Arvind Kejriwal writes to Haryana and Punjab CMs, calls for more action to stop stubble burning

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday wrote to Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar and the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana seeking “urgent and bold action” against stubble burning during winters. Stubble burning is one of the major sources of pollution in the national capital during winter season.

“I have written letters to the chief ministers of Haryana and Punjab and the Union minister of environment seeking urgent steps to deal with crop burning. I know they are making efforts. But much more needs to be done to stop pollution. Meanwhile, at our level, we are taking steps to reduce pollution caused by local factors,” Kejriwal tweeted on Thursday.

In his letter to Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Union environment minister Javadekar, Kejriwal said that the Delhi government has already announced its action plan, including odd-even road rationing arrangement from November 4 to November 15.

“The health of our people is the foremost responsibility of any government,” Kejriwal added in his letter.

Delhi CM said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has also begun consultations to hold community Diwali events to encourage people to give up crackers and come together to enjoy the festival with laser shows instead.

Delhi is the only city in the country where pollution is on the decline, with the concentration of PM 2.5 reducing by 25% in the last three years, Kejriwal said.

“With the persistent efforts of all government agencies and the people of Delhi, it is a matter of relief that Delhi is among the few cities today where pollution has stopped rising,” he said.

However, in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) latest ranking of the most polluted cities in the world, seven of the 10 most polluted cities are in India. Delhi ranked 11 on the list, after neighbouring satellite cities such as Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Faridabad.