Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, while addressing the ‘Punjab Vision 2047’ conclave at Panjab University on Wednesday, said there should be no "blame game" over the pollution issue and stressed that its solution should be found in cooperation with other states. Mann also took a jibe at Pakistani Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz - daughter of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying nowadays everyone blames us for the pollution.
He said Maryam wants to write me a letter. She claimed the polluted smoke went to Lahore from our Punjab, Mann added, saying everyone is blaming us. People in Delhi say pollution comes from Punjab, he said. It seems Punjab's smoke is travelling round and round, he said on a lighter note.
"I want to tell her, do write the letter to me blaming for the graving situation," CM Mann said. Without taking the name of former CM Captain Amarinder Singh's Pakistani journalist friend Aroosa Alam, he said earlier a Pakistani woman annoyed us, and now she (Maryam) is attempting to tease us. I say let her also make us unhappy, he added.
There should be no 'blame game' over pollution issue: Mann
Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi after the paddy harvest in October and November.
As the window for the Rabi crop -- wheat -- is very short after paddy harvest, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue for sowing of the next crop in Punjab and Haryana in October and November, triggering a blame game for the chocking air pollution in the Delhi-NCR areas.
Replying to a question on Punjab being blamed for pollution, Mann said, "It is also the problem of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Its solution has to be found by sitting together."
Interacting with reporters on the sidelines of an event here, the Punjab chief minister laid emphasis on promoting crop diversification in the state in order to encourage farmers to switch over from paddy to other crops.
He said it should be ensured that farmers get the same earnings from the alternative crops as they make from paddy.
"We want crop diversification. What we get per acre from the paddy, we should get the same from other crops like maize, bajra and masoor daal.
Paddy is not even a part of our staple diet," Mann added.
(With agency inputs)
