A political slugfest erupted over Delhi’s deteriorating air quality post-Diwali, with the Opposition AAP slamming the city Government and the ruling BJP blaming stubble burning in Punjab, ruled by the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, for the mess.
AAP’s Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj sought to know from the Rekha Gupta-led BJP Government in Delhi why it did not take steps to induce artificial rain to bring the situation under control.
Hitting back, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, in a statement, accused AAP leaders, including Bharadwaj, of indulging in “appeasement politics to secure their minority vote bank” by pinning the blame of nose-diving air quality on Diwali and firecracker bursting. “That is why they continue to spread confusion among the public on one issue or another. Currently, AAP leaders are making statements blaming the rise in pollution on firecrackers and are calling for another ban on them,” he said. Bharadwaj has alleged that banned firecrackers were burst during Diwali and questioned if the Delhi Government was “hand in glove” with the firecracker manufacturing lobby.
The AAP leader also claimed that no Air Quality Index (AQI) data on Diwali night was available and held the BJP responsible for it.
Sachdeva asserted that firecracker bursting on Diwali was a “welcome sign”, and there has been “no significant negative impact on the air pollution situation in the city”. The AQI of Delhi on the morning of October 31, 2024, the day after last year’s Diwali under AAP rule, was recorded at 396. In comparison, on October 21 this year, Delhi’s average AQI was recorded at 356, Sachdeva said.
“Successive Congress and Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP Governments did no concrete work to control pollution or improve the situation. Now, when the Rekha Gupta-led BJP Government is working in a planned manner to improve the situation, AAP leaders — experts in making statements — are actively trying to derail it,” he claimed.
Sachdeva asserted that the farmers in AAP-ruled Punjab were clearing their fields that involved stubble burning. Between October 11 and October 19, a total of 309 major stubble burning incidents were registered in Punjab, he claimed.
“It is shameful that the AAP Government in Punjab neither helped the farmers earlier to prevent stubble burning nor is it offering any assistance now to the flood-affected farmers to stop them from burning stubble,” the BJP leader charged.
Sachdeva further stated it is “true” that pollution levels in Delhi have increased; however, it’s a fact that reports of stubble burning in Punjab started coming in two to three days before the pollution rise began on October 17.
