Former IPS-officer Kiran Bedi has sounded an alarm over Delhi’s worsening air pollution, calling it a “public-health emergency.” She argues that governance can’t be “remote-controlled” and urges administrative officials to leave sanitized offices, step onto the smog-filled streets, and witness the crisis firsthand — “stand in dust, breathe the same air” — before taking decisions.

Bedi has appealed directly to Narendra Modi for central intervention and asked for coordinated action across states under a “double-engine” governance model: monthly virtual reviews with state leaders and a unified framework for pollution control.

Her proposed action plan includes:

• Enforcement of national fuel and emissions standards by relevant agencies.
• Coordination by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) for uniform directives across the NCR.
• Daily field visits and real-time supervision by district- and municipal-level officials to manage dust, traffic, waste and industrial pollution.

With Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) lingering in “very poor” or “severe” zones for weeks — endangering health and mobility — Bedi insists a mere blame-game won’t work. What’s needed, she says, is visible leadership, accountability and sustained ground-level action.