Mega laser show in Connaught Place for Diwali: Kejriwal

New Delhi: To dissuade people from bursting crackers, the Delhi government will organise a mega Diwali laser show between October 26 and 29 at Connaught Place, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Saturday.

He said as Delhi is facing an onslaught of smoke from outside, the city will have to take measures to reduce the local pollution as much as possible.

“In order to encourage people to not burst crackers this Diwali, the Delhi government is organising a gega laser show in Connaught Place between October 26-29 from 7 p.m. onwards. I invite all of Delhi to enjoy the laser show,” said the Chief Minister.

With the onset of winter, the air quality of the city has started deteriorating. Kejriwal also urged other state governments to take steps to control stubble burning.

“The smoke from crop stubble burning in neighbouring states has started reaching Delhi and our air quality has started deteriorating from Good to Moderate to Poor to Very Poor. It has been widely reported that the smoke coming to Delhi today is due to the burning of stubble in Karnal, Haryana. This is not just a question of the air quality in Delhi.

“Perhaps the largest health impacts of the stubble burning will be faced by the residents of Karnal and other parts of Haryana. Delhi gets the most attention because it has more media, it has the Central government,” Kejriwal said here.

He added that the farmers cannot be blamed for burning their stubble because they need to prepare for the next crop cycle. It is the responsibility of governments to provide the technology that is now easily available to the farmers, he said, appealing to the concerned governments to help the farmers.

“The Centre will have to take the lead on this. Efforts by individuals cannot succeed. I am not interested in pointing fingers at this point in time when people are suffering,” he said. He also said pollution is a complex problem and has only reduced due to collective efforts.

“Pollution is a complex problem and could only have reduced due to the collective efforts of all governments and agencies in Delhi. Everyone made their efforts, but the most important contribution was made by the people of Delhi. I have always maintained that no effort to tackle climate change or pollution can succeed until the people enthusiastically participate in these efforts. The people of Delhi have participated in all efforts and even welcomed certain harsh steps we took against pollution,” he said, crediting the people of Delhi for participating in the government’s fight against pollution.