During the Covid-19 lockdown, for the first time in years, those of us who live in the National Capital Region of India woke up to what felt like a new world. The sky was the bluest many of us had ever seen, and we could breathe in gusts of air without it burning our lungs. New Delhi recorded its best air quality score since the Central Pollution Control Board began maintaining air quality records in 2015.1
But two years on we are back to square one, despite the government launching a National Clean Air Programme in early 2019 which aimed to reduce pollution levels by 20-30 per cent by 2024 in 122 cities. Over two million people in India died due to air pollution in 2021.2
