Delhi air pollution a ‘slow poison’, Congress seeks all-party panel and hits out at freebie politics

New Delhi

Terming the capital’s air pollution a “slow poison” that is making the city “no longer habitable”, the Congress on Saturday urged the Centre to treat the crisis as a “national problem”, convene urgent cross-party consultations and set up an MP-level committee to frame a long-term solution.

Senior Congress leader and former East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit, addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee headquarters, said doctors had warned that Delhi’s toxic air was shortening the average lifespan by six to seven years and placing vulnerable patients at heightened risk.

Mr. Dikshit also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for engaging in what he described as competitive populism, adding that there was “enough time” for such politics closer to elections.

“The government should control pollution, and if they are unable to do this, they have no right to be called a government,” Mr. Dikshit said. “All I have to say is this: stop misleading the public, because due to air pollution, this city is no longer habitable.”

Dismissing stubble burning and Diwali firecrackers as minor contributors, he said: “Only a small portion of air pollution comes from stubble burning and firecrackers during Diwali… The major cause of air pollution is vehicular pollution, which continues year-round. This accounts for around 35 per cent.”

He accused successive BJP and AAP governments of allowing road infrastructure to decay and public transport to “collapse”. “When Delhi was developing, the average traffic speed was 35 to 40 kilometres per hour. Today, due to the government’s failure, traffic speeds have slowed… vehicular pollution levels have increased by two and a half times,” he claimed.

Mr. Dikshit also criticised illegal industries running on “dirty fuel” with the “connivance of the MCD, police, and politicians”, garbage being burnt across the city, and the scrapping of waste-to-energy projects. “Many years ago, the technology of ‘waste to energy plant’ was introduced, but Arvind Kejriwal made a false claim that its smoke causes cancer, after which the plan was thrown into the dustbin,” he alleged.

Taking aim at populist spending, he said, “Money should be invested on road infrastructure, bus system, and the metro. You will get enough time to do populist politics. If governments spend all funds for giving things free, there will not be finances for basic facilities.”

Echoing Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s call for a detailed parliamentary debate, he added, “This is a national problem… I would demand that they should form a committee, probably at MP-level, and take all parties on board.” Mr. Dikshit also appealed to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor “to get people together and do this as a people’s movement”.

Mr. Gandhi, who on Friday met mothers concerned about their children’s health, had questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” on what he termed a “health emergency” and sought a “strict, enforceable action plan”.