Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said India needs an immediate and detailed Parliament debate on air pollution.
In a post on X, the Leader of Opposition said, "Every mother I meet tells me the same thing: her child is growing up breathing toxic air. They are exhausted, scared and angry. Modi ji, India’s children are choking in front of us. How can you stay silent? Why does your government show no urgency, no plan, no accountability?"
Gandhi also said the country needs an action plan to tackle this "health emergency". "Our children deserve clean air - not excuses and distractions," he said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to examine the matter related to the problem of increasing air pollution in Delhi NCR on a regular basis starting Monday.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also agreed with the submissions of amicus (court-appointed lawyer Senior Advocate Aprajita Singh), who sought an urgent hearing in the matter by highlighting the urgency of the situation.
While acknowledging that the problem of air pollution is "definitely an issue that every resident in Delhi NCR is facing, the Court also remarked that it doesn't have a magic wand to quickly resolve the issue, which is caused not by one but various reasons.
The apex court added that each reason or cause for the increase in air pollution in Delhi needs to be identified first. Only then, the court noted, will we be able to find solutions to deal with each of those causes.
Delhiites woke up to toxic air on Friday as the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 384, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
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