Parliament
lawmaker Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, too, spoke on the issue while wearing an anti-pollution mask in Parliament. “When we have a Swachh Bharat mission, can’t we have a ‘swachh hawa miss i o n’ ( c l e a r a i r missi o n) ? Shouldn’t we be ensured the right to breathe clean air? In Delhi we might be staring at a situation of mass asphyxia,” the MP said, referring to the Narendra Modi-led government’s ‘clean India’ initiative.
BJP MP from New Delhi and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir – who was previously criticised for skipping a parliamentary panel meet on air pollution last week, a charge he later justified by saying he had a contractual obligation – too addressed the Lok Sabha, appealing parties to stop politicising the issue and work together to tackle the menace.
“The state is that of a climate emergency -- Delhi is the worst affected. The state [Delhi] can no longer get away with gimmicks such as odd-even and banning construction sites. We need longterm sustainable solutions and stop the blame game. It’s time to own up and act responsibly,” Gambhir said in an apparent attack on the Delhi government’s road rationing initiative, popularly called the ‘odd-even’ drive.
BJP MP Pravesh Verma also accused Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of not doing anything to curb air pollution in the city and criticised him for blaming farmers of neighbouring states for the problem.
Participating in the discussion on ‘Air Pollution and Climate Change’ in the Lok Sabha, the West Delhi MP alleged the AAP government was ignoring major sources of pollution such as vehicular emissions and dust.
Air quality plunges in DelhiNCR on the onset of winter annually due to stubble burning from neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab, lowering temperature, wind speed and a host of weather conditions.
Delhi’s air quality continued to be in the ‘poor’ category on Tuesday with t he average 24-hour air quality index (AQI) recorded at 242 at 4pm, according to data provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Ghaziabad’s air AQI on Tuesday was 330 (very poor), Greater Noida’s 272 (poor) and Noida’s 256 (poor).
Despite the brief respite, the Capital is staring at another episode of smog in the coming days due to slowing winds, with a likely increase in fog cover and a drop in temperature allowing little ventilation, warned Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), the Supreme Court-mandated antipollution authority.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that from November 19 to November 21, there will be little wind and ventilation, which will not allow pollutants to disperse.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
Delhi was covered in a blanket of dense smog last week and the air quality had plunged to the ‘emergency’ range for at least three days, forcing the administration to shut schools for two days and impose temporary pronoon. hibitions on industrial and conThe shopkeepers down their struction activities. shutters in the afternoon — at
EPCA has asked the governsome places in the late afternoon ments in Delhi and neighbouring — to join the protest against the states to step up surveillance and abrogation of the special status of enforcement to check local sourthe state, the officials said. ces of pollution and crop burnPre-paid mobile phones and all ing. internet services in the Valley
On Monday, the central govcontinue to remain suspended ernment had also said it will since August 5. crack down on those violating anti-pollution rules over the next fortnight to stop another spell of poor air quality in Delhi.
According to Union environment secretary CK Mishra, the government will implement a winter action plan to curb pollution even when the weather conditions are not favourable. He said the action plan will focus on controlling local emissions in Delhi-ncr and penalise officials who fail to take action.