policymakers should have institutionalised years ago. Despite repeated judicial nudges, commissions set up to manage air quality seldom demonstrate the urgency or authority required. The states most affected often move in different directions, with little incentive to cooperate. Meanwhile, millions of residents, especially those medically compromised, the infants and the elderly, breathe toxic air that erodes their health.The Supreme Court’s decision to monitor the matter and seek compliance from Punjab and Haryana on stubble-burning directives shows a willingness to push for coordinated action. But a metropolis cannot depend on courtroom reminders to breathe clean air. Delhi’s smog is man-made. So is the apathy that sustains it. And the real tragedy is that the crisis persists not because solutions don’t exist, but because those in power lack the courage to implement them.

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