Political slugfest on pollution in capital

WHILE DELHI BJP HELD A DEMONSTRATION, THE CONG ALLEGED “LACK OF ACTION” BY AAP LED TO POLLUTION; CM DEFENDS GOVT, PARTY

NEWDELHI: As Delhi plunged into a state of a health emergency, with alarming levels of air pollution on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress intensified their attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (Aap)-led Delhi government, accusing it of failing to have controlled the annual pollution crisis which affects the national capital every winter.

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan Vijay Goel on Friday staged a demonstration, wearing an antipollution mask.

He held a day-long hunger strike outside his residence at New Delhi’s Ashoka Road. Goel told reporters, “This is a protest against the alarming air pollution levels in Delhi and the Delhi government’s failure in doing anything about it.”

Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra alleged chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is “solely responsible” for the deteriorating air quality in the city. He added that stubble burning was an issue for the capital earlier too but local sources of pollution were in control back then.

“The number of public buses has decreased majorly. While Arvind Kejriwal is pointing fingers at everyone, he needs to look at how much his own government has done to push the people of Delhi to breathe polluted air,” alleged Chopra.

Reacting to Goel’s demonstration, chief minister Kejriwal said, “Such gimmicks reflect that the BJP does not take the issue of air pollution seriously. It is an insult for the residents of Delhi.”

Kejriwal further said, “Rome was not built in a day. People need time to do certain things. In Delhi, we have been doing our bit to control pollution and we have achieved good results. Now, it is the Opposition parties’ turn to do their bit. I request them to control stubble burning in states ruled by them, after which the pollution situation can improve.”