New Delhi: Population exceeding resource limits

October 9, 2025

Julian Cribb mentions a number of megacities, including New Delhi. I visited the city in 1969 and found it a pleasant place in contrast to various poverty-ravaged cities within the country, most notably Calcutta, now Kolkata. There, half a million slept on the streets at night, often with only a dirty newspaper for a pillow. In contrast, New Delhi was free of the chaos that bedevilled other cities in India.

Back then, 56 years ago, New Delhi’s population was 3,381,000 people, less than a tenth of what it is today, namely, 35 million. It is anticipated to be 39 million within five years. Are they completely mad?

According to the Times of India: “Pollution levels in Delhi, especially in winter, reach dangerously high levels, turning its air toxic and covering its rivers in foam. This season’s familiar sight — a thick haze that blankets the city and thick layers of white, foamy scum floating on the Yamuna River — has become a grim reminder of the city’s environmental decline…Delhi’s air pollution is among the most hazardous in the world…”

It’s not just numbers of people, of course, but such problems would be easier to solve were there fewer people living there.