Social activist and retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi has reiterated her appeal for clear accountability on Delhi’s air pollution crisis, urging the government to release a comprehensive White Paper. Her call comes days after she flagged the issue on X.
In a detailed post, Bedi proposed a two-part document examining the capital’s long-standing air quality problems, identifying institutional failures, and laying out a roadmap for immediate, short-term and long-term action across departments and among citizens.
On Saturday, Bedi had also voiced her anguish over Delhi’s worsening air quality, saying she could not watch the city “suffer” and recalling that she had given her entire life to the capital, which she now sees “choking and gasping” after years of steep decline.
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Kiran Bedi's two-part plan
In her latest post, Bedi shared a detailed proposal, writing:
{{/usCountry}}In her latest post, Bedi shared a detailed proposal, writing:
{{/usCountry}}“A suggestion—Part One.
Can a White Paper be prepared of the current challenge of Air Pollution? Fix past accountability. What is the current crisis due to? Who and what failed us. The inheritance?
Part Two. And where do we go from here to halt the decline? And reverse the crisis. What are the immediate, short term, and long term measures and by whom? And How? With proposed time lines. By respective depts and the people at large too. All organised sections? As everyone is a contributor and also a solution.
Alongside a mass dissemination of education and media awareness drives alongside relentless enforcement.”
This push follows her expression of concern over Delhi’s worsening air quality. Sharing her distress, she wrote that she cannot bear to see the city “suffer,” recalling her lifelong association with the capital.
Kiran Bedi's earlier appeal
On Saturday, she posted that she was watching Delhi “choking and gasping” and said the city had been in decline in recent years. Alongside her appeal, Bedi outlined steps that could ease the crisis, urging officials to prioritise on-ground inspections over paperwork.
"Sir please forgive me for pleading again. But I have seen your very effective Zoom sessions during my time in Puducherry. How you got every body to deliver and perform time bound in several national challenges. How everyone was inspired to meet the deadlines and the goals," a part of Bedi's tweet read.
She urged PM Modi to hold virtual meetings with Chief Ministers and Chief Secretaries of Delhi’s neighbouring states every month to take stock of the progress in tackling pollution. "It will give us hope because we will know it’s under your oversight. People can heave a sense of relief," she wrote.
The AQI in Delhi has hovered between the 'very poor' and 'severe' categories for the past two weeks, despite anti-pollution measures put in place.
The air quality is likely to remain 'very poor' over the coming week, according to the forecast by the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.