GENEVA, Switzerland — Senior ministers and government representatives were conspicuous by their absence as experts and leaders gathered at the World Health Organisation (WHO) on air pollution solutions, as India's ministers for health, environment, and petroleum, chose to participate in festivities marking the unveiling of the Sardar Patel Unity statue instead.

India hosts 14 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, and the WHO estimates that air pollution led to the premature deaths of over 1,00,000 Indian children below the age of 5 in 2016.

The WHO had extended invitations to three Union Ministers — Minister for health and family welfare JP Nadda, environment minister Harsh Vardhan and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan — to attend the first ever conference on the health impacts of air pollution in Geneva.

On Wednesday, as the toxic air over Delhi worsened, Harsh Vardhan was in the national capital to flag off "Run for Unity" to mark the unveiling of the Sardar Patel "Unity" Statue, Nadda was in Guwahati to flag off an identical event, while Pradhan was at in Bhubaneswar to flag the Odisha leg of the unity run.

Credit by - HUFFPOST

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