An unexpected perk of having a geographically dispersed newsroom is the casual weather updates that we exchange on news calls. As winter sets in, these are often replaced by updates on the air quality in different cities. Those of us from Delhi usually have a lot to contribute on the subject, from complaints about the sting in our eyes when we step outside to analyses of which N95 mask will get us through the season.

This year, however, colleagues visiting or settled in even coastal cities noticed that they had encountered high Air Quality Index readings in them.

To confirm, I checked the latest available data from across 249 cities in India, collected by the Central Pollution Control Board. The data showed that as of December 9, most major coastal cities were recording “moderate” AQ

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