Former Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor and Aam Aadmi Party leader Shelley Oberoi has been admitted to a hospital after experiencing severe chest congestion and breathing issues. The sudden health complication arose amidst alarming environmental conditions in the national capital, requiring immediate medical intervention. A photograph shared from her hospital bed shows her wearing an oxygen mask and a cannula, highlighting the physical toll of the hazardous surroundings. Utilizing the platform X, she expressed deep concern over the deteriorating air quality and questioned the authorities regarding their preparedness.
In her post, she combined a live air quality reading with her hospital photograph to target the ruling party over its failure to curb environmental degradation. She emphasized that the air in Delhi has turned poisonous, pushing the air quality index into hazardous zones and endangering public health with every breath taken by citizens. She raised a pressing question about how long the residents of the city will be forced to breathe such toxic fumes without any substantial relief. Furthermore, she asserted that mere rhetoric would not suffice, demanding concrete actions rather than empty statements to combat the crisis.
Stating that the public desires clean air rather than hollow promises, she drew attention to the vulnerability of children and senior citizens who are enduring the severe consequences of the smog. Her remarks underscore the widespread crisis that unfolded across the Delhi-National Capital Region immediately following the morning after Diwali. Cities and neighborhoods spanning Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Gurgaon witnessed a massive spike in pollution levels, leaving virtually no area with breathable air as conditions plunged into very poor, severe, and hazardous categories.
By 9 November, the capital's overall air quality index settled at 366, placing it firmly within the very poor category. To counter the escalating crisis, authorities implemented GRAP-3 restrictions across Delhi to curb further emissions and exposure. Despite these enforced measures, monitoring stations in several localities recorded readings crossing the 400 mark, pushing those specific pockets into the severe category. Meanwhile, the figures highlighted by the former mayor presented an even more alarming picture, as she referenced live data indicating an index reading of 1702.
