New Delhi Union environment minister, Prakash Javadekar, on Friday slammed chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for politicising the issue of air pollution. Kejriwal had tweeted on Friday morning that “Delhi has turned into a gas chamber due to smoke from crop burning in neighbouring states.”
He had also taken credit for reduction in Diwali pollution on October 28, by tweeting that “Delhi ne kar dikhaya”, meaning “Delhi has shown the way to reduce pollution.”
Javadekar said it is the Modi government that has led the air pollution curbing policies. “For 15 years, there was only discussion on eastern and western peripheral expressways. The Modi government managed to complete the construction of the expressways in five years. The construction of the eastern peripheral expressway has led to over 60,000 vehicles bypassing Delhi and reducing air pollution.”
“Delhi Chief Minister is politicising the pollution issue and engaging in blame game on air pollution. I will not stoop to that level. Delhi government should have paid ₹3,500 crore for the eastern peripheral expressway and for the bypass road. The Supreme Court intervened and asked the Delhi government to deposit ₹1,000 crore immediately. There is no point blaming Punjab and Haryana. We have to work together. The Modi government had brought the five states together to implement regional actions. Blame game can get you kachchi chitthi (several fake encomiums) but not real relief from pollution. Curbing pollution is everyone’s responsibility. We need support from industries, people and farmers,” he said at an event to flag off electric vehicles procured by the ministry of information and broadcasting.
Responding to Javadekar, Kejriwal said, “We admit that there are local sources of pollution in Delhi. They include vehicles, construction and industrial activities. But we, as a government, have taken adequate measures to address pollution from local sources. Odd-even scheme would be one such example. But, at this stage, stubble burning is the biggest threat and the Centre and the states concerned have to do something about it. Why do they always evade engaging in talks about the issue of controlling stubble burning?”
{{/usCountry}}Responding to Javadekar, Kejriwal said, “We admit that there are local sources of pollution in Delhi. They include vehicles, construction and industrial activities. But we, as a government, have taken adequate measures to address pollution from local sources. Odd-even scheme would be one such example. But, at this stage, stubble burning is the biggest threat and the Centre and the states concerned have to do something about it. Why do they always evade engaging in talks about the issue of controlling stubble burning?”
{{/usCountry}}When asked about meetings with Javadekar, Delhi’s environment minister, Kailash Gahlot, said, “So far, we have thrice received a notice from the Union environment minister for meetings, but on all three occasions, the meetings were cancelled.”