As Delhi struggles with polluted air, a Parliamentary committee has decided to drop the key issue of air pollution in NCR from the agenda of its November 17 meeting, prompting a Congress member to raise strong objections with the panel chairperson.
The Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs had earlier decided to hear the views of the Ministry of Home Affairs and agencies concerned on the issue and hold a discussion.
The panel circulated the agenda for the meeting, which included the air pollution issue, among its members on November 5, but dropped the topic from its revised agenda.
Congress member Ajay Maken has raised strong objections to the omission of the air pollution issue and has written to the committee chairperson, Radha Mohan Das Agrawal.
Agrawal, when contacted, said he was not aware of the letter by Ajay Maken.
“I am ignorant of the letter,” he told PTI when asked about Maken’s letter to him.
On why the pollution issue was dropped in the revised agenda, Agrawal said he does not discuss issues relating to the Committee meetings in public.
The earlier agenda for the panel meeting stated, “To hear the views of Ministry of Home Affairs and concerned agencies on the subject ‘Air pollution in Delhi-NCR: Enforcement of Regulatory measures, effective implementation of GRAP measures, protection of vulnerable sections and coordination among law enforcement and government agencies.”
The amended agenda has omitted the air pollution issue and will now only hear the views of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways as well as the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on the issue of “drug trafficking and narcotics control: Emerging threats and institutional response”.
“I wish to register my objection to the omission of the air-pollution hearing from the revised agenda for 17 November 2026. Given the urgency of the health risks, I request that this change be reconsidered and the hearing restored to that date,” Maken said in his letter to Agrawal.
“I therefore request restoration of the air-pollution hearing on 17 November. If restoration is not possible, please fix and communicate the earliest firm alternative date, together with the reason for the change. I would be grateful for a response before the scheduled meeting,” the Congress MP said.
Maken said he had requested examination of air pollution in his letter of November 2 and thanked the committee chairperson for including the subject in its programme for 2026-27, as published in Bulletin Part II dated November 6, No. 66837 as item 13.
“The original public notice dated 5 November scheduled the hearing with the Ministry of Home Affairs and concerned agencies for 17 November at 2 p.m. The revised public notice dated 6 November omits that hearing. It gives no reason for this change,” he said in his letter to the panel chairperson.
Maken demanded that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs restore its hearing on air pollution.
“The official meeting schedule, read at 12:56 IST on 10 November, lists sittings on 16 and 17 November with no air-pollution item on either day, and no new date has been notified,” he said.
Maken said Delhi’s air-pollution crisis must be treated as a public-health emergency.
“A reading of 500 is a ceiling and not the actual reading, because CPCB’s index is capped at 500. CPCB’s own calculator has severe-band formulas that run on above 500, but a display cap reduces every result above 500 to 500.
“A station is held at 500 once its 24-hour PM2.5 passes 380 micrograms per cubic metre, or its 24-hour PM10 passes 510. At a PM2.5 of 600, CPCB’s formula gives about 669.2, and the index shows 500,” he said.
Protection of vulnerable people, effective enforcement and coordination among agencies require urgent attention, he said, adding that these matters are already within the Committee’s selected subject.
“A prompt hearing would allow the Committee to examine what the responsible agencies are doing, whether implementation is falling short and what immediate corrective action is needed.
“Air pollution remains in the published annual programme. My concern is specifically the removal of the scheduled November 17 hearing at a time when these health risks demand timely scrutiny. Its omission requires an explanation and a definite date for examination,” he said in his letter to Agrawal.
