Andalib Akhter / New Delhi
The Lok Sabha today took up a serious discussion on air pollution in Delhi and its nearby areas. Members cutting across party lines expressed serious concern over the menace of pollution and said that the issue should be tackled, leaving aside politics. The issue was raised under Rule No. 193.
Most of the participating members said vehicles, dust, construction and industries and power plants are also responsible for poor air quality and farmers of neighbouring states of Delhi should not be blamed alone.
Participating in the discussion, BJP MP Pravesh Verma from West Delhi constituency said pollution in the city is mostly due to dust and construction activities.
He alleged that the Delhi government did not take any necessary steps to contain the pollution. Another BJP MP Gautam Gambhir from East Delhi constituency said the Ghazipur landfill is a big menace, and merely penalizing farmers will not solve the issue.
TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar suggested that the government should initiate a movement, Swachch Hawa, on the lines of Swachch Bharat. He requested the members to rise above politics and come together to find a solution to the problem.
Shiv Sena MP Arvind Ganpat Sawant said that apart from other pollutants, electronic waste and lithium batteries are more hazardous.
Congress MP Amar Singh suggested that a proper action plan is needed to contain the menace of stubble burning. He said chemical fertilizers and pesticides cause damage to the environment, resulting in cancer cases among the rural community, particularly farmers.
Despite the severity of the crisis in most parts of northern India, only 115 of the total 534 MPs attended the session. Half of the Delhi MPs, a majority of Cabinet and state ministers, and almost all prominent leaders from the Opposition benches skipped the important discussion, which was initiated by Congress MP Manish Tewari.
They demanded that the Centre as well as the states take tough measures to deal with the menace as air pollution was not only impacting Delhi but also various other cities of the country.
Small farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh should not be vilified for stubble burning as it is not a major cause of pollution in Delhi-NCR region, members of the BJP, Congress and Biju Janata Dal claimed.
While three Delhi BJP MPs used the opportunity to target the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government over its alleged inability to curb air pollution, former Union minister and Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant criticised the BJP for the felling of trees in Mumbai’s Aarey forest.
Danish Ali of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) took a jibe at BJP MP Hema Malini, without naming her, for advertising air purifiers while doing little to control pollution.