How This Delhi Home Beat Pollution to Build Its Own Climate

In a city where the air often feels heavy and grey, where pollution levels cross 1000 on the AQI scale, Peter Singh and Sarparveen (Neeno) Kaur have done the impossible. Inside their Sainik Farms home in New Delhi, the air feels like a mountain morning, crisp, cool, and startlingly clean. Their home’s air quality hovers around an AQI of 15, a number almost unimaginable for Delhi.

The story of this oasis begins at the front door. The entrance is framed by coloured glass doors salvaged from their ancestral fort in Punjab, a splash of heritage that sets the tone for what lies within. Beside it, an old-style cooler panel gurgles quietly as water trickles through it day and night. This is no ordinary cooling system. It’s the only point where the outside Delhi air is allowed in. As it passes through the water, it’s filtered and cooled before being drawn into the lush greenhouses surrounding their home.

Step inside, and the air feels instantly different. The temperature drops from Delhi’s 45°C April heat to a steady 25°C. You can almost feel your lungs sigh with relief.

Along the verandah, 500 plants thrive in neat beds (tomatoes, herbs, leafy greens) all nourished by aquaponic water flowing gently from a Japanese-style garden at the far end. The garden itself is serene, its quiet pond and the sound of running water creating an atmosphere of calm. A small prayer room opens onto this garden, a space for meditation and reflection, filled with the scent of mint and basil.

Beyond the verandah lies the true heart of the home: the greenhouse. Here, some 3,000 plants (celery, kale, bok choy, spinach, mint, and parsley) grow in rows, their roots nourished by nutrient-rich water from fish tanks. This is the magic of aquaponics, a sustainable method where fish waste becomes food for plants, and the plants, in turn, purify the water for the fish. It’s a closed loop of care, nature helping itself thrive.

The result is astonishing. The greenhouse not only produces a steady supply of fresh, organic vegetables but also continuously cleans and oxygenates the air. It’s why the family can breathe mountain-quality air inside their Delhi home even when the outside world chokes.

Walk further and you will find a small climate-controlled room within the greenhouse, the only space in the entire house with an air conditioner. Here, lettuce grows year-round, shielded from the extremes of Delhi’s seasons.

A staircase leads to the first rooftop, where more greens flourish, spinach, kale, and other leafy plants, all sustained by the same aquaponic system. Another gentle flight of stairs brings you to the second rooftop greenhouse, a breathtaking sight. Around the edges, 50 fruit trees stand tall: lemons, chikoo, pomegranates, figs, guavas, oranges, kumquats, peaches, plums, and even grapes. Between them, raised beds hold about 5,000 seasonal plants, like, tomatoes, cucumbers, gourds, spinach, beans, maize in summer, and carrots, radish, cabbage, and broccoli in winter.

Every inch of this home feels alive, pulsing with growth and renewal. Together, the couple nurture nearly 10,000 plants, an urban forest grown from patience and purpose.

Their system doesn’t just produce food; it produces balance. Only recyclable waste leaves the property. Kitchen scraps are composted and transformed into nutrient-rich vermicompost. Fallen leaves collected from outside are combined with garden trimmings to create leaf mold compost using red worms. Each year, they produce about 30 bags of compost worth nearly Rs. 30,000 if bought which they use to enrich their soil.

At 80 and 71, Peter and Neeno are living proof that sustainability isn’t a trend or a luxury; it’s a way of life. Their home stands as a quiet rebellion against Delhi’s suffocating air, an experiment in how small systems can yield big change.

Peter, once a corporate professional, now spends his days tending to fish tanks and plant beds. Neeno, equally devoted, oversees the composting and harvests. Together, they’ve created a sanctuary that feels both futuristic and timeless, a home where every breath reminds them that clean air is still possible, even in one of the world’s most polluted cities.

Their greenhouse hums softly with life, the whisper of leaves, the drip of water, the buzz of pollinators. It’s not just a home, but an ecosystem. In a city gasping for air, Peter and Neeno have found a way to breathe easy and to remind others that sustainability begins one home, and one act of care, at a time.