Md Armaan Sheikh is one among the many parents waiting to get his two-year-old son Hassan nebulised inside the crowded emergency ward of Delhi’s Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital. Being a daily wage labourer, it’s the second time in a week that he has to leave his work to get his child’s check-up done.

Sheikh first took the baby to Mahavir Hospital located in the city’s Pitampura area four days ago but was turned away. “My son has been facing difficulty in breathing. He is also vomiting. The problem has persisted for the last 3 days. It’s a repeat of what we witnessed last winter,” he says. His fear is that, while Hassan is not asthmatic, he may develop the disease.

As Delhi gasps for breath with Air Quality Index (AQI) numbers breaching the 1000 mark in several areas of the city, the Supreme Court has ordered suspension of in-person classes for all school students for the time being. Children are the worst-affected victims of the acute air pollution that has gripped the national capital. All three central universities in Delhi namely University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia have also shifted to online mode of teaching.

Six-year-old Sarthak Shakya, who has been diagnosed with pneumonia since he turned one, has been visiting Kalawati Saran Hospital every year during winters.