Delhites should vote wisely; our children’s health and future depend on it: Bhavreen Kandhari

Bhavreen Malhotra Kandhari

Delhi is voting today on May 25, 2024, in the penultimate phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections. The city has contributed a generous amount to newsprint and airwaves in recent years as far as India’s environmental scene goes. It experiences smog every autumn and winter. Its local river is an infamous drain while also being sacred to millions. It experiences water scarcity in summer. Its last patch of forest, famous for centuries, is now on the verge of obliteration.

Does the environment figure on the list of issues which will influence Delhi voter choices today? Down To Earth  spoke to Bhavreen Malhotra Kandhari, founder of Warrior Moms, a coalition of women fighting for their children’s right to breathe clean air. Kandhari has highlighted the plight of children growing up in the Indian capital, one of the most polluted cities globally.

Kandhari outlined the issues that should guide Delhites as they vote. Edited excerpts:

Rajat Ghai (RG): Why should Delhites especially make sure to vote on environmental issues?

Bhavreen Kandhari (BK): Delhi is battling a relentless crisis of air pollution, a reality that plagues the city year-round and intensifies into a hazardous smog during the winter months, transforming the National Capital into a gas chamber.

Compounding these environmental stress is the Yamuna river. Along its 22-kilometre stretch through Delhi from Wazirabad to Okhla, it has become the most polluted river in India. It resembles a toxic drain.

Quite ironically, as the country is voting in the general elections, Delhi’s residents suffered through four straight days of “poor” air quality, mostly due to pervasive dust.

And the blame for this environmental plight is to be squarely put on the alarming rate of deforestation: five trees are being felled every hour with official permissions. The last green lungs of Delhi, the Ridge and the Aravallis, are now under serious threat, jeopardising millions of “lungs”.

These combined challenges call for Delhites to demand immediate and sustained action to protect and restore Delhi’s environment.

RG: Have candidates standing for election included green issues in their electoral promises?

BK: Both major parties have included environmental issues in their manifestos, but they are relegated to the bottom of their agendas. This is concerning, given the urgent air pollution and climate crises, with India hosting 83 of the world’s 100 most polluted cities. Although the manifestos do outline ambitious environmental plans, the real challenge will be their execution and enforcement.

Notably, the Indian National Congress manifesto stresses on forest, climate change, and green energy. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s manifesto, on the other hand, focuses more on solar energy and river ecosystems.

However, critical areas like air quality, wildlife, and wetlands receive insufficient attention from both parties. As far as the candidates are concerned, sadly we haven’t seen anyone speak on any environmental issue unless they have been prompted to in meetings.

RG: Which green issues in Delhi especially need political attention for a solution, in your view?

BK: For a city that’s choking, clean air has to be a priority. Air pollution is the biggest threat to our children’s health and lives. Nothing is more vital to life than breathing. Therefore, be it working on construction dust, vehicular emissions, waste management, protecting biodiversity and trees, control on burning biomass or crackers or controlling industrial pollution in and around Delhi, it is critical to work on every source of emission.

RG: Will it all really make a difference? So far, we see air pollution recurring in Delhi-NCR every Diwali, water scarcity and landfills catching fire every summer.

BK: Addressing these persistent issues requires more than just promises; it demands sound policies and their rigorous implementation. Without strict enforcement and a genuine commitment to environmental governance, air pollution, water scarcity, and landfill fires will continue to plague Delhi-NCR. The focus must shift from mere rhetoric to tangible, sustained action and efforts.

RG: What is your appeal to Delhites as they go out to vote?

BK: As Warrior Moms, we have been appealing to our fellow citizens to demand clean air from political candidates whenever we have the chance. This election period, which comes only once every five years, is a unique opportunity for us to hold politicians accountable. We must question them and have them sign a ‘pledge for clean air’. If we don’t demand it, environmental concerns will never make it onto the electoral agenda, and we won’t achieve the change that we are seeking. So, demand action, seek the pledge, and vote wisely—our children’s health and future depend on it.

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