Khattar, Kejriwal vow to fight Delhi smog together
Also discuss steps to curb vehicular, constructionrelated pollution and starting CNG buses on interstate routes besides banning old vehicles
CHANDIGARH: Ha ryan a chief minister Man oh ar L al K hat tar and his Delhi counterpart ArvindKe jr iw al on Wednesday pledged a joint battle against air pollution in the national capital region (NCR) next winter.
The two chief ministers met in Chandigarh as Delhi continues to battletoxic smog for morethan a week, a situation described by the two as serious, requiring concrete and quick action.
“We agreed to take all necessary steps to contain pollution,” Kejriwal told mediapersons in a brief interaction after the meeting which came on a day when Delhi’s air quality again worsened after showing some improvement a day earlier.
TheKejriw al government has faced criticism for its handling of the annual that poses serious health risk, especially to the children and the elderly.
“Our territories are different and no one can control the flow of wind. But the top political executives of all the affected states, including Centre, must find out a solution to Delhi’s air pollution,” he said with Khattar sitting next to him.
Burning of paddy stubble in Punjab and Haryana ahead of new planting season is among the main causes of spike in pollution in Delhi at this time of the year. High moisture content compounds the problem as dust particles stick to the water.
“During the discussions, both the states agreed that the serious health risks to which such episodes of smog expose one and all require concrete and quick action on a number of fronts,” a joint statement released at the end of the 80-minute meeting said.
Khattar and Kejriwal have bee nina war of words over burning of crop waste. K hat tar had on Monday tweeted a copy of a letter sent toKejriw al, asking the Delhi CM to “rise above short-term electoral gains.”
But on Wednesday, Khattar said air pollution in Delhi was a “common concern and not a problem of one state only”.
The joint statement said the two leaders had agreed to take steps and make sustained effort to prevent a repeat in 2018.
“Haryana and Delhi look forward to covering other sources of air and water pollution in future discussions,” it said.
The meeting had sent out a clear message that “we at the top level” were ready to take any required step, Kejriwal said.
Earlier this week, as air quality came close to emergency levels, Kejriwal wrote to his Punjab and Haryana counterparts for a joint meeting.
But Punjab CM Captain Am arin der Singh declined the meeting, ask in gKejriwaln otto politic is ea serious issue and declaring no meaningful talk could take place without the Centre.
The opposition Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) were critical of Haryana CM for meet in gKejriw al .“Political noviceKh attar” walked into Kejriwal’strap, said former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.