Urging the people of Delhi to make a collective effort by using public transport at least one day every month, MrMaken said: “If every citizen took a pledge not to use private vehicles at least one day every month, it will go a long way in purifying the air quality in the capital, as road transport is a major of source of air pollution in Delhi.”

Many city Congress leaders left their personal vehicles behind and joined MrMaken to travel by the Delhi Metro to mark the World Environment Day. After alighting at the Mandi House Metro station, MrMaken and others walked to the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office nearly a kilometre away.

DPCC chief spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee also travelled by Metro with MrMaken. “People should reduce the use of private vehicles, and use public transport like Metro, low-floor CNG buses, CNG autos, cycles etc. at least one day every month, which will bring down air pollution and make the air quality in Delhi clean and green,” she said.

The Congress leaders also appealed to the BJP-led Central government and the AAP government in Delhi to take stringent measures to clean up pollution in Delhi, as the ever increasing number of vehicles on Delhi roads were one of the main causes of the worsening quality of air in Delhi.

MrMaken said that he has written a detailed letter to the Delhi CM explaining the causes for the high air pollution, and urged him to take urgent steps to check air pollution in the capital.

Studies, including one by the World Health Organisation, have established that Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the country, and unless urgent steps were taken to weed out air pollution, life in Delhi would become intolerable, he added.

MrMaken also said unless the Delhi government restricts the number of vehicles on the Delhi roads, and insist on the use of clean and green fuel, air pollution will become beyond control as already pollution has become a major source for life-threatening diseases.