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Guest Column| An open letter to fight air pollution
Air pollution affects every resident, regardless of political affiliation, income, or age. We are not demanding instant solutions; we are asking you to live up to the trust placed in you, by engaging directly with those you represent during a public health crisis.
This is an open letter to all members of Parliament, elected representatives of Delhi and the municipal corporators representing the National Capital Region on the urgent need for public town halls to fight air pollution.
We vividly recall most of you appealing to us for our votes — asking us to bring you to power, and assuring us of good governance, responsiveness, transparency and accountability. It is in that context and with hope that we write to you today.
We wish to ask whether, in the face of a challenge as serious and pervasive as air pollution, you as our representatives remaining distant and largely inaccessible to the people consistent with those assurances? Does a public health crisis of this magnitude not require elected representatives to connect directly with the citizens they were elected to represent, to hear them, and to be heard?
Air pollution in Delhi and the National Capital Region has become a persistent public health emergency. Children are missing school, outdoor play, and opportunities essential for their physical and mental development. Elderly citizens and those with health vulnerabilities are increasingly confined indoors. Outdoor life, once an ordinary part of daily living, has been severely diminished.
Medical professionals and health institutions continue to issue repeated warnings of rising respiratory and cardiovascular illness, increased hospital admissions, and long-term risks to life expectancy. These are not abstract concerns; they are lived realities for millions of residents.
Two-way interaction
Yet, despite the gravity of this situation, engagement from elected representatives remains largely one-directional. Citizens hear press statements, policy announcements, TV debates from spokespersons, and social media messaging. What is missing is direct, two-way interaction — where people can ask questions, share lived experiences, and understand the reasoning, constraints, and timelines behind policy decisions.
At a time like this, citizens do not only need plans released; they need their representatives to be accessible, to listen, and to engage openly and explain the situation and seek cooperation, too. Our request is simple and reasonable. We call upon all elected representatives, from MPs to members of legislative assemblies, and corporators, to hold regular public town hall meetings focused on air pollution and public health.
At the very least, we ask that you:
1. Make yourselves accessible through periodic constituency-level town halls.
2. Hear citizens directly, including parents, elderly residents, students, and health professionals.
3. Share your plans, constraints, and timelines openly, rather than only through media statements.
4. Use online town halls wherever physical meetings are difficult, so that no section of the public is excluded. If in-person meetings pose logistical challenges, virtual engagement is not optional, it is the minimum democratic expectation.
Act of good governance
This appeal is non-partisan. Air pollution affects every resident, regardless of political affiliation, income, or age. We are not demanding instant solutions; we are asking you to live up to the trust placed in you, by engaging directly with those you represent during a public health crisis. Representative democracy does not end at elections. It requires continued dialogue, especially when citizens’ health, mobility, education, and quality of life are under threat.
We urge you to respond to this appeal by committing publicly to regular, issue-based town hall meetings. At a moment when people feel unheard and confined, being present and accessible is the first act of good governance.
--We, the concerned citizens (From a large group on social media belonging to Delhi and the region).
The writer, India’s first woman IPS officer, is a former Lt Governor of Puducherry. Views expressed are personal. She can be reached at kiranbedioffice@gmail.com
