Opposition MPs demanded an urgent debate on Delhi–NCR’s worsening air pollution even as the government prepared to table the Health Security and National Security Cess Bill in the Lok Sabha.
Opposition MPs hold placards reading “Delhi deserves to breathe” and “Don’t choke our future” during a protest over rising air pollution outside Parliament on Thursday. (ANI video grab)
The Winter Session entered a tense fourth day on Thursday, with the Opposition sharpening its attack over spiralling air pollution across Delhi–NCR just as the government prepared to table key financial legislation in the Lok Sabha.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to move the Health Security and National Security Cess Bill, 2025, for consideration and passage. But before the House takes up the Bill, Opposition MPs gathered at Makar Dwar to protest what they call the Centre’s failure to respond to a fast-deepening public health crisis.
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The push for an immediate discussion has intensified, with two Congress MPs, Vijaykumar (Vijay Vasanth) and Manish Tewari, filing separate adjournment notices demanding that the House set aside routine business to confront what they describe as a life-threatening emergency.
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Vijaykumar, in his notice, argued that the national capital had effectively turned into an “open-air gas chamber with crores breathing toxic air that is harming every organ of the body and causing long-term illness, even in children and young adults”.
He urged the government to declare a national public health emergency, restore all air-quality monitoring stations, act against major polluters, and launch a science-driven national clean-air plan.
The MP flagged what he termed “serious lapses” by agencies during peak pollution, claiming that only nine of Delhi’s 37 monitoring stations were functional during Diwali. This, he said, deprived authorities of real-time data precisely when pollution levels were at their worst, a failure that “put citizens’ lives at risk”.
Adding weight to the Opposition campaign, Manish Tewari submitted a separate adjournment motion on Thursday, calling for the suspension of Question Hour, Zero Hour and all listed business. He warned that Delhi–NCR and much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain had transformed into “lethal gas chambers”, creating a public health emergency of “unprecedented scale”.
In his letter to the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, Tewari said residents stand to lose as many as seven years of life expectancy, citing doctors from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and the Lung Care Foundation who have reported a worrying rise in lung cancer cases among non-smokers. Children, he warned, are suffering irreversible lung and brain damage, while the elderly are struggling with basic respiration.
“Children are suffering irreversible damage to their lungs and brains, the elderly are struggling to breathe, and people of all ages face soaring risks of asthma, pneumonia, heart attacks, and strokes,” Tewari said.
The Congress MP argued that the crisis was no longer seasonal but a “continuing calamity”, with Indian cities dominating global pollution rankings and overall levels rising sharply in recent years. He pressed for coordinated action between the Centre and states, insisting Parliament must treat the matter as a “life-and-death emergency”.
Even as the Opposition mounts pressure, routine parliamentary business is lined up. MPs Jugal Kishore and Sanjay Jaiswal are scheduled to present the Seventh Report of the Committee on Estimates (2025–26), covering the implementation of PM-KUSUM and the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana.
Other standing committee reports — including those related to consumer affairs, food distribution, labour, textiles and skill development — are also expected to be tabled during the day by Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Ashok Kumar Rawat, Basavraj Bommai and GM Harish Balayogi.
Away from the pollution debate, the Centre on Wednesday rolled back its directive requiring smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app on all handsets. The order had drawn strong criticism from Opposition parties and civil liberties groups, who flagged privacy and surveillance concerns.
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