New Delhi: BJP MP Hema Malini had been among the 25 MPs who skipped a crucial Parliamentary Committee meeting on air pollution earlier this week, even as Delhi was in the throes of a hazardous smog.
The uproar that resulted seemed to have little effect on the Members of the House, as a scheduled Lok Sabha debate on the topic saw dismal attendance.
Reacting to why the MPs have been missing out on these crucial debates, Hema Malini told news outlet ANI, "Maybe the reason is that those who are connected and living here are participating, but those from other places like Bombay the problem isn't as much. So they aren't taking as much interest. I have no idea."
Hema Malini and 21 other Lok Sabha members, including BJP's Gautam Gambhir who was severely criticised over his absence, are on the Urban Development Parliamentary Committee. The committee has been working on a host of urban issues including those related to the environment like waste management, air pollution, and the depreciating water tables.
The drastically falling air quality, in particular, came to be at center of major political slugfest as AQI-levels breached the 500 mark across several parts of North India, including the national capital. In Mathura too, where Hema Malini is the elected representative the AQI rose to over 170.
"We have to really work hard. I think everyone will be present now, we are serious about it," Malini said after agreeing to the gravity of the issue.
Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla had pulled up officials from the DDA, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and those representing the city municipal corporations for skipping the meeting after the head of the panel, BJP's Jagdambika Pal, had expressed his displeasure.
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