Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday accused the Delhi and Central governments of not doing enough to prevent rising levels of air pollution in the national Capital.

“We live here (in Delhi), belong here. We need to breathe. Every Indian and Delhiite has the right to breathe. There is a pollution crisis in the country, particularly in Delhi which requires concerted efforts by the central and the state governments,” the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

Tharoor was speaking at the launch of a white paper on air pollution at Delhi Congress headquarters.

He said ensuring breathing of clean air was a ‘fundamental responsibility’ of any government. “Besides, I, in my capacity as an MP, had organised a roundtable on the subject of pollution. After deliberations with experts including director general of AIIMS and activists, I had sent our findings to the environment minister but nothing happened,” Tharoor said.

The white paper has been prepared by the All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC).

Party’s national spokesperson Salman Soz said the two governments should join hands to prepare a long-term plan to combat air pollution in Delhi. “In the white paper, we are not only talking about the problem of air pollution in Delhi, but also giving solutions to this problem,” he said.

Convener of AIPC’s Delhi chapter Aman Panwar said the professionals’ Congress had also filed a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court, seeking directions for the government to subsidize Metro fare.

“The suggestions in the white paper are also part of our PIL through which we are also seeking directions for the government to give time line to procure 16, 000 buses as per the directions of Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA),” he said.