Residents to protest at Sec 29 ground

GURUGRAM: Multiple citizen’s groups in the city are planning to come together at the Leisure Valley Ground in Sector 29 on Sunday morning to voice their concerns about the deteriorating air quality and seek action from the government towards curbing pollution.

Hundreds of schoolchildren, parents, corporates, activists and senior citizens are expected to meet around 10.30am at the venue to participate in the gathering, aimed at generating awareness on the perils of air pollution.

The demonstration comes after the air quality in the city remained in the ‘severe’ level for four consecutive days this week.

It was the first time this year that the air quality strayed into the ‘severe’ category for four straight days. A thick blanket of haze had enveloped the city, while the average AQI value was 450.

The situation sparked anger among residents, who said that Gurugram was turning into a “gas chamber” and demanded action from authorities.

Upasana Mahtani Luthra of GurgaonMoms, a community of 32,000-plus mothers in the city, said that the idea of the protest is to reach out to as many people as possible and bring them together on a common platform. “We are focussing on numbers and aim to raise our voices together against air pollution,” said Luthra.

She added that people have been advised to wear black and anti-pollution masks. Parents across the city have decided to carpool to reach the venue.

Ruchika Sethi, founder of Citizens For Clean Air, an environment and sustainability advocacy group and one of the organisers of the protest, said the main motive of Saturday’s gathering is to generate community awareness about the immediate local triggers of pollution. “We want to demonstrate, peacefully, and drive home the point that pollution is an issue prevalent throughout the year. Most people do not recognise waste burning as a reason for pollution. This needs to change,” Sethi said, adding that a memorandum of demands would be handed over to the chief minister after the protest.

The protest will also see the involvement of school children and corporates. Schools have encouraged children to volunteer for the protest. “It might just be one of the country’s largest environmental turnouts,” said Manas Fuloria, chief executive officer, Nagarro, a software development company.

“A lot of our businesses are people-intensive and if even 5% of the workforce decides to move because of pollution, it will be detrimental to us. Pollution is possibly the biggest business risk right now,” he said, adding that the organisers are viewing the plan to congregate not as a protest, but as an awareness drive.

“If enough people were really aware, the things that need to be done to keep pollution in check would have been done,” he added.