Lethal smog is back in the world’s most polluted capital. Residents have had enough

By Esha Mitra and Aishwarya S Iyer, CNN

New Delhi (CNN) — It’s easy to tell when it’s smog season in New Delhi; the air gets darker, heavier and starts scratching the throats and testing the lungs of the city’s 34 million residents.

Pollution been an issue for so long in the Indian capital that the city’s famous Red Fort is turning black, an outward sign of a growing health and political crisis that’s now bringing angry residents onto the streets.

“I just want to be able to breathe again,” said Sofie, 33, at a protest near Delhi’s India Gate earlier this month. “There seems to be no political will to fix the issue,” she added, surrounded by dozens of protesters wearing face masks and carrying nebulizers.

Successive Delhi governments have had air pollution plans dating back to 1996, but decades on, the air remains dangerously unhealthy, especially at this time of year when colder air traps smoke and fumes from fireworks, crop-burning and heavy city traffic.

The struggle to clean India’s air stands in contrast to nearby China, where a multi-billion dollar and years-long effort to crack down on the country’s notoriously polluted skies has paid significant dividends.

New Delhi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government insists it’s taking action, and last month launched an expensive – and unsuccessful – cloud seeding experiment to wash away the toxic air.

Pollution levels are now at “hazardous” levels, according to IQAir, which regularly puts Delhi at the top of its list of major cities with the world’s worst air quality.

“Imagine the impact of that on a baby’s lungs,” said Dr Vandana Prasad, a pediatrician at the protest. “Children are forced to go to school in these circumstances, and even masks aren’t recommended for kids below 12,” she said.

“We are literally killing our kids.”

Failed cloud seeding efforts

Small aircraft hummed over the city’s skies late last month, firing flares into clouds to shower them with small quantities of silver iodide and sodium chloride compounds.

India has used cloud seeding technology to create rain in other parts of the country, but never to curb pollution. It’s part of a pricey promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which took office in New Delhi earlier this year.

“I want to tell Delhi’s citizens that the government has installed anti-smog guns on high-rise buildings, done dust mitigation with water sprinklers, we are monitoring ongoing constructions,” environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said in a statement.

However, “10 years of damage cannot be undone in 7 months,” Sirsa added, as he attempted to shift the blame to the previous government.

Three attempts at cloud seeding last month “did not achieve success” because there wasn’t enough precipitation in the air, according to Manindra Agarwal, director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, which worked with the government on the cloud seeding project.

Scientists say cloud seeding can induce rain only when enough moisture is already present in the atmosphere. On the day of the tests, it was around 15%, Agarwal said.

Two more trials were planned; however, they’ve since been postponed, partly due to insufficient moisture in the clouds, IIT Kanpur said in a statement.

The capital woke up to a thick layer of smog on October 20, after residents celebrated Diwali, setting off fireworks for the Indian festival of lights. As the air quality deteriorated, the Delhi government greenlit cloud seeding, despite warnings from experts that the probability of success was low.

“Effective cloud seeding requires specific cloud conditions, which are generally absent during Delhi’s cold and dry winter months,” experts said in a letter to the environment minister.

“Even if suitable clouds were present, the dry atmospheric layer beneath them could cause any developed precipitation to evaporate before reaching the surface,” said the letter, from the Indian Meteorological Department, Commission for Air Quality Management in the national capital region (NCR) and Adjoining areas and the Central Pollution Control Board.

“This is honestly the worst possible choice to mitigate air pollution,” M Rajeevan, former secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences told CNN. According to Rajeevan, even if the cloud seeding had succeeded, it was only a temporary fix, reducing pollution for a couple of days instead of tackling the root of the problem.

CNN has reached out to Delhi’s chief minister and environment minister for comment.

The Red Fort’s turning black

The scale of Delhi’s problem can be seen on the walls of the Red Fort, which takes its name from the red sandstone used to build the structure in the 1600s.

“Black crusts” are forming on the Red Fort’s 20-meter-high walls from “amorphous carbon and various heavy metals” found in the atmosphere, noted a study published earlier this year.

“Given the alarming air quality situation in Delhi, studying important monuments like the Red Fort is crucial for promoting effective conservation policies and interventions.” the study said.

“Of course, the fort has gone black,” said Raman, 64, who only gave one name, and has worked at the fort for four years.

“How will it not with the level of pollution in Delhi? There’s so much dust. After just a day of being outdoors, you go home and wash your face you see how much black stuff comes off.”

“I remember seeing the red fort on my first trip to Delhi about 30 years ago,” said Raman. “It definitely was much redder then. More like an apple color. Now that apple has rotten.”

A petition was filed in India’s top court earlier this month asking that air pollution be declared a “National Public Health Emergency,” and calling for the court to supervise a new anti-pollution strategy, so it’s carried out in a timely manner.

Filed on behalf of Luke Coutinho, a wellness expert who has spearheaded Modi’s Fit India movement, the petition accuses the government of failing to target the sources of industrial pollution and spending too little to curb vehicular emissions.

“Temporary measures such as mist sprayers, anti-smog guns, and artificial rain trials may provide symbolic reassurance but do little to mitigate emissions at the source,” the petition said.

Meanwhile reports attribute millions of deaths in the past three years to pollution in India. The 2025 State of Global Air report estimated that in 2023, India accounted for nearly 30% of air pollution-related deaths worldwide.

“Our life expectancies are reduced by 5, 10 years, but the government is doing nothing about it,” said Prasad, the pediatrician, who said she sees three-year-olds at her clinic struggling with a “cough that never goes away.”

Prasad does not discount the importance of individual responsibility. “My neighbors had just had a baby and were burning crackers to celebrate. I wanted to go and tell them at least for the sake of your baby you should not be burning crackers at all,” she told CNN.

The India Gate protest did not last long; Protesters, including women and children, were detained for not having permission to demonstrate. Some said they were forced into police vehicles and were later released on the outskirts of Delhi. CNN has reached out to Delhi Police for comment.

As Delhi’s air pollution levels deteriorated from “very poor” to “severe” on last Tuesday, the government implemented increased pollution control measures as part of its Graded Response Action Plan.

Under this measure, schools up to Grade 5 operate in “hybrid” mode – with some classes online and others in-person. All non-essential construction is paused, and the most polluting vehicles are banned from the roads while the measure remains in force.

Protesters say they’ve sent multiple requests to meet Delhi’s chief minister, all of which have been denied. They say the government’s refusal to engage with them has brought them to the streets, and they’re not backing down.

“We’re here protesting because it’s our responsibility to speak up,” said Prasad, the doctor at the protest. “I hope the government listens.”

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