BJD Rajya Sabha MP Manas Ranjan Mangaraj on Thursday urged the government to relocate Parliament’s Winter and Budget sessions outside Delhi until the capital’s air quality improves, calling the annual pollution crisis a “man-made disaster.”

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Mangaraj said that, coming from Odisha, a state known for its swift disaster response , he recognised a genuine crisis when he saw one. Delhi’s air pollution, he argued, required similar urgency.

He said MPs, parliamentary staff, drivers, sanitation workers and security personnel were being exposed to toxic air daily, adding that Parliament “cannot pretend this is normal.”

Mangaraj proposed several cities with cleaner air and adequate infrastructure as possible venues, including Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Gandhinagar, Bengaluru, Goa and Dehradun.

“This is not about politics. This is about life and dignity,” he said, urging the government to begin consultations on rotating parliamentary sessions to safer cities during the winter months.