by Demonstrations Against Smog Contribute Additional Particulates to Atmosphere
In a development that environmental scientists are calling “grimly ironic,” thousands of Delhi residents took to the streets this week to protest the city’s catastrophic air quality, inadvertently contributing to the problem by engaging in activities that require breathing.
The demonstrations, organized by the Coalition for Clean Air and Functioning Lungs, saw protesters marching through neighborhoods where the air quality index reached levels previously thought impossible outside of industrial accidents. Participants carried signs reading “We Can’t Breathe” while actively breathing the toxic air they were protesting, creating what environmental engineers call “a paradox of civic engagement.”
Dr. Anita Sharma, Professor of Environmental Futility at the Delhi School of Obvious Problems, explained the challenge. “The protesters are absolutely right to demand action on air pollution,” she noted while checking her own air quality monitor. “However, gathering thousands of people outdoors during a severe smog event means exposing those people to the very pollution they’re protesting. It’s like organizing a swimming competition to protest the ocean’s excessive wetness.”
According to data from the World Health Organization, Delhi’s air quality has reached levels where the most effective protest would be staying indoors with air purifiers and writing strongly worded letters while minimizing lung damage.
The protests have drawn attention from international media, who expressed shock that Delhi residents can function in air quality conditions that would trigger mass evacuations elsewhere. “How are they even standing upright?” asked one foreign correspondent before being advised to put on his gas mask.
City officials responded to the protests by acknowledging the problem, promising future action, and immediately doing nothinga strategy that has worked successfully for the past fifteen years.
Environmental activists praised the protesters’ commitment while quietly wondering if organizing mass gatherings in toxic smog represents peak Delhi logic or peak desperation. “Probably both,” concluded Dr. Sharma.
At press time, the protests had ended with participants returning home to shower off the particulate matter and contemplate whether the demonstration achieved anything beyond giving everyone a respiratory infection.
SOURCE: https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/23/india/india-delhi-smog-protests-challenges-intl-hnk-dst
SOURCE: Bohiney.com (Radhika Vaz)
