Save Aravallis to stop Delhi from becoming world’s pollution Capital: Akhilesh

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said the Aravalli Mountain range have to be protected to stop Delhi-NCR from becoming the “world’s pollution Capital”. Yadav warned that tourism, major international sporting events such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, would become impossible in Delhi if the pollution situation continued.

The Aravallis act as a natural shield for the National Capital Region (NCR) and play a crucial role in reducing air pollution, regulating temperature, aiding rainfall and conserving biodiversity, the SP leader said.

“If the Aravallis survive, the NCR will survive. The Aravallis are essential for protecting the environment and restoring ecological balance,” he said. “It can help revive vanishing wetlands, bring back disappearing birds and even make Delhi’s lost stars visible again,” Yadav said.

The SP chief added that the mountain range forms an emotional, cultural and historical part of Delhi’s heritage. Pollution was having the worst effect on the elderly, the sick and children, he said.

He said the city’s hospitals and medical services are also being affected. “If this situation continues, Delhi will lose its importance as north India’s biggest market and economic centre.”

Warning that international events can’t be held in Delhi, if the situation continued, Yadav said businesses linked to hotels, restaurants, transport and handicrafts would be pushed to the brink.

He further said flight disruptions, delayed trains and unsafe road travel due to pollution would discourage people from visiting the capital, adding that even families would think twice before settling in Delhi.

The SP leader called for a mass movement with the participation of citizens, educational institutions, traders, workers and media organisations to ‘Save Aravalli’. Illegal mining and “unchecked greed for land” were pushing Delhi towards becoming the world’s pollution capital, he said.

“Saving the Aravallis means saving ourselves,” Yadav added.

If the Aravallis survive, the NCR will survive. The Aravallis are essential for protecting the environment and restoring ecological balance

—Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party President