At Jantar Mantar, 25-year-old research scholar Mehani stood coughing through the smog with a poster that read “I am here for my children,” as hundreds of Delhiites gathered wearing biohazard masks and carrying oxygen cylinders to symbolically depict what it feels like to breathe the capital’s toxic air. The protest was organised on Tuesday under the banner of ‘Let Us Breathe’, marking a renewed wave of mobilisation after last week’s India Gate demonstration ended with several participants detained.
Groups such as Scientists for Society, Disha Students Organisation, Progressive Artists League, and the Revolutionary Workers Party of India came together again, forming what an emerging citizen-driven coalition against Delhi’s air crisis.
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‘Govt must rise above optics,’ say citizens
Speaking to Times of India, Mehani said the government must move beyond symbolic actions and ensure consistent enforcement of anti-pollution measures. “Since the homes of govt officials have air purifiers, they think pollution doesn't exist,” she said. Others echoed her frustration, including Akansha, a 20-year-old Delhi University student who recalled her classroom AQI touching 200 and demanded purifiers in educational spaces.
The gathering displayed a mix of outrage and exhaustion, the weariness of watching the same emergency measures return every winter without structural reforms.
Environmental activist Bhavreen Khandari, founder of Warrior Moms, told TOI she wasn’t there to assign blame but to seek urgency. “We want the govt to rise above the optics of cloud seeding and artificial rain and work on a war footing. Impose strict penalties on those violating environmental norms,” she said.
Younger protesters criticised recurring “excuses”. Srishti Gupta, 26, who had been detained last Sunday, said stubble burning had reduced this year. “So govt should stop blaming it for our foul air. And the lifting of the cracker ban before Diwali undid years of progress,” she said.
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Parents stood alongside students. Long-time Delhi resident Vimlendu Jha told TOI, “It pains me to see my four-year-old child on nebuliser and steroids.”
From the science community, Aditya of Scientists for Society called for affordable public transport, a citizen-participation pollution-monitoring body, better sewage treatment, decentralised industries, and broad adoption of cleaner energy. “Govt should not wait for the situation to get out of hand at the end of every year,” he said.
