With pollution crisis unrelenting, hundreds of Delhiites, including students from JNU, Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia, staged a protest at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday demanding immediate action to improve the national capital's air quality. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has once again pointed fingers at Punjab for stubble burning as major reason for very bad AQI.
Delhi has been battling persistently "very poor” air post-Diwali, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) staying above 300 for days. It crossed 400 range several times during the past over a month.On Tuesday, the city woke up to another day of toxic haze, recording an overall AQI of 344, while four monitoring stations reported pollution levels in the “severe” category, according to CPCB data.
CM Gupta attacked the Punjab government over stubble burning at the Northern Zonal Council meeting, chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah, held in Faridabad.She said that states like Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh have shown positive progress in crop-residue management in recent years, but the volume of smoke coming from Punjab remains significantly high.
She expressed hope that all neighbouring States, especially Punjab and Haryana, would extend stronger cooperation to ensure cleaner air for Delhi. She sought cooperation from neighbouring States and measures to eliminate stubble burning, make interstate transport zero-emission, eliminate dust from major and minor roads connecting the States, and control pollution at nearby industrial facilities, according to the CMO.
Meanwhile, protesters wore industrial-grade respiratory masks as symbolic props and held placards, including ones that read, “Delhi ICU mein hai, Govt kahan hai?” Several demonstrators said the deteriorating air had severely impacted day-to-day life in northern India.
“The quality of life is finished in northern India… We are getting health issues due to bad air, our children are suffering. What will we do with a five-trillion-dollar economy if citizens live in such an environment?” a protestor asked.
Another demonstrator, Shahid, criticised the BJP-ruled Delhi government for “not tackling real issues”. “Blaming previous governments cannot go on. The government ordered air purifiers for its offices so that leaders can breathe clean air. But what about common people?” he said.
A DU student, Anjali, said they had organised a similar protest at India Gate on November 10, during which around 15 women were detained and allegedly dropped off in Bawana late at night. “We will not make peace with the situation. Clean air is our fundamental right,” she said.
She alleged the Delhi government was “manipulating AQI data”, wasting public funds on cloud-seeding despite scientific objections, and “taking no steps to curb the causes of pollution”.Holding a poster that read, “Plants are giving us oxygen, but are we inhaling poison?” a boy said his throat had been hurting due to the rising pollution. “Pollution should be stopped. The situation is very poor,” he added.
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