At a time when thick, hazardous smog enveloped Delhi and its residents protested for their right to breathe clean air, India's Parliament remained conspicuously silent on the urgent issue of air pollution. This failure occurred even as lawmakers passionately debated the national song, Vande Mataram, which is replete with vivid imagery celebrating the country's natural bounty.
A Stark Irony: Celebrating Nature While Choking on Smog
The Winter Session of Parliament, which concluded recently, witnessed a significant debate around Vande Mataram, commemorating its 150th anniversary. The song's verses, like "Sujalam suphalam" (with flowing water and fruits), paint a picture of a fertile, life-giving motherland. However, outside the halls of Sansad Bhavan, the reality for Delhi's citizens was one of dangerous air quality levels, with particulate matter (PM) 2.5 concentrations soaring.
While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) framed the discussion as a necessary historical clarification, the opposition, led by the Congress, questioned the allocation of parliamentary time for this exercise. Throughout the session, mentions of the toxic air crisis were few and far between, failing to spark any substantive discussion or push for accountability from environmental authorities.
The Unasked Questions of Environmental Accountability
Parliamentarians missed a critical opportunity to interrogate the systemic failures plaguing India's environmental governance. The session could have been a platform to ask pressing questions that citizens and experts have been raising for years.
Why are State Pollution Control Boards (PCBs) across the country critically understaffed and under-resourced? This chronic issue severely hampers enforcement and monitoring capabilities.
Why is there a lack of adequate air quality monitoring stations, even in the National Capital Region? Accurate, hyper-local data is the first step toward effective action.
As reported by The Indian Express, why do numerous thermal power plants in the Delhi vicinity continue to operate without mandatory Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) systems, crucial for curbing sulphur dioxide emissions?
What concrete steps are needed to move the policy on electric vehicles from paper to meaningful, on-ground implementation?
Postponing answers to these questions not only exacerbates the health risks for the current generation but also jeopardizes the fundamental right of future generations to a clean environment—a right the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld as integral to the Right to Life under Article 21.
The Health Crisis and a Development Paradox
The gravity of India's air pollution crisis is well-documented. A 2024 report in The Lancet concluded that not a single person in India lives in an area where the annual average PM2.5 concentration meets the World Health Organization's (WHO) safe guidelines. The public health implications are staggering, linked to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular problems, and reduced life expectancy.
This crisis presents a direct challenge to India's development ambitions. As journalist Kaushik Das Gupta pointed out in the original opinion piece, building a 'Viksit Bharat' (Developed India) is incompatible with a population that is chronically ill from breathing poisoned air. The protests in Delhi and the ongoing agitation to protect the ecologically sensitive Aravalli hills underscore that ecological well-being is now a central public demand.
While Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has reportedly issued an ultimatum to Delhi's authorities to improve the Air Quality Index (AQI), such emergency measures offer only temporary respite. The capital's residents are all too familiar with this cycle of crisis and short-term response.
The silence of Parliament during a public health emergency raises a disturbing question: Has the severity of the air pollution crisis failed to register with the nation's highest decision-making body? When Parliament reconvenes, it must course-correct and provide a platform for the growing public voice demanding clean air and accountable environmental governance. The inspiration should come not just from the verses of Vande Mataram, but from the urgent need to make its vision of a green and healthy nation a reality.
