As toxic air continued to blanket Delhi-NCR, activists gathered at Jantar Mantar to protest the governments’ continued failure to confront the crisis.

The protest was organised by Scientists for Change, a collective of science students. It was also backed by student organisations such as Progressive Artists League and DISHA.

The demonstration saw participants distribute a memorandum listing 11 demands. These included declaring a public health emergency, implementing a long-term pollution control plan, halting construction and movement of polluting vehicles during severe smog, expanding public transport, enforcing stricter action against industries violating norms, and providing free health check-ups for pollution-related illnesses. The memorandum also called for a complete ban on firecrackers, large-scale tree plantation drives, closure of schools and offices during hazardous air quality periods, and the creation of a joint committee of experts, government representatives, and citizens to monitor air pollution.

These included declaring a public health emergency, implementing a long-term pollution control plan, halting construction and movement of polluting vehicles during severe smog, expanding public transport, enforcing stricter action against industries violating norms, and providing free health check-ups for pollution-related illnesses. The memorandum also called for a complete ban on firecrackers, large-scale tree plantation drives, closure of schools and offices during hazardous air quality periods, and the creation of a joint committee of experts, government representatives, and citizens to monitor air pollution.

Vishal, one of the activists present, told Newslaundry, “Firecrackers were directly responsible for the peak that was observed during and after Diwali. This is a clear method of BJP-RSS politics – taking up non-issues unrelated to people’s lives or religious beliefs to distract from real concerns…Of the 17,188 people who died from pollution in 2023, weren’t a large part of them Hindus?”

Due to a lack of police permission, protestors were asked to disperse about an hour after entering the Jantar Mantar site. Another protest has been planned on November 9 at India Gate to demand greater accountability from both the Delhi and central governments.

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