When Amitabh Kant, the former CEO of NITI Aayog and the G20 Sherpa for India, posted a video of a “stunning” view from his hotel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he is attending the G20 Leaders’ Summit, he received criticism. He was criticized by many on X (previously Twitter) of neglecting Delhi’s dire air pollution situation.
This is a breathtaking view from the Hotel Nacional, where I’m staying for the G20 Leaders conference in Rio. With a video of the stunning landscape attached, Kant remarked on X, “It captures the sea, beach, mountains, skyscrapers, and the pavelas in the background.”
His tweet, however, provoked criticism from people who questioned his lack of concern for Delhi’s dangerous air quality, which on Monday had risen to levels 60 times higher than the WHO’s daily recommended limit.
https://x.com/amitabhk87/status/1858307204249444698
When was the last time you saw such bright sky in New Delhi, Mr. Kant? Is it not your responsibility as the chairman of the Planning Commission, or whatever you call it today, to take notice of the dangerous skies in your city? What are you going to do? “Please share,” wrote former army commander Pavan Nair.
“I have great respect for you, Mr. Kant, and you have been an amazing bureaucrat for our country, but somehow this tweet of yours from beautiful Rio just opened all the floodgates of despair, disappointment, and a sense of being helpless in your home city of Delhi for me today,” wrote another user, expressing disappointment.
“While you are away championing (and rightly so) Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam for the world, your Delhi-NCR is condemned as the most polluted city in the world—we wrestled this title from Lahore,” the user said, further denouncing Delhi’s terrible air quality.
The discrepancy was also brought to light by the Congress party’s Kerala account, which said, “The AQI reader in Delhi has gone bananas after exceeding the limit, whereas the AQI in Rio is just 13.
On Monday, Delhi’s air pollution problem became worse as the Air Quality Index (AQI) fell into the “severe-plus” range. The city was covered in a dense layer of haze, which compelled officials to enforce stringent anti-pollution measures and schools to convert to online instruction.
