Families in New Delhi flee Indian capital’s toxic air, acrid smog

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BENGALURU: Pollution levels in India’s capital shaped Natasha Upal and her husband’s decision to parent, leaving them with a difficult choice to move their child away from the city, or keep and remain childless.

New Delhi and its surrounding metropolitan area, home to more than 30 million people, consistently tops global rankings for air pollution.

Appel, who grew up in the city, often contemplated leaving — especially on days spent indoors humming with air purifiers, or when he battled severe migraines.

The turning point came when the couple decided to try for a baby.

“When we thought about what treatment we could do for our child in Delhi,” she told AFP, “the wind just became such a blocker for a lot of these things”.

In 2022, they moved to Bengaluru and, a few days later, she found out that she was pregnant.

They are among a small but growing number of families leaving Delhi due to health risks associated with air pollution.

Upal, the 36-year-old founder of maternity health support group Matrices India, said quitting was the “best decision”.

Air pollution in Bengaluru can still hit three times the World Health Organization (WHO) limits at times.

But it’s far below the haze of Delhi months—and it means her son is “more often and out of the house than he likes”.

Clean air is “something that is a fundamental human right,” he said. “Everybody should be able to take it [it] Granted”.

More than 3 million deaths

Every winter, Delhi is engulfed in acrid smog, a toxic mix of crop burning, factory emissions and suffocating traffic.

Levels of PM2.5—cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream—have increased by 60 times the limit.

Despite promises of reform, measures such as partial vehicle bans or sprinkler measures from water trucks have done little to clean up the air.

This year, officials promise cloud seeding trials to reduce pollution.

A study in Lancet Planetary Health last year estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to air pollution.

The UN’s children’s agency has warned that polluted air increases children’s risk of severe respiratory infections.

For 36-year-old Vidushi Malhotra, her breaking point came in 2020 when her two-year-old son fell ill repeatedly.

“We had three air purifiers going, and then I needed more,” he said.

A year later, Malhotra, her husband and son moved to Goa. He urged friends to follow, what he calls a “mini-movement”. Some did.

“I have to go back and see my loved ones go through this,” he added. “It really depresses me.”

Another season indoors

Others, like Delhi resident Roli Shrivastava, remain but live in constant anxiety.

The 34-year-old maintains inhalers for his smoke detectors and nebulizers for his toddler, whose cough gets worse every winter.

“The doctor told us the winter would be tough,” he said. “He just told us, ‘When your child starts coughing at night, don’t call me either – just start nebulising’.”

As winter approaches, Shrivastava is preparing for another season indoors — banning outdoor play for her son, running an air purifier and checking air quality daily.

When the family meets relatives in the southern city of Chennai, her son’s health improves “rapidly”.

“Her nose runs, her cough goes away,” he said.

Shrivastava and her husband, who both work with a global advocacy group, say they would have left Delhi long ago if not for “jobs and opportunities”.

Migration, she admits, is never far from their minds.

“I don’t think at its rate, Delhi is a good place to bring up children – at least when it comes to air pollution.”