Tharoor urges Centre, states to align efforts for clean air solutions

Business Standard

8 hours ago

Batting for concerted action to tackle air pollution, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has called on the Central government and states to work together, alongside experts, industry, civil society and citizens, to align efforts and implement scalable solutions -- from clean transport to cleaner fuels.
Noting that air pollution transcends economic, social and political divides and is both a grave public health crisis and an environmental emergency, Tharoor said it demands not just our best ideas, but our collective courage and concerted action across sectors and states.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP made the remarks at a high-level roundtable on 'Clean Air and Public Health: Advancing Collective Action' at the India Habitat Centre here on Tuesday.
Hosted by Tharoor and convened by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and AirQualityAsia (AQA), the dialogue was the seventh such roundtable since 2017 that brings together India's leading air quality experts, policymakers, health professionals, and civil society actors to deliberate on scalable, cross-sectoral solutions to reduce air pollution and improve public health across cities, towns, and villages.
Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Rao Inderjit Singh, said in his inaugural address that clean air is a national imperative that needed to be addressed.
"Platforms like this bring together sharper minds and practical ideas that can help us in the government in taking tangible steps forward. I look forward to the insights from today's discussion contributing to initiatives like the National Clean Air Programme and beyond," he said.
In his opening address, Tharoor said the evidence is stark as nearly 70 per cent of our population -- around 980 million people -- are breathing air that fails to meet even "our own national standards" (as of 2023).
"Delhi may have recorded its cleanest July in a decade, but just last winter, it suffered its worst air quality in four years. The Central government and states must work together, alongside experts,industry, civil society, and citizens, to align our efforts and implement scalable solutions -- from clean transport to cleaner fuels," Tharoor said.
"If we can sustain this momentum, we can turn the aspiration for clean air into a lasting reality," he added.
The roundtable brought together MPs representing diverse states, including Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT), Sudhanshu Trivedi (BJP) Sasmit Patra (BJD), Vivek Tankha (Congress), Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu (TDP), P P Chaudhary (BJP) and Naveen Jindal (BJP), among others.
Arunabha Ghosh, founder-CEO of CEEW and member, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), said, "Air pollution is a liability, but clean air is an economic asset. It improves worker productivity, educational outcomes, talent attraction to our cities, and even foreign investment." "The more we see clean air as an economic driver -- not just an environmental goal -- the faster we can bring in the full force of government, industry, and civil society. This isn't just about regulators or ministries -- it's about all of us.
"We must bridge the gap between being economic agents by day and citizens by night. Clean air must become a shared, national priority," Ghosh said.
Soumya Swaminathan, chairperson of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, said air pollution is the number one health risk in India today -- linked not just to asthma and lung disease but also to diabetes, heart attacks, dementia, and poor brain development in children.
"The health ministry faces the consequences, but the responsibility lies across all ministries. Clean air must be seen not as a cost but as a public good and an investment in the health of current and future generations," she said.
The dialogue proposed coordinated actions such as establishing a council of state environment ministers to drive inter-state collaboration and strengthen environmental federalism.
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