BJP accuses Kejriwal, Mann of criminal negligence over DelhiтАЩs air quality, calls for their resignation
The cityтАЩs 24-hour average air quality index stood at 392 (very poor), worsening from 352 on Sunday
The cityтАЩs 24-hour average air quality index stood at 392 (very poor), worsening from 352 on Sunday
The BJP on Tuesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government in Delhi and Punjab of тАЬcriminal negligenceтАЭ for DelhiтАЩs air pollution levels hitting the тАЬsevereтАЭ category, and demanded the resignations of Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann.
Gaurav Bhatia, the BJPтАЩs national spokesperson, addressing a press conference at the partyтАЩs national headquarters in New Delhi, said that the people of Delhi, as well as Punjab, were blaming the AAP Governments led by Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, respectively, for the тАЬpoisonтАЭ in air, and cited figures to assert that incidents of stubble burning in Punjab had gone up to 10,214 from 7,648.
Data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), a forecasting agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, showed that stubble burning accounted for 22% of the cityтАЩs PM 2.5 pollution on Monday. It was 26% on Sunday, the highest this year so far, and 21% on Saturday. The cityтАЩs 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 392 (very poor), worsening from 352 on Sunday.
Mr. Bhatia alleged that Mr. Kejriwal and his party were busy in тАЬcorruptionтАЭ and тАЬlootingтАЭ people while ignoring the CentreтАЩs directive to Punjab back in February to take measures to curb stubble burning.
He quoted Mr. KejriwalтАЩs statements made last year and earlier, in which he had blamed stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana for the dangerous level of pollution in Delhi. The AAP came to power in Punjab in March this year.
тАЬWhile the BJP government in Haryana worked to reduce stubble burning incidents to 1,925 from 2,873, the numbers have only gone up in Punjab, spiking pollution in north Indian States,тАЭ Mr. Bhatia said.
He claimed that the Centre had given Punjab тВ╣1,350 crore against тВ╣693 crore to Haryana, and that it had also handed the Mann-led State 1.20 lakh machines to deal with the issue, but the Punjab Government had done nothing.
The BJP spokesperson asked Mr. Kejriwal to respond to the questions and sought to know whether the figures being cited by him were right or not. тАЬIf my figures are right, why should you [the two Chief Ministers] not resign?тАЭ Mr. Bhatia said.
