AAP, BJP trade charges as Delhi gasps for breath

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) urged neighboring states to do more to fight the smog in Delhi, while the BJP blamed the Kejriwal government for not doing enough. The air quality index on Saturday was 415, better than Friday's 468. AAP blamed stubble burning in Haryana for the pollution crisis and accused the Haryana government of inaction. BJP leader Tiwari blamed the AAP government for the pollution crisis and called for immediate action. The blame game also continued over the dysfunctional smog tower in Connaught Place.

As pollution levels in the Capital continued to remain in the “severe” zone for the third straight day on Saturday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) urged neighbouring states to do more in the fight against the smog jacket that has enveloped the National Capital Region (NCR), while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed the Arvind Kejriwal government for not doing enough to improve the air quality in the city.

A thick layer of haze obscures the Signature Bridge on Saturday. (ANI)

Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) reading on Saturday was 415, a little better than the 468 recorded on Friday — the worst since air day since November 12, 2021, when the Capital’s AQI was 471. On Thursday, the national bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board at 4pm showed the city’s AQI was 392 (very poor), but the AQI deteriorated into the severe zone by 5pm.

AAP chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said the current air crisis can be attributed to stubble burning, and accused the Haryana government of “doing nothing” for stubble management, and claimed that 20 of the 52 most polluted districts are in the BJP-ruled state.

“Most of pollution in Delhi comes from Haryana because the epicentre of stubble burning in Punjab is 500km, while the epicentre in Haryana is only 129km away. Apart from Delhi and Punjab, no other state’s chief minister or environment minister talks about pollution, and they haven’t established winter action plans or green war rooms. If the (Manohar Lal) Khattar government (in Haryana) is struggling to understand how to address the issue of stubble burning, they can seek the assistance of experts from the Punjab government,” Kakkar said at a press conference.

“The Haryana government receives a substantial amount of money from the central government for stubble management, while Punjab does not. Why is the Haryana government unable to find a solution?” she said.

Hitting back, BJP leader and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari said the Capital’s pollution crisis was due to the “callous” attitude of the AAP government. “It is high time to stop blame game and initiate measures on war footing to protect the residents of Delhi which is choking under severe air pollution. This has become an annual affair because of your callous behaviour and frivolous attitude towards the people of Delhi,” Tiwari said in a letter addressed to CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Meanwhile, the blame game over the smog tower, set up two years ago to mitigate air pollution, also continued on Saturday, with environment minister Gopal Rai accusing Delhi Pollution Control Committee chairman Ashwini Kumar for halting operations of a smog tower installed at Connaught Place (CP). Several state BJP functionaries also targeted the AAP-led state government for the dysfunctional anti-smog tower.

Rai said that on Friday evening when Delhi’s AQI level was going up, several BJP leaders were seen going to the smog tower in CP and making videos.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that the environment minister was trying to evade Delhi government’s accountability while the pollution crisis was deteriorating. “It is shocking to see the Delhi’s environment minister Gopal Rai claiming improvement in pollution situation even as every Delhite is either coughing or complaining of headache and burning eyes. Rai is trying to evade Delhi government’s accountability on deteriorating pollution in the city.”