Delhi today, Beijing yesterday: Can India too turn the skies of its capital blue?

Key Highlights

• You could almost taste it,” she added, reflecting on the grim reality of the city back then. Photo: A motorist wearing a face mask waits to cross a road before a sign for Tiananmen Square in heavily polluted weather in Beijing on February, 28, 2013.
• (AFP)Hop skip to 2018, and Tian’s view had transformed.
• “I remember looking up and seeing a clear blue sky, like the city was slowly healing,” she told Firstpost. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADPhoto: By 2018, Beijing was breathing easier (AFP)For some, it’s just air changing its hue.
• But for a country that once developed at breakneck speed—and for others still racing down that path—pollution has been, and continues to be, a defining crisis.
• Case in point: Delhi’s relentless AQI spikes, lately hovering around 305, a level that Scandinavian countries would classify as nearly poisonous. More from India 1,900 China–Japan flights cancelled in December amid tensions; fresh island row erupts Teesta project: How Chinese involvement raises India’s eastern security concernsAnd for Tian—and millions of Beijing residents—the transformation didn’t unfold through gentle nudges or advisory frameworks.