India, Nov. 24 -- Air pollution often feels distant until it reaches your doorstep. A resident in Gurugram put it bluntly: "You don't truly understand the depth of the problem until it hits home until it affects you or someone you love." That sentiment echoed through every conversation as I reported on the city's persistent waste burning crisis, a problem that slips between civic apathy and administrative inertia.

Across Gurugram, waste fires have become an everyday sight, so routine they risk becoming invisible. A search on X makes the scale visible in seconds. Residents post photos of smouldering garbage heaps, tagging officials and pleading for intervention. The digital outrage is constant. On the ground, though, waste fires continue ...