DMK Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson intensified criticism of the capital’s worsening air pollution on Wednesday, calling Delhi a “gas chamber” and urging the government to avoid holding the Parliament’s winter session during the peak smog period. Speaking during a discussion on extending the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024, to Manipur, he said the situation had escalated beyond a statutory concern and should now be treated as a “national emergency.”
Wilson pointed out that Delhi had not recorded a single day in 2025 that met the World Health Organisation’s safe air-quality benchmark, claiming that residents were losing more than eight years of life expectancy due to chronic exposure to pollution. While stubble burning remains a seasonal trigger, he argued that vehicular emissions were the “single largest culprit” behind the city’s toxic air.
The MP also linked the crisis to what he described as the “over-centralisation” of governance in Delhi. He questioned the need for every ministry and statutory body to function from the capital and suggested the redistribution of central institutions across various states to reduce Delhi’s administrative and population burden. He urged the creation of regional benches of the Supreme Court in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata as part of a broader decentralisation plan.
Wilson said the government should reconsider the timing of the winter session and restructure the parliamentary calendar so sittings do not coincide with periods of severe pollution. He emphasised that there is no constitutional clause requiring all constitutional bodies to sit exclusively in Delhi.
Delhi’s Air Quality Index stood at 335 on Wednesday morning, marking a return to the “very poor” category for the second straight day. After a temporary improvement over Sunday and Monday, smog levels surged again on Tuesday, reinforcing his call to “decongest Delhi and allow citizens to breathe clean air.”
