By Sulagna Halder
New Delhi, 9 July 2025:
The degrading air quality of Delhi has drawn the sharp warning by different agencies in the country regarding the deteriorating effects on health due to the pollution levels of Delhi. I go to Delhi and stay there two, three days and even as I come there I begin to think when I will go away. I am booking my returns first,” Gadkari said at the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 2.0’ plantation drive at the Noida-Faridabad Airport Road at Gautam Buddha Nagar.
It has been termed as the bHayankar pollution by Gadkari and he cautioned the people that the toxic air is pushing down the life span of the people who live in the capital. He stressed that the media also report that pollution is associated with a ten year decline in life expectancy, and the conditions creating an opportunity to get an infection in three days only are present in the country.
The transport sector, he said is one of the biggest culprits and is estimated to have caused about 40 per cent of pollution and hence his ministry is putting emphasis on mass scale greening activities and encouraging alternative fuels like ethanol etc. NHAI is reusing 80 lakh tones of waste in road works and a large scale bamboo barrier in green highways are hailed by him as well.
Speaking of the proposed Noida International Airport, Gadkari expressed concern that the proposed board will deteriorate the air quality without timely intervention due to fear of the increasing traffic of the vehicles which would further pollute the environment.
He highlighted economic and environmental risks of the excessive fossil fuel imports by India, which are approximately 22 lakh crore per annum and called upon the people to switch to cleaner sources of fuels. He said the issue should be classified as ecology and ethics because it is possible to lessen import of fossil fuels by promoting alternative fuels.
Under a different project, Gadkari declared that a tunnel is going to be constructed between the central Delhi and Gurugram to reduce the traffic flow, which will limit the emission of vehicles.
This vocal criticism by Gadkari highlights aforementioned on growing recognition that the issue of air pollution in Delhi today has reached the point of view concerning the health of the whole population and policy concerns. The government initiative to promote greener fuels, plantation drives and transport infrastructure restructuring with the minister agreeing that the situation is really bad may be a step in the right direction.
But, analysts issue caution that unless it is implemented swiftly and in a unified way, the residents of Delhi can still reel under what Gadkari has termed as an unbearable pollution issue.
