E-Paper
‘Delhi’s air in shambles, Supreme Court chose crackers over right to live’: Amitabh Kant
“Delhi remains among the world’s most polluted capital. If Los Angles, Beijing, and London can do it, why can’t Delhi,” he asked.
Amitabh Kant, the Sherpa for India’s 2023 G20 Summit and former CEO of NITI Aayog, said Delhi’s air quality “lies in shambles” and warned that only “ruthless and sustained execution” of pollution control measures can save the city.
“Delhi’s air quality lies in shambles: 36/38 monitoring stations have hit the 'red zone,' AQI is above 400 in key areas. The Hon. Supreme Court in its wisdom has prioritised the right to burn crackers over the right to live and breathe,” Kant wrote on X.
“Delhi remains among the world’s most polluted capital. If Los Angles, Beijing, and London can do it, why can’t Delhi? Only ruthless and sustained execution can save Delhi from this health and environmental catastrophe,” he added.
“A unified action plan is vital - to end crop and biomass burning, shut or modernize thermal power plants and brick kilns with cleaner tech, shift all transport to electric by 2030, enforce strict construction dust control, ensure full waste segregation and processing, and redesign Delhi around green, walkable, transit-focused living. Only such decisive & relentless execution can restore the city’s blue skies and breathable air,” Kant concluded.
Why these remarks?
These remarks come as the Delhi-NCR region woke up to a thick layer of smog, making it even difficult to breathe for many. This was due to the incessant bursting of firecrackers.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi was at 357, in the 'very poor' category.
This is after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on crackers and allowed the use of green crackers to celebrate Diwali.
The court said it was adopting a "balanced approach, taking into account the conflicting interests and permit in moderation, while not compromising the environmental concerns arising".
The time slot allotted for the crackers was not followed.
While the court had given a window between 6 am-7am and 8 pm-10 pm on two days, several areas in Delhi-NCR saw crackers going even after midnight.
