War of words over air pollution in LS

New Delhi: Despite the capital city recording worst-even air quality index in the recent past, the air pollution issue failed to make most of the lawmakers present in the House during the discussion on Tuesday. When the debate started, most of MPs missed the discussion as of the elected 543 MPs, only over a 100 attended the pollution debate. Most of the MPs who participated in the debate belonged to the opposition parties.

While participating in debate, TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who briefly wore a mask during her speech, said, "When we have a 'Swachh Bharat mission', can't we have a 'Swachh hawa mission?"

"Climate change is affecting the whole planet, and it is a very serious matter. We may be staring at the possibility of mass extinction...Should we not be thinking beyond politics on this issue?," Dastidar said.

Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi also expressed concern over the deteriorating air quality in the national capital and cited the introduction of CNG-powered public transport by the Congress government to tackle the issue.

"We, who live in this capital, notorious now as the world's most polluted city, can recall the difference in air quality when compressed natural gas was introduced in public vehicles," Gandhi said.

Citing the efforts of Beijing in reducing pollution, Congress MP Manish Tewari said, "Some years ago, Beijing had seen high levels of pollution...However, by the end of 2017, PM2.5 levels in Beijing fell by 35 per cent. Most of this happened due to the use of cleaner fuels and industrial restructuring."

Participating in the debate, cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir, who was criticsed for skipping a key meet on pollution, said, "The topic of discussion is something that affects everyone irrespective of our caste, creed, age and religion. It's affecting us while we stand and talk about it in Parliament. It's high time we stop politicising this issue."

Blamed the Delhi government for air pollution, Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said, "The Delhi government should have provided funds for sprinklers which can help in combating pollution.

However, it did not do so. Eventually, the funds came from the Narendra Modi-led central government."

Meanwhile, taking a jibe at the BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said, "When a discussion was going on about a serious issue like pollution, BJP MPs were missing. But the MPs were certainly present in a meeting which was aimed at spreading lies about water."