New Delhi, Dec 4 (UNI) Congress MP Manish Tewari on Thursday submitted an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha seeking immediate suspension of Question Hour, Zero, and all scheduled business to discuss what he described as a “catastrophic air pollution crisis” engulfing Delhi-NCR and the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
In his letter to the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, Tewari warned that toxic air had turned the region into “lethal gas chambers”, triggering a national public health emergency of an unprecedented scale.
He noted that residents of Delhi-NCR stand to lose up to seven years of life expectancy. He added that doctors from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and the Lung Care Foundation have reported a sharp rise in lung cancer cases among non-smokers.
“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, stressing that millions of Indians are being robbed of years of their lives.
The Congress MP said that Indian cities now dominate global lists of the world’s most polluted, with pollution levels rising by over 70 percent in recent years. He argued that the crisis was no longer a seasonal phenomenon but a “continuing calamity” that demands urgent, coordinated intervention by both Central and State governments.
Urging the House to act without delay, Tewari called for all other business to be set aside to address what he termed a “life-and-death emergency”.
