NEW DELHI: As toxic air continues to blanket Delhi-NCR, parents across the region are grappling with severe health concerns among their children. Doctors have repeatedly warned that the current pollution levels are especially dangerous for young lungs, and recent cases, including that of a Noida child requiring surgery due to respiratory complications, have deepened parental anxiety.
For many families, relocation is frequently discussed but remains impractical due to work, finances and long-standing roots in the capital.
For Sachin and his wife Sakshi, the past few weeks have been overwhelming.
Their five-year-old son recently underwent an adenotonsillectomy after being diagnosed with “stage 4 adenoids and tonsils.” It is a surgical procedure to remove both the adenoids and the tonsils. The family, who moved to Delhi two years ago, said the child’s condition had steadily worsened in the city’s polluted environment.
“Over the last three months, despite multiple medications, his chronic cold and cough wouldn’t go away,” Sachin said. “Doctors noted that the tonsils in his throat had reached stage 4. They told us this was triggered by dust allergies worsened by pollution.”
The swelling in the child’s nasal and throat passage had become so severe that he could no longer breathe through his nose. Across Delhi-NCR, many parents are reporting similar struggles. Namrata Yadav, an anthropologist and mother of a seven-year-old boy, said her family debates relocation almost every morning. “But it’s not that simple,” she said.
“I’m even considering a hybrid model of online schooling, spending nine months here and three months somewhere with cleaner air.” Another parent, Deepti Sethi from Rajouri Garden, said pollution has reshaped her daily routine. “There’s now a dedicated space in my room for nebulisers and steamers,” she said. “The doctor has advised both for me and my nine-year-old son.”
With pollution now becoming a seasonal reality, families worry about the long-term impact on children’s physical and emotional well-being.
Schools are receiving more requests from parents to install air purifiers, while paediatricians report higher cases of respiratory distress and allergies triggered by poor air quality.
Caught between concern and helplessness, many parents say they can only hope for stronger, more sustained government action. As winter pollution peaks annually, the question of whether Delhi can remain a healthy place for children to grow up in looms larger each year.
Parents want schools, govt to come to rescue
With pollution now becoming a seasonal reality, families worry about the long-term impact on children’s physical and emotional well-being. Schools are receiving more requests from parents to install air purifiers. Caught between concern & helplessness, parents in the capital say they can only hope for stronger, sustained government action.