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India's G20 Sherpa Urges Decisive Action to Tackle Delhi's Pollution Crisis
21 Oct
Summary
- Amitabh Kant criticizes Supreme Court for prioritizing "right to burn crackers" over "right to live and breathe"
- Calls for ending crop/biomass burning, shutting down or modernizing thermal power plants, and switching to electric transport in 5 years
- Delhi's air quality reaches "very poor" levels, worse than previous years
In the wake of Diwali celebrations that left Delhi-NCR gasping under a dense blanket of toxic smog, Amitabh Kant, India's G20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO, has taken aim at the Supreme Court for its decision to ease restrictions on firecrackers. Kant says the court has prioritized the "right to burn crackers" over the "right to live and breathe."
Kant has called for a "unified action plan" to address Delhi's pollution crisis, drawing parallels to cities like Los Angeles, Beijing, and London that have successfully tackled air pollution. He has urged for the immediate end of crop and biomass burning, the shutdown or modernization of thermal power plants and brick kilns, and the complete shift of all transportation services to electric mode within the next 5 years.
According to Kant, Delhi's air quality has reached "very poor" levels, with 36 out of 38 monitoring stations in the "red zone" and PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations breaching safe limits by 15 to 18 times. The pollution levels on Diwali this year were worse than the previous two years, indicating the need for decisive and sustained action to restore the city's blue skies and breathable air.
