Articles by Malavika Ajith Raji

Malavika Ajith Raji is a consultant with Purpose and the Sustainable Mobility Network, and actively works across urban planning, mobility and transport policy, and governance sectors. After her graduation in Architecture and City Planning from IIT Kharagpur, she has spent a greater part of her career working with governments - as a Chief Minister's Fellow with Delhi Government and Consultant on the 100 Smart Cities Mission and with the Government of Kerala. Her experience across the last 8 years has been on policies aimed at improving sustainability, accessibility, inclusivity, and safety in public transport infrastructure.

Price of commute: Delhi’s mobility crisis is endangering citizens’ lives

by and February 5, 2025

Samina, aged 31, looks out of her rickshaw at the grey Delhi air, worried. She’s pregnant, due in a month or so, and the baby is shifting again. One hand on her stomach, she often protects it from bumps, and the other hand holds the bar. It is during bus rides like this that she wishes she hadn’t forgotten her pollution mask. A long time resident of Delhi, she has read the news, she knows that the air is not safe for the baby. Increased chances of premature labour, low birth weight, the list goes on. Delhi’s air pollution levels…

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