48 MLAs from 25 assembly constituency pledge for clean air

New Delhi: After weeks of campaigning and community engagement, the Dilli Dhadakne Do campaign has successfully engaged lakhs of Delhiites around the city: election candidates, voters and citizen groups. With the Delhi elections coming in a few days, this is a critical week for voters to make their voices heard. 
 
What started with a Clean Air Manifesto has now turned into a citizen-led movement to petition election candidates to work for clean air. Citizens of Delhi visited 30 different locations to speak to people about their experiences with pollution, to share information and their own stories, and to ask people to ‘vote’ symbolically, for a Delhi with clean air. The ballot boxes used for this event have been stacked into an artistic installation, to show the magnitude of the support for the movement. We shared with them our Clean Air Manifesto, prepared by citizens groups, with 9 solutions for a less polluted city. Through tireless outreach and community interaction, we collected 1.9 lakh votes for clean air from 30 constituencies. These votes included sanitation workers, rickshaw drivers, young mothers, RWA members: citizens from all over the city who are tired of living in a city with toxic air, and tired of the lack of solutions from the government. The citizens of Delhi have come up with the solutions, and have voted for them, and it is time for their representatives to listen. 
 
In 48 different constituencies, 48 different political leaders from the AAP, BJP and Congress parties pledged to work for clean air. Citizens of Delhi started conversations with their political leaders through community-led townhalls in over 48 constituencies. These townhalls were attended by representatives from all the major parties, who talked about their commitment to air quality solutions. In our outreach activities of seeking commitments and signing pledges, around 48 candidates of 25 assembly seats across all parties supported our initiative. Chief signatories among them are Krishana Tirath, Sandeep Tanwar and Shivani Chopra from Congress, Vikram Bidhuri, Anil Sharma, from BJP, Raghav Chadda, Parveen Kumar and Sourabh Bhardwaj from AAP.
 
“For the BJP, air pollution is a priority. We have already started with the smog towers in the city. Logon ko saaf hawa, saaf pani, saaf road, saaf nali, this is our promise” , said the BJP candidate in Vikaspuri. The Congress candidate from Mangolpuri, Rajesh Lilothia urged people to take up the cause: “This campaign that you have run, Dilli Dhadakne Do is a worthwhile cause, and an important one. You have my full support for working on clean air, and I urge my Congress colleagues to support this cause in their constituencies.” 
 
During the launch of the Clean Air Manifesto in January, Ghanendra Bharadwaj of AAP said “We don’t blame farmers, we blame governments for inaction. We have made all efforts to curb pollution in our territory and have decreased pollution by 25%. If this year we are elected, we intend to reduce air pollution and fulfil our promises made to the people of Delhi.” 
 
With the increased public pressure and media attention on air pollution this year, all three major parties have included air pollution as one of their key points in the party manifestos. Congress has pledged to use 25% of their annual budget to work on Delhi’s air, bringing in 15,000 electric buses. They have also committed to zero waste from government and private offices, and a fund for stubble-to-energy technologies. The BJP has focused on their network of air purifiers and public transport. They will be promoting electric vehicles and solar energy as an alternative to coal thermal power plants. AAP’s manifesto promises to plant crores of trees in the city, tackle the pollution from the Yamuna and reduce the overall level of emissions in the city. 
 
With these party manifestos showcasing air pollution for the first time, and with the Union Budget dedicating Rs. 4,400 crores to air pollution for cities around the country, it looks like the city and country are finally ready to tackle Delhi’s air pollution crisis.