New Delhi: The AAP and the BJP engaged in the blame game over air pollution in Delhi on Friday even as people suffered with air quality plummeting to “severe plus category” requiring emergency measures.
BJP leaders, including Delhi unit president Virendra Sachdeva, slammed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of indulging in “political tourism” in poll-bound states during the crisis and blamed stubble burning in Punjab as the reason for the plight of the people in the city.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in power in Delhi and Punjab.
AAP leaders, including Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai, trained guns at the BJP governments in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and at the Centre, while defending the Punjab government.
Rai, in a press conference, said that Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav should become “active” in addressing the air pollution problem, emphasising that it’s not just the national capital but the entire north India that is breathing polluted air.
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is blaming Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the air pollution problem in Delhi, but he is not responsible for the poor air quality in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused Kejriwal of incompetence and making false promises and alleged he was “more dangerous to people than the stifling air endangering them”.
Kejriwal had sought a year’s time exactly on this day in 2022 to curb pollution in the national capital, Bhatia said and dared him to hold a press conference on the issue to highlight what steps his government has taken.
The “inaction and insensitivity” of the Kejriwal government has turned Delhi into a “gas chamber”, charged Delhi BJP president Sachdeva.
“Unfortunately, Kejriwal is busy with political tourism and there is no one to control air pollution. Delhiites are complaining of itching and breathlessness and children are falling ill. Only Kejriwal is responsible for all this,” Sachdeva said.
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said that because of heavy pollution, people are falling ill if they venture out and the average life expectancy of residents of the national capital is getting reduced by nearly 12 years.
“Indifferent to all this, Kejriwal is busy with political tourism leaving people behind to fend for themselves,” he alleged.
Delhi BJP secretary Harish Khurana said Kejriwal should ask the Punjab chief minister to check the incidents of stubble burning there which are on the rise.
Khurana said there were more farm fires in Punjab on November 1 than Haryana’s tally for the entire month of October. Haryana has a BJP-led coalition government.
There were 1,296 incidents of stubble burning in Haryana in October while there were 1,921 incidents of farm fires in Punjab on November 1, he claimed.
AAP national spokesperson Reena Gupta in a press conference claimed that action against pollution was taken by the state governments in Delhi and Punjab ruled by the party but the BJP governments in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and at the Centre were asleep.
“SAFAR data reveals that 80 per cent of air pollution comes from external sources in Delhi while internal sources account for only 20 per cent. Continuous incidents of stubble burning are occurring in Haryana, while in Punjab, there has been a 50 per cent reduction in stubble burning incidents,” she claimed.
Gupta further claimed that the Delhi government formulates winter-summer action plans every year which is why air pollution in Delhi has decreased by up to 30 per cent.
Air pollution is serious problem in northern India and the central government should collaborate with NCR states to create a joint plan, said AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar.
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