“I can’t go to the park also?” Shock and sadness competed with each other on the face of my 10-year-old this week. Schools had suddenly moved online, cricket coaching was cancelled, and now the last vestige
of “fun” was also being taken away. The AQI has hovered around 400 in the National Capital Region for some time now. The Government of Delhi has taken the most predictable action by asking primary schools to move online.
Temperature-wise, November–December is the best time for NCR kids to have their sports meets and outdoor activity weeks — all of which had to be halted as AQI levels climbed.
Amid coughs, sniffles and serious visits to paediatricians, parents like me looked towards the Parliament of India for some light at the end of the smoky tunnel. A discussion on pollution was slotted for the last day of the winter session. We were told Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav had come prepared to Parliament on Thursday, the second-last day of the session, to reply to the pollution debate. A notice in the name of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and Bansuri Swaraj was accepted.
Delhi MP Praveen Khandelwal told me what the government was planning. “It won’t happen overnight, but we are all affected, so we are serious about the pollution problem,” he said.
The seriousness, however, went up in smoke within minutes. The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Wednesday afternoon after Shivraj Singh Chouhan gave his reply amid opposition protests.
When asked about the pollution debate, the Speaker said, “All parties were of the opinion that the environment (inside the House) was not conducive to a discussion.” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju blamed the Congress directly. “Congress said pollution is not important and refused discussion,” he alleged. Congress MP Manickam Tagore strongly refuted the charge, but pollution not being a priority became evident as one spoke to MPs.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said pollution could be discussed in the next session, while a non-Congress opposition MP indicated that perhaps the Congress wanted to keep the focus on the G Ram G Bill only. This could be the reason why parties like the TMC too did not push for a pollution debate. They preferred an overnight Parliament dharna on the G Ram G Bill.
The sum total: Delhi and NCR residents may believe pollution is an existential crisis, but Parliament — situated in the national capital — does not appear to be on the same page. Masks, oxygen cylinders, pollution-related soundbites and semantics aside, parliamentarians are not offering much hope that Delhi-NCR parks will echo with laughter, schools with buzzing children, and paediatric clinics without coughing sounds — any time soon.
