New Delhi: Every winter, Delhi sinks beneath a dense, choking haze. The clear October skies turn grey overnight, and once again, headlines scream: Delhi – the world’s pollution capital. Schools shut, life stalls, and the ritual blame game begins — with Diwali firecrackers predictably in the dock.

But, as Akhilesh Mishra, CEO of BlueKraft Digital Foundation, points out, based on extensive data analysis, this is a convenient fiction. The true causes of Delhi’s pollution lie elsewhere — in deeper, structural and long-ignored issues. While fireworks make for easy political and media narratives, Delhi’s smog is shaped by five far more significant factors: road dust, vehicular emissions, biomass burning, diesel generators, and seasonal farm fires, his findings say.

The dust beneath our feet: D

See Full Page