NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha MP from Chandigarh, Manish Tewari, on Thursday gave a notice to adjourn all proceedings of the House to discuss the growing air pollution challenge.
“I move that this House do suspend Question Hour, Zero Hour, and all other listed business of the day to take up an urgent matter of grave public importance, the catastrophic air pollution crisis that has transformed Delhi-NCR and the entire Indo-Gangetic Plain into lethal gas chambers and is triggering a national public health emergency of unprecedented scale,” Tewari said in his notice to the Lok Sabha Secretary General.
He warned that toxic air is now robbing millions of Indian citizens of years of their lives.
“Residents of this region stand to lose up to seven years of life expectancy. Medical experts from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and the Lung Care Foundation report a sharp surge in lung cancer among non-smokers. Children are suffering irreversible damage to lungs and brains, the elderly are struggling to breathe, and people of all ages face skyrocketing risks of asthma, pneumonia, heart attacks, and strokes,” he said.
Tewari added that with Indian cities dominating global lists of the most polluted, and pollution levels having risen over 70% in recent years, this is no longer a seasonal haze but a continuing calamity demanding immediate, coordinated, and decisive action by Central and State Governments.
“I urge the House to suspend all other business and discuss this life-and-death emergency without further delay,” he said.
In the Rajya Sabha, Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan gave a similar notice, demanding suspension of business to take up the discussion on pollution as a public health emergency.