‘We have to live with air pollution’: Delhi’s athletes, parents and coaches feel they have no choice

Sitting in his chair at a cricket ground in West Delhi’s Shakurpur, 73-year-old Shrawan Kumar watches around 50 school-going boys and girls rotate through their drills. The stern but good-humoured coach seems unbothered by the haze settling over the ground. 

The nearest government monitoring station shows an Air Quality Index of 302 – categorised as “very poor.” But Kumar says that he has seen this before.

“In my entire coaching career of 55 years, I haven’t seen a child missing a session because of air pollution,” he says. “Doctors may say step out only if necessary. But sports has also become a necessity. If a child doesn’t play for a month or two, she is set back by a year.”

Kumar has trained international cricketers, including Ishant Sharma, Harshit Rana and Pratika Rawal, and parents often defer to him. Many of them are from lower-middle-income families, hoping that playing sports will help their children move up the economic ladder.

Some parents standing near the ground quietly support him. One said, “Look at the skies, they are clear. Where is the pollution?” Another added, “The air is toxic throughout the year anyway. How long will we keep them at home?”

The Delhi government recently postponed school sports and suspended all outdoor activities during November and December. This move follows the Supreme Court’s warning against holding outdoor sports when the air is hazardous. It also comes as a group of schoolchildren has petitioned the Delhi High Court to revise the city’s sports calendar and "shift tournaments, trials, and coaching camps" to months with “verifiably better ambient air quality”. 

Yet on the ground, families are left to make their own calculations – protect their child’s health or preserve their opportunity to practice. Newslaundry spoke to parents and coaches across Delhi to understand how class decides which children stay indoors and which must brave the toxic air.

Training inside a gas chamber

For Khalilur Rihman, who runs a business in Sadar Bazaar, the pollution crisis feels immediate. His 13-year-old son has already missed five days of cricket training. 

“My child has not trained for five days. Children are the future of the country. They are living in a gas chamber,” he says. “He was on anti-allergy medicines for five days. The best would be to play sports when pollution is less.” 

Rihman is aware of the risks of not sending his child out for practice, but has no alternative. His son has no access to an indoor arena, private coach or purified air. 

He checks the AQI every morning but feels helpless. 

“I don’t understand why schools are not cancelling classes for students from 6th to 12th standard. Their health is at stake. Online classes should be held. Delhi’s air is not worth going out for, especially not for sports which involve heavy breathing,” he adds. 

The privilege of air purifiers 

In upscale Vasant Kunj, filmmaker Purnima Raghunath calls Delhi’s children “the most disadvantaged athletes in the country”.

“We haven’t had two good air days in two years,” she says. “Even AQI 150 is unhealthy for children. Now, we are seeing AQI levels at 700 and 800. That is like smoking 20 to 25 cigarettes a day for a child. How can any sportsperson perform when their lungs are compromised?”

Her nine-year-old daughter trains in Taekwondo and gymnastics – both indoor sports, but not necessarily safer. “People think indoor means clean. It doesn’t,” she says. “Most practice spaces have no filtration. Sometimes the air indoors is worse because pollutants settle.”

Competitions also tend to be scheduled during peak smog season.

“As a parent, you make very tough choices,” she says. “Maybe you allow the child to participate in one event, then keep them masked or in purified spaces the rest of the day. I can manage that because of privilege. But what about millions of talented children who can’t?”

Her words highlight climate injustice: the children breathing the dirtiest air are also the ones with the fewest alternatives.

In the same neighbourhood, Namrata Yadav has kept her seven-year-old son away from outdoor training since before Diwali. Her house has five air purifiers.

“He has already lost three months of Taekwondo practice,” she says. “When he returns, he will take time to get back into the sport. But how can I let him warm up, cool down, and run for two hours when his chest feels heavy just breathing?”

She views the government’s postponements as necessary but long overdue.

“Children of Delhi are fighting a losing battle,” she says. “If you send them, you compromise their health. If you don’t, you compromise their future. They are at a huge disadvantage compared to children from other states.”

She also argues that indoor sports are not necessarily safer. “You aren’t sitting and playing chess,” she says. “Badminton, Taekwondo – these are strenuous sports. Unless there is air filtration, indoor air is the same.”

Namrata acknowledges her privilege with at least five air purifiers at home.

“I can afford to create a bubble,” she says. “But air is supposed to be equal for all. We are robbing children of their birthright to play outdoors.”

Children trying to keep up

At a tennis academy in Gulmohar Park, nine-year-old Jhanvi says she hasn’t missed any sessions this year. 

“My parents check AQI every day,” she says. “By the time I come in the evening, it’s better.”

Her friend Soham, however, has missed five classes. “Pollution can harm our lungs,” he says. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Whether a child trains or stays home often depends on parental choices shaped by money, time and risk tolerance – not by the child’s own wishes.

At Shivaji Stadium, Avneet, who belongs to a middle-class family, brought her seven-year-old back to hockey after keeping him home for 10 days. “There is no solution. My son was lagging behind others,” she says. “Keeping the child at home is not the answer. We have to live with air pollution.”

She uses air purifiers at home and wears a mask outdoors. “We can’t stop school for months,” she says. “Sports are the same. The best we can do is take precautions.”

Another mother who travels from Nizamuddin for her daughter’s hockey practice says, “Air pollution cannot be avoided. I give my daughter steam and medicine at night. Training happens when the air is slightly better. If she misses a day, it hampers her chances.”

For these parents, pollution is a permanent condition to be managed.

Coaches: ‘Continuity is everything’

At Talkatora Stadium, NDMC cricket coach Baljinder Singh has seen a dip in attendance. 

“The number of children coming to practice is less,” he says. “If a child misses two days, she goes behind by a week. Continuity is everything.”

He is worried about Delhi’s performance in the upcoming School Games Federation of India selections.

“Other states are preparing at full strength,” he says. “Delhi’s children are not training at their optimum.”

Hockey coach Harish Negi, who trains mostly lower-income children at Shivaji Stadium, adjusts timings to afternoons when pollution levels dip slightly.

“Parents from low-income groups are not fully aware of pollution,” he says. “Practice is the only way their children stay fit, because they live in congested areas with no space.”

He points out that, unlike affluent families, these children have limited access to indoor sports. 

“Higher-income children can switch to indoor games,” he says. “Lower-income children mostly play hockey, football, volleyball – all outdoor sports.”

He adds that for these families, sport is also a tool of upward mobility. "Parents feel that sports keep children away from phones, keep them fit, and might lead to job opportunities," he says.

Yet, the competition calendar works against them.

“Inter-zone hockey tournaments were postponed,” he says. “But selections will now happen just a day or two before. How will children from Delhi win medals? They will only participate.”

Normalising hazard

Back at Shakurpur, veteran coach Shrawan Kumar believes Delhi’s children have developed resilience.

“If you live in North India, you have to endure cold, fog, pollution,” he says. “It is only a problem for one and a half months. People living in cities have to adapt.”

He insists endurance has not been affected.

In upscale Gulmohar Park, tennis parent Vikas shares a similar view.

“Air pollution is our reality,” he says. “If we stay in Delhi, we have to adjust. Kids can’t be kept home for two months every year.”

Tennis coach Rikesh Upadhyay agrees. “I haven’t seen children skipping practice because of pollution,” he says. “But they face breathing problems. When the air is bad, we avoid strenuous exercises. Missing a week drops performance drastically.”

This show is part of a collaborative campaign to tackle air pollution. Here’s how you can join the Fight To Breathe. Click here to power this campaign.