New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, February 1 said pollution is no longer just an environmental issue but a national health emergency, and asserted that Parliament must discuss it as well as the government must act.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha also said that the Union Budget must put real resources behind real solutions.

Gandhi said over the last few days, he has read thousands of messages from Indians about what pollution is doing to their lives.

“What stood out was fear – fear for children, for parents, for tomorrow – felt by families in cities across India,” Gandhi said in a Facebook post.

“Pollution is no longer just an environmental issue, it is a national health emergency. Parliament must discuss it. The government must act. And this Budget must put real resources behind real solutions. Indians are not asking for reports or rhetoric. They are asking for clean air,” he said.

Gandhi last week had said that people are paying a heavy price for air pollution with their health and the country’s economy, and that children and the elderly are bearing the brunt the most.

In a post on his X account, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha had urged people to speak up against air pollution. He also asked them to write to him, sharing their views on how it has affected crores of Indians.

He had asked people to share the story of “how air pollution has affected you or your loved ones” at https://rahulgandhi.in/awaazbharatki.