Why are we becoming 'vishwaguru' in air pollution: Kharge targets Modi govt

New Delhi: Amid rising air pollution in the national capital, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday targeted the BJP government at the Centre, asking why Delhi was becoming a 'vishwaguru' in air pollution and whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dare to give the nation "Hawa Ka Hisaab".

Delhi is battling rising pollution levels after Diwali, with stubble burning in neighbouring states contributing to the deterioration.

Kharge also accused the Modi government of taking piecemeal measures to tackle the issue of pollution.


"Why are we becoming a 'Vishwaguru' in air pollution? Piecemeal measures, PR stunts, broken promises and blame games have become the hallmark of the BJP," Kharge said in a post on X.

"Clean air is a fundamental right, not a privilege to be granted by the Government," he said in his post.

Last year, water tankers were spraying around AQI monitoring stations amid allegations of 'washing away' the pollution figures. But, this year, as pollution peaked, PM2.5 readings simply vanished from 36 of Delhi's 59 monitoring stations, he claimed.

"In the last 12 years PM Narendra Modi has only done lip-service to the issue of air pollution. On 8 May 2019, PM Modi had identified it as a "major challenge", but his Government has done nothing on that front! From Delhi-NCR to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, people are gasping for clean air," the Congress chief said.

"Will Modi ji dare to give the nation 'Hawa Ka Hisaab'?" Kharge asked.

"The facts are as alarming as they are shameful: 17,188 deaths in Delhi were estimated to be attributable to particulate air pollution in 2023 -nearly 15% of all deaths (GBD/CREA; all ages). 1,69,400 children under five died from air-pollution-related causes across India in 2021 (State of Global Air 2024). Research also links PM2.5 exposure with impaired lung development and elevated child mortality risks, particularly across northern states.

"Rs 1,154 crore - nearly 60 per cent of Delhi's environmental compensation collections - remained unspent, according to a September 2026 RTI response. Delhi utilised merely 17 per cent of its National Clean Air Programme funds released through December 2025," he said in his post.

Kharge said the Supreme Court has given BJP-ruled Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan two weeks to submit detailed responses and proposed measures to tackle the pollution crisis.

"Year after year, particularly from October to February, the same toxic haze returns, accompanied by the same assurances and the same finger-pointing. Spend the funds. Cut emissions. Enforce the rules," the Congress president asserted.