Rahul slams Centre over rising air pollution, accuses govt of ‘vote chori'

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has criticised the Centre for targeting citizens protesting against rising air pollution at Delhis India Gate on Sunday asserting that the right to clean air is a fundamental human right and that peaceful demonstrators should not be treated as criminalsIn a post on X on Sunday Gandhi accusing the BJP of vote chori and apathy toward the worsening pollution crisis urged immediate and decisive action to safeguard the health and future of millions of IndiansThe right to clean air is a basic human right The right to peaceful protest is guaranteed by our Constitution Why are citizens who have been peacefully demanding clean air being treated like criminals Air pollution is affecting crores of Indians harming our children and the future of our nation he saidBut the government which came to power through vote chori simply doesnt care nor is it even attempting to solve this crisis We need to take decisive action on air pollution right now instead of attacking citizens asking for clean air the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha saidEarlier on Sunday Delhi Police detained people protesting at India Gate demanding that the government formulate policies to curb air pollution in the National Capital regionNew Delhi district DCP Devesh Kumar Mahla said India Gate is not a protest site The designated protest site in New Delhi is Jantar Mantar as per the Supreme Courts directions That is why we have advised everyone to follow the guidelines At India Gate people come along with their families to enjoy and it is a national monument There are VIP routes here we are deployed here regularlyAAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar alleged that the ruling BJP government got water sprinkled on AQI monitors to lower the readingsKakkar demanded that the government formulate policies to curb air pollution in the DelhiNCR region as she joined the protests at India GateSpeaking to ANI Priyanka Kakkar said The BJP got water to be sprinkled on AQI monitors to lower the readings The BJP is manipulating the data This lowers the BJPs integrity and credibility Even the BJP people should be here with us but they are sitting at home with their air purifiers The BJP needs to understand that the air and water are not a matter of politicsThe air quality in the national capital plunged into the severe category on Sunday with the overall Air Quality Index AQI recorded at 391 at 7 am according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board CPCBSeveral parts of the city registered alarming pollution levels with AQI readings crossing the 400markThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever