NEW DELHI: Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari flagged Delhi’s worsening air pollution, saying the capital’s toxic air was so severe that he fell ill after spending just two days in the city, while stressing that the transport sector was a major contributor to the problem.“I stay in Delhi for 2 days and get an infection, it is so polluted,” Gadkari on Tuesday said while speaking at the book launch of My Idea of Nation First – Redefining Unalloyed Nationalism.
Linking the capital’s smog to India’s dependence on petrol and diesel, Gadkari said the transport sector alone was responsible for around 40 per cent of Delhi’s pollution. He argued that moving away from fossil fuels towards electric and hydrogen-based mobility was not just an environmental necessity but also a matter of nationalism.“Today, the biggest form of nationalism, Uday ji, is to reduce the country’s imports and increase exports. What situation have we created for ourselves? I can barely stay for two days; I get sick. I got an infection. Why is there pollution everywhere in Delhi? I am the transport minister, and 40 per cent of it is because of us, because of fossil fuels like petrol and diesel,” Gadkari said.The minister questioned India’s continued reliance on imported fossil fuels, saying it imposed a heavy economic and environmental cost. According to Gadkari, the country spends nearly Rs 20 lakh crore every year on fossil fuel imports.“Even today, we are spending Rs 20 lakh crore. What kind of nationalism is this? In this country, we are spending Rs 20 lakh crore on fossil fuels and importing pollution. Can we not create an alternative India?” he said.Gadkari said India already had the capacity to produce cleaner fuel alternatives domestically and pointed to the growing role of farmers in energy production. Recalling earlier discussions on the subject, he said farmers were no longer limited to food production alone.“Sudarshan ji used to tell me many times that the farmer of this country, the annadata, will also become an energy provider, a fuel provider, even an aviation fuel provider. Now all of that has happened. Even vitamins are being made. But no one is ready to trust it,” Gadkari said.Citing advances in clean mobility, the minister said electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles were now economically viable. He claimed that newer technologies were helping reduce both running costs and emissions.“I came here in a car. The world’s first car that runs 100 per cent does not generate 60 per cent electricity. If you compare the cost, on average, this car runs at the equivalent of Rs 25 per litre of petrol. Pollution is zero. Hydrogen is there, we can make it,” he said.Gadkari also pointed to the sharp decline in battery costs over the years as a key factor driving the adoption of electric vehicles. “Electric vehicles have become so popular. When I first spoke about electric vehicles and launched the first one, the lithium battery cost was $150 per kilowatt hour. Now it has come down to $55,” he said.Referring to emerging innovations, he added, “Now sodium technology has arrived. Just yesterday, it came to my house. A boy with a BTech degree developed this technology in five years. Aluminium sheets, which are usually used, are fuel. This is lemon technology.”Gadkari’s remarks came as air quality across Delhi remained in the severe category, with monitoring stations at Anand Vihar recording an AQI of 466, Ashok Vihar 444 and Chandni Chowk 425. Areas around India Gate, Kartavya Path and Rashtrapati Bhavan continued to record very poor air quality.In response to the deteriorating situation, the Commission for Air Quality Management invoked Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan across Delhi NCR, including measures such as the deployment of truck-mounted water sprinklers to control dust and particulate pollution.
