Delhi air turned into slow poison on mass scale, says Cong leader

Former MP and Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Saturday warned that the air pollution gripping Delhi and its neighbouring regions had become so severe that it should now be treated as a “collective crime”, with residents effectively losing years of their lives due to governmental failure on basic responsibilities.

Addressing a press briefing at Indira Bhawan, Dikshit said air pollution in the national capital was not a seasonal concern but a year-round public health emergency. He noted that doctors had repeatedly flagged a six- to seven-year reduction in the average resident’s life expectancy owing to toxic air, describing the situation as “slow poisoning on a mass scale”.

He said blaming farmers, weather patterns or population growth was a convenient escape for governments in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The primary causes of pollution—vehicular emissions, a deteriorating public transport system, broken roads, unauthorised industrial units, unchecked waste burning and poor dust-control measures at construction sites—lay squarely within government responsibility, he added.

Despite improvements in vehicle technology, Delhi’s pollution levels continued to rise due to crippling congestion, he said. Average traffic speeds had fallen from 35–40 kmph a decade ago to around 20–23 kmph during the day and nearly 15 kmph in the evenings, resulting in “two-and-a-half times” more emissions per vehicle.

He criticised the decline of Delhi’s public transport system, pointing out that DTC’s daily ridership had dropped from around 40–41 lakh in 2012–13 to nearly 30–32 lakh at present, even as the city’s population increased. “If buses decline and metro expansion stalls, people will have no option but to use private vehicles,” he said.

On unauthorised industries, Dikshit alleged collusion between officials, police and political actors that allowed polluting units using dirty fuels to run openly. He raised concerns over widespread waste burning and the collapse of doorstep waste segregation, questioning why waste-to-energy plants had been allowed to deteriorate despite global evidence in their favour.

Dikshit urged governments to revive metro expansion, strengthen public transport, enforce dust-control norms, act against illegal industries, reinstate waste segregation and incentivise cleaner industrial fuels by reducing taxes on gas.

Welcoming Rahul Gandhi’s recent call for a parliamentary discussion on pollution, he said the crisis required a national approach, a cross-party committee and strong political will. “Governments find money for populism. But when basic infrastructure is ignored, the city becomes unliveable. Delhi has reached that point,” he said.