Include clean air in poll manifestos, political parties urged
Darpan News Desk IANS, 14 Jan, 2022 03:30 PM
Chandigarh, Jan 14 (IANS) In the run up to the assembly polls in Punjab, Clean Air Punjab -- a group of organisations, think tanks and civil society groups along with EcoSikh, on Friday asked all the political parties to include clean air in their poll manifestos.
On behalf of Clean Air Punjab, Gurpreet Singh of the Punjab Development Forum and Director of United Sikhs submitted a dossier containing the recommendations to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Daljit Cheema, AAP legislator Aman Arora and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Bajwa.
"Punjab needs a strong leader who can implement structural reforms and revise policies to improve the air quality of all cities in the state," Gurpreet Singh said.
"Our state wants its leaders to lead by example and present answers to the air pollution crisis, which impacts the health of the people."
He said the generation is being choked by air pollution, which has resulted in a high number of deaths.
According to statistics, Punjab had 41,090 deaths in 2019, accounting for roughly 19 per cent of the state's total mortality.
Indu Aurora, Vice President, Voice of Amritsar, said this was for the first time that all political parties competing against each other were discussing air pollution at length.
"We will hold the new administration accountable for their promises," she said, adding she herself is a witness to the deteriorating air quality in Punjab and it is high time that those who get voted into power should take on the responsibility to ensure that the air "we breathe" is clean and proper checks are implemented to ensure a cleaner future for the next generation.
Clean Air Punjab has been conducting meetings in cities and was successful in ensuring that 2021 was the first time in the state when the air pollution was highlighted through different citizen campaigns across Punjab.
"Citizens of Punjab along with citizen groups, air quality experts and health practitioners have been successful in building a momentum, which has resulted in clean air and its impact on public health becoming a pressing issue for politicians who were earlier oblivious of the air pollution problem. We are now sure they will not be able to ignore it any further," said Anju Chabbra of EcoSikh.
According to global estimates, the air pollution is one of the most serious environmental issues confronting India today, and it is regarded as a major cause of countless deaths.
Punjab has reason to be concerned: the National Clean Air Action Plan lists nine non-attainment or million-plus cities in the state. A city that does not fulfil the Union Environment Ministry's specified air quality requirements is known as a non-attainment city.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday gave a clarion call for the establishment of a truly federal structure in the country, with genuine cultural, political and economic autonomy to states. It also announced to implement a Rs 50,000 per acre crop insurance scheme, besides commitment to revive the pre-2004 pension scheme for government employees.
In order to provide constructed houses to the economically weaker section (EWS) across the state, the Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday approved invitation of applications for allotment of 25,000 houses to be constructed by urban development authorities. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Charanjit Channi here.
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Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned Punjab Police officials against intimidating his party workers at the behest of some local Congress leaders. The former Chief Minister was reacting to reports of Punjab cops stopping PLC workers, who were putting up posters in the Malwa region.
Before the account was restored, a tweet was shared with a URL on PM Modi's timeline which read, "India has officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country."
Though farmers have suspended their agitation and have returned home, the BJP is still treading cautiously and opposition is leaving no chance to attack it on the issue. The farmers have returned to their homes after suspending the 15-month-long agitation, post the government repealing the three farm laws and agreeing to certain demands.
