A public health emergency has been declared by doctors in Delhi, as the air quality in the world’s most polluted city dropped to levels likened to smoking 50 cigarettes a day.

We asked our readers to give us a sense of what it’s like to live and work in the capital during periods of such smog and pollution.

Below, we share some of their views.



‘We only step outside when it’s important’



I woke up to a foggy sky with much less visibility. The weather has started to become a bit cold. So, the fog is generally there during this season, however, as the sun rose, still the fog didn’t disappear and the visibility was even less then.

A view from Noida, 6 miles from Delhi. Photograph: Amitesh Purwar/GuardianWitness

Everyone around has an uneasiness in their throat due to this kind of smog. Our next step is to keep ourselves inside and step outside only when it is important.

Amitesh Purwar, research engineer, Noida

‘It’s a state of emergency, but in other ways it’s business as usual’

We have an air purifier in each room and still my eyes sting. I loathe to think what impact the poor quality air is having on my little children’s health. Sometimes I feel irresponsible keeping the children in Delhi.

The state authorities are saying that people shouldn’t go out for walks and not exercise. Schools are closed. It’s a state of emergency, but in other ways it’s business as usual. People still use big cars, don’t car pool and burn their rubbish.



Every year it’s the same story - it starts with the fire crackers on Diwali and doesn’t end until the beginning of March. My children’s school monitors air quality and days are colour coded according to the level of air quality which classifies when they can go out in the playground.



So far since Diwali, they’ve had one yellow day when they were allowed to go in playground with a mask. These little children need exercise and fresh air! I feel helpless as a mother.

Kaveri Sharma, Delhi

‘It smells like petrol and is horrible to breathe’

Smog in Delhi. Photograph: GuardianWitness

Walked out yesterday and [the smog] was on campus - you could see it in the air. It smells like petrol and is just really horrible to breathe. You shouldn’t really walk anywhere in it or take auto-rickshaws but then it means everyone is taking taxis which only ends up making it worse.



Lots of people myself included feel under the weather because of it - like a kind of nausea and fatigue.



Kate, student, Delhi

‘Thank god I reached home’



I work in night shifts and travel by bike. You cannot imagine the state of my journey home.



I was riding 10 -15 km/ph and I was unable to see 5 metres of the road. I was not taking in oxygen properly. My hands were completely itching. Thank God finally I reached home.

Saurabh Garg, recruiter, Ghaziabad

‘We happily whiz about in our cars and keep our ACs on all day’

‘I feel a sense of guilt’ Photograph: Hxtrra/GuardianWitness

The picture is of my N95 mask after one day of use in Delhi and you can already see the black particulate matter on it.

When I’m wearing the mask in Delhi, I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. In a way, people like me are at fault for the current crisis: we had all the agency but we didn’t use it to demand more from our institutions. Instead, we happily whiz about in our cars and keep our ACs on all day. When the pollution is very high? Out come the masks and air purifiers and we continue like nothing’s irreparably broken.

Meanwhile, medical supply stores have started price gouging over masks and several stores are selling fake masks that don’t filter out PM. Who buys these masks? Largely, people who can’t afford real masks and who don’t know better.

It just destroys me to know that many of the rickshaw drivers, municipal workers and street vendors who have to spend their days in the smog, with little to no protection, are not going to make it past a few winters.

Hxtrra, Delhi, via GuardianWitness

