Former IPS officer and ex-Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi launched a scathing critique of the administrative handling of the Delhi-NCR pollution crisis on Saturday, urging government officials to abandon their “sanitised” offices and experience the smog-filled streets firsthand. Describing the capital’s worsening air as a “public-health emergency,” Bedi took to X to demand immediate, visible, and coordinated action.
“Governance can’t be remote-controlled… It must stand in the dust, breathe the same air, and act with urgency,” she wrote.
Bedi’s strong remarks follow her direct public appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally intervene and direct multi-state efforts to quell the pollution. She evoked her experience working under him, noting, “Sir please forgive me for pleading again. But I have seen your very effective Zoom sessions during my time in Puducherry. How you got every body to deliver and perform time bound in several national challenges.”
Call for Field-First Governance
The core of Bedi’s criticism is the perceived lack of on-ground leadership. She emphasized that the air crisis is not an accident but “the outcome of decades without true coordination in governance.”
Key points from her “field-first” blueprint:
- Mandatory Field Presence: “Cardinal Rule is to come out daily from sanitised enclosures. And walk the streets. (Not drive)… Every walk will compel expeditious action.”
- Visible Coordination: She stressed the need for “the visible presence of key coordinators — leaders who step out from behind conference tables and into the open” to “see, feel and correct” conditions on the ground.
- Systemic Accountability: Bedi outlined a multi-agency responsibility plan:
- MoEFCC to enforce national standards.
- CAQM to ensure uniform NCR-wide directives.
- PMO to align key ministries.
- State CMs/CSs/DGPs to drive enforcement.
- District Magistrates to lead daily field execution.
- Municipal bodies, police, and pollution boards to manage compliance.
Air Quality Remains ‘Very Poor’
Bedi’s comments came as Delhi continued to breathe “very poor” air on Saturday, recording an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 338 (as per CPCB data). The capital has struggled with AQI in the ‘Very Poor’ or ‘Severe’ categories for over two weeks, with forecasts showing no immediate improvement. The prolonged crisis has raised questions about the efficacy of existing measures, particularly after the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) revoked Stage 3 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) earlier this week.