New Delhi – In a poignant display of desperation amid Delhi’s worsening smog, dozens of protesters, including parents clutching inhalers and young children, were detained by police on Sunday during a rally at the iconic India Gate. The gathering, dubbed a “clean air protest,” sought immediate government intervention to address what participants described as a full-blown “air emergency” strangling the capital.
As the city’s air quality index plummeted into the “very poor” category just days after Diwali celebrations, demonstrators waved placards and medical documents to underscore the human toll of unchecked pollution. Women arrived with their kids, brandishing nebulizers and prescriptions as stark symbols of respiratory ailments plaguing residents. Their chants and signs pleaded, “Help us breathe,” highlighting the urgent need for robust policies to curb toxic emissions.
Social media quickly amplified the scene, with videos circulating on X showing authorities bundling protesters into police buses. One post captured the tension: “India Gate clean-air protest. We are being taken away, shoved into a bus.” Some activists claimed rough handling by officers and the detention of minors, accusations swiftly rejected by police spokespeople.
Officers maintained that they had urged the group multiple times to relocate to Jantar Mantar, Delhi’s official venue for public demonstrations. “When they refused and persisted in blocking Man Singh Road, we had no choice but to step in and detain those causing the obstruction,” explained Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Devesh Kumar Mahla. He emphasized that only traffic-disrupting individuals were held briefly before release, ensuring the road reopened for commuters.
In a formal statement, the organizers pressed the Delhi government for “urgent, accountable, and transparent” steps to combat the crisis. Their demands included establishing an independent air quality regulator, mandating real-time data disclosure, issuing precise health warnings during pollution surges, and enforcing oversight on anti-pollution funding. Framing clean air as a constitutional entitlement under Article 21—the Right to Life—the group implored both state and central authorities to move past superficial fixes and prioritize long-term public health safeguards.
ALSO READ : Delhi’s Toxic Air Sparks India Gate Protests; , Several Detained | Watch Video
A post shared by Mumbai Samachar English (@mumbaisamacharenglish)
Environmental advocate Bhavreen Kandhari, among those detained, decried the response as a missed opportunity for empathy. “It’s disheartening that around a hundred citizens faced detention today,” she remarked. “Strikingly, several female officers seemed to sympathize, grappling with the same poisonous haze we all endure. Yet the sight of unmasked crowds remains the true heartbreak.”
The protest underscores a growing frustration with seasonal smog that has become a grim annual ritual in Delhi, where vehicular fumes, crop burning, and industrial outflows routinely push air pollution to hazardous levels. As winter sets in, experts warn of even graver risks without systemic reforms. For families like those at India Gate, the fight for breathable air is no longer abstract—it’s a daily battle for survival.