#FightToBreathe
At Newslaundry, we don’t usually do campaigns. But air pollution is a crisis, for every single one of us, young and old.
So this time, we’re making an exception. This is our #FightToBreathe.
How can you join
The RTI Method
File an RTI. The more questions you ask of public officials, the more information you get on what they are doing to address this crisis. Share the response to your RTI with us; it could be the basis for our next story.
Repost with AQI
Tweet about your area’s AQI with #FightToBreathe. Here’s the link to trace the nearest station in your state and town. If no centres are near you, specify that in your post using the same hashtag.
Power our campaign
We are doing reports, videos, investigations, cartoons, a daily show, and expert collaborations. All this requires extensive resources. Click below to contribute an amount to your choice and be part of the fight.
Do you have a story idea or a suggestion on how to make the campaign bigger? Drop us an email at submissions@newslaundry.com.
Meet the experts
As our advisory panel, they’ll guide our work and keep us on course.
Dharmesh Shah
Environmental health expert
Vimlendu Jha
Environmentalist
Sunil Dahiya
Emissions expert
Sanjay Upadhyay
Environmental law expert
Brijesh Kumar
Former bureaucrat
Manoj Kumar
Air policy expert
Jai Dhar Gupta
Environmental entrepreneur
Dr GC Khilnani
Pulmonologist
Dr Sanjeev Bagai
Paediatric nephrologist
Nivedita Khandekar
Senior journalist
Bhavreen Kandhari
Clean air campaigner
Latest stories
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Delhi’s war on old cars: Great for headlines, not so much for anything else
How good is the air near Delhi’s Safdarjung Tomb?
June 30, 2025: Aaj Ka AQI from Connaught Place
India tops global SO₂ emissions, ranks second in ammonia: Report
#FightToBreathe FAQs
Have a question that hasn’t been answered here? Write to us at submissions@newslaundry.com.
Long-term exposure harms everyone. Though pregnant women, the elderly, children and patients with cardiovascular, cerebrovascular or respiratory disease must reduce short-term exposure to toxic air.
It will need national, regional and local cooperation for a resolution. Governments can monitor emissions, put improved urban planning into effect, and promote sustainable consumption.
AQI is a tool to gauge the concentration of pollutants in outdoor air. Devised by the US-based Environment Protection Agency, it measures the level of five major air pollutants, including ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. The AQI is a beneficial scale especially for those suffering from illnesses caused or exacerbated by exposure to air pollution.
Different agencies in different countries use different point scales to measure air quality. In India, agencies like the Central Pollution Control Board use a 500-point AQI scale. With 0 to 50 (good), 51-100 (satisfactory), 101-200 (moderate), 201-300 (poor), 301-400 (very poor), and 401-500 (severe) as the different categories of air quality. Prolonged exposure to the poor category causes breathing discomfort to most people while the very poor category can trigger respiratory illness.
While most emissions remain at similar levels throughout the year, pollution levels reach alarming levels during winter months especially in northern India. Winter months bring with themselves certain meteorological conditions – such as temperature inversion in which cool air is trapped near the ground, and low wind speeds – that prevents pollutants in the air from rising into the atmosphere. This limited dispersal of accumulated pollutants is what causes air pollution. Episodic winter events like burning of firecrackers in Diwali, stubble burning in states like Punjab and Haryana release more pollutants into the air.
Particulate matter or PM is a blanket term used to describe air-borne particles like smoke and soot, emitted from sources like industrial activities, vehicles, thermal power plants, waste incinerators, fires and dust. The particle size of these pollutants can be less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in diameter or more than 10 microns (PM10). Differently-sized particles affect different parts of the respiratory system. While particles larger than 10 microns get trapped in the nose or throat affecting the upper respiratory tract, particles less than 2.5 microns reach the lungs and can lead to pulmonary diseases.
Several cities across the world have been successful in not only reducing air pollution but also reversing it. Once known as the smog capital of the world, Beijing has cut air pollution by 50 percent since 2013, according to the Air Quality Life Index, produced by University of Chicago’s Energy Pollution Institute.
It has implemented several measures, including the National Clean Air Programme. But it’s far behind the target.
An individual has very limited options to restrict exposure to pollutants. But together, a lot can be achieved. That’s why we have launched a collaboration between readers, experts and team Newslaundry. It’s called the Fight To Breathe. It’s to ensure this existential crisis remains a talking point beyond the life of a news cycle.
In three easy ways. You can either file RTIs and share your findings with submissions@newslaundry.com. Or you can repost our campaign content with the hashtag #FightToBreathe, with a snapshot of the reading from your nearest air monitoring station. Or you can contribute an amount of your choice to power this campaign. (You are truly a captain if you do all of the above.) Here’s a detailed explainer on how to go about these steps.
For one year. Hope you stay with us until the end.