Union budget, Delhi manifestos focus on tackling air pollution

ONE CAN HOPE THAT AIR QUALITY GARNERS ENOUGH POLITICAL ATTENTION, SO INDIANS CAN BREATHE CLEAN AIR

NEW DELHI : As I write this, three important documents have just been placed in the public domain — the Union budget and the manifestos of two political parties for the Delhi assembly elections.

All the three documents have, for the first time, put an emphasis on air pollution.

A cynic might say that this was only to be expected in one of the world’s most polluted cities, and in a country which has 22 of the 30 most polluted cities of the world. But, it’s more than that.

We’ve only just finished a national election.

During that time, air pollution was only a bit of a squeak in a few manifestos.

The interim budget didn’t give it importance. It was only a shadowy issue. It wasn’t seen as particularly relevant in Haryana even, during the state assembly elections.

The big difference has come about due to the continuous global and local rhetoric, and the anger on the ground in Delhi. Often, we hear that Delhi shouts much louder than other, more polluted areas. True.

Delhi has more elites with louder voices. It also has politicians who suffer the air.

What does this tell us about politicising green issues? In a nutshell, that you need loud voices to use data based arguments non-stop, from vantage points, if you want green issues to be noticed. In the year ahead, as new data about Mumbai and Chennai shocks us, one can hope that air quality issues become political in ways beyond elections, so every Indian can breathe clean air.