Rahul Gandhi flags air pollution as AQI in Delhi nears ‘severe’ category, Kiren Rijiju says govt ready to discuss

Rahul Gandhi on Friday raised the issue of air pollution in major cities of India and sought a discussion on the same in the Lok Sabha. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government was ready for a discussion on the issue, stating that government will see how the discussion can be taken up.

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Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Gandhi said the discussion on the issue can be framed in an interesting manner where the opposition and the government do not trade abuses at each other, but find a solution to the problem.

On Friday, Delhi continued to choke under a thick blanket of smog – with the Air Quality Index (AQI) settling at 332, in the ‘very poor’ category. The air quality was ‘very poor’ at 30 stations while it was ‘severe’ at one station, Jahangirpuri, which recorded an AQI of 405.

What Rahul Gandhi said

Raising the issue of air pollution, Rahul Gandhi said that both the opposition and the treasury benches can show the country that they can work together on something that is critical.

“This is not an ideological issue. Everybody in this House would agree that air pollution, the damage it is doing to our people, is something that we would like to cooperate on,” Gandhi said.

In response, Rijiju said the government, from day one, had made its position very clear it was ready to discuss and also to find a solution, taking along the suggestions from all the members, including the principal opposition party led by Rahul Gandhi.

Not just Delhi, but Mumbai, Kolkata among other cities have been battling the issue of unhealthy air that followed with the onset of winter across India. Earlier this month, the Air Quality Index in Maximus City hit 111 – prompting authorities to implement GRAP-4 restrictions.

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Delhi AQI to remain ‘very poor’

Delhi’s air quality is likely to remain in ‘very poor’ till Saturday. The outlook for the subsequent six days also states that the air is likely to remain in the very poor band, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS).

In November, Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘severe’ level for multiple days with at least 15 monitoring stations across the capital reporting readings exceeding 400 on a single day, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).