Rahul Gandhi on Friday sought a discussion on the issue of air pollution in Lok Sabha. The Leader of the Opposition said said cities across the country were living under a blanket of poisonous air and it was important for the government to develop a plan to get rid of air pollution in cities.
He said both the opposition and the treasury benches can show the country that they can work together on something that is critical. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government was ready for a discussion on the issue and the Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha can allot time for the same.
In a related developed, flagging vehicular pollution as one of the most significant contributors to Delhi-NCR’s persistently poor air quality, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has constituted a 15-member expert committee to recommend a robust, multi-pronged roadmap for emission reduction in the vehicular sector.
Ashok Jhunjhunwala from IIT-Madras will chair the expert committee with former AIIMS director Randeep Guleria as co-chair. According to the CAQM, the committee has been given a timeline of two months to submit its recommendations. The first meeting of the expert committee is scheduled for December 15. Also a Parliamentary panel on Friday asked the Centre to come up with the updated India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards “at the earliest”, noting that the standards were last revised in 2009.
