‘No Conclusive Data’? Parliament’s AQI Reply Triggers Outrage
Delhi BJP protests against pollution Image credit The Raisina Hills
Former Home Ministry Secretary Sanjeev Gupta calls a Rajya Sabha reply on air pollution and lung damage “dangerously misleading” and an institutional failure.
By KUMAR VIKRAM
New Delhi, December 22, 2025 — When Parliament speaks on public health, words matter—because policy, perception, and lives depend on them. That is why the Rajya Sabha reply stating there is “no conclusive data establishing a direct correlation” between prolonged hazardous AQI and serious lung conditions has provoked justified outrage.
Responding to an unstarred question on lung fibrosis and loss of lung elasticity among residents of Delhi-NCR, the government’s answer blurred the issue beyond recognition. As former Home Ministry Secretary Sanjeev Gupta points out in a long post on X, the question was not about “lung diseases” in general. It was about two specific, well-documented pathological outcomes linked globally to long-term exposure to PM2.5 and toxic air.
To suggest a lack of conclusive data ignores a substantial body of peer-reviewed international research and findings from government-affiliated medical institutions worldwide. While some forms of lung fibrosis are termed idiopathic, using that nuance to cast doubt on the broader scientific consensus is, at best, careless—and at worst, deceptive.
What makes the reply alarming is its context. Delhi-NCR’s air crisis has already seen obfuscation over AQI standards and measurements. A statement on the floor of Parliament that appears to downplay established health risks signals something more troubling: institutional denial.
Gupta, drawing on decades of senior government experience, calls the reply unprecedented in its dismissiveness toward evidence and human suffering. This is not a clerical error or technical lapse. It is a failure of responsibility.
On an issue that shortens lives silently and steadily, ambiguity is not neutral—it is harmful. Parliament owes citizens clarity, honesty, and urgency. Anything less erodes trust and endangers public health.
(This is an opinion piece. Views are personal)
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