[1] Moving to Delhi in the late 1960s, Dabral worked at the vernacular newspapers Hindi Patriot, Pratipaksh and Aaspaas.

[2] He then moved to Bhopal, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh to work as an editor for Bharat Bhavan's Purvagrah.

He also worked with the National Book Trust as an editorial consultant, and with the Hindi monthly magazine Public Agenda as its editor.

[2] He published five collections of poetry, Pahar Par Lalten, Ghar Ka Rasta, Ham Jo Dekhte Hain, Awaz Bhi Ek Jagah Hai and Naye Yug Men Shatru, two collections of prose Lekhak Ki Roti and Kavi Ka Akelapan, and a travel diary Ek Bar Iowa.

[2] He translated Booker Prize winning author Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness to Hindi as Apar Khushi Ka Gharana.

[5] He was credited to having brought in a new sensibility to contemporary Hindi poetry, with the use of low key and precise language.

Dabral was undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Ghaziabad for the few days before being admitted to AIIMS, where his condition deteriorated, suffering a cardiac arrest.