Delhi air pollution: As Delhi-NCR gasps for fresh air to breath amid extreme air pollution thanks to stubble burning in the neighbouring state of Punjab, Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav has come down hard at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Yadav accused AAP and Kejriwal of turning the national capital into a gas chamber.
Pointing towards rise in stubble (parali) burning in Punjab, state governed by AAP, Yadav accused the party of 'scam'.
"Sample this: As of today, Punjab, a state run by the AAP government, has seen an over 19% rise in farm fires over 2021. Haryana has seen a 30.6% drop. Just today, Punjab saw 3,634 fires. There is no doubt over who has turned Delhi into a gas chamber," the minister said in a tweet.
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"Scam is where AAP is. In the last 5 years, the Central Government gave Rs 1,347 crore for crop residue management machines to Punjab. The state bought 1,20,000 machines. 11,275 of those machines have gone missing," he added.
Taking a pot shot at Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Bhupendra Yadav said the CM has failed to provide any relief to farmers in his own constituency Sangrur.
"The Chief Minister of Punjab has failed to even provide relief to farmers in his own turf of Sangrur. Last year (Sept 15-Nov 2) farm fires in Sangrur stood at 1,266. This year they have shot up by 139% rising to 3,025," he said.
According to a report, about 71% of farm fires during the current paddy harvesting season have been reported only from seven districts namely Amritsar, Sangrur, Firozpur, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Patiala and Tarn Taran.
'Stubble burning primary cause behind Delhi pollution'
Around 53 per cent of the Delhi-NCR residents identify stubble burning in neighbouring states as the "primary cause" of rising levels of air pollution, according to a survey.
The survey conducted by LocalCircles is based on responses from 20,000 citizens.
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Around 10,037 respondents identified stubble burning by farmers in adjoining states as the root cause of bad air quality in the national capital, it said.
Delhi's air quality continued to be in the 'severe' category on Thursday with its Air Quality Index (AQI) dipping at 426 at 9. 10 am, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.
(With inputs from agencies)
