What is the way out of a polluted Delhi? If you go by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MP A. Navaneethakrishnan’s view, the Parliament’s sessions should be moved to south India because Delhi has turned into gas chamber.
“Everyone is living in fear in Delhi. It has become a gas chamber and is no longer fit for human inhabitation,” Mr. Navaneethakrishnan said on Thursday during a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the alarming levels of pollution in Delhi.
He said that it is a Constitutional right to have a life free of pollution. “Article 48A of the Constitution says that the state shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment, and safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. Though it is in a chapter of directive principles, thanks to the recent Supreme Court judgment, it is an enforceable right,” he said.
“Subject to the approval of this House, I think the session should be shifted to a southern part of the country, so that our northern friends can enjoy a climate free of pollution. You can enjoy a peaceful and effective session,” he added.
“Any one of the sessions can be held in either Nagpur, Bengaluru or Chennai. It is good for national integration, too,” he added.
Replying to the debate, Environment Minister Harshvardhan said the government is promoting research and studies to generate data from “our own sources”. “There may be [some] design behind highly inflated data. There are people with half-baked understanding of environmental health making unsubstantiated and unscientific claims to create sensation and scare among the public, which may or may not true. Only science can tell us,” he said.
