New Delhi has recorded more than 200,000 cases of acute respiratory illnesses at six state-run hospitals between 2022 and 2024, according to new government figures that underline the toll of the capital’s polluted air.

The city of about 30 million people is consistently ranked among the most polluted capitals in the world. India’s health ministry told parliament on Tuesday that air pollution was one of the factors driving the rise in respiratory ailments.

Prataprao Jadhav, the junior health minister, said in a written response that “analysis suggests that increase in pollution levels was associated with increase in number of patients attending emergency rooms.” More than 30,000 of those patients required hospitalisation over the three-year period.

Delhi’s winter smog remains a recurring public health threat as cooler temperatures trap pollutants close to the ground. The mix of emissions from crop burning, factories and heavy traffic often pushes PM2.5 levels far above global health limits, sometimes reaching sixty times the daily threshold set by the United Nations.

A study published last year in The Lancet Planetary Health estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to air pollution. The UN children’s agency has also warned that polluted air puts children at greater risk of acute respiratory infections.

The health ministry, however, noted that pollution is not the sole cause of hospitalisations. It said the health impacts of dirty air reflect a combination of factors including diet, work conditions, socio-economic status and medical history.