They say life imitates art. In the National Capital Region of the Republic of India, it seems to imitate black comedy. If it was not so tragic, it would be funny. In Delhi, when the air quality is declared as “poor” schools re-open and citizens celebrate. Simply because it is not “severe” anymore or no longer in a state of public health emergency, as it was for the better part of last week when nauseous air mostly laden with harmful particles generated by burnt crop residue in Punjab and Haryana filled the space.
But an emergency is no time for hard work for elected representatives. As many as 25 of the 29 MPs in a parliamentary panel attached to the environment ministry failed to show up at a meeting to discuss the issue. The Union environment minister sounded blase about the whole thing as if to give headline writers a cue: ‘Smug About Smog’.
It did not help that the relatively insignificant issue of the odd-even number-based regulation of cars in the capital seemed to be grabbing more political attention than any long-term policy measure to fix the problem that was not occurring for the first time. Inter-state buck-passing and band-aid measures such as temporarily suspending construction activity in Delhi complete the picture.