Haryana CM hits back at Kejriwal
Last week, Kejriwal blamed Haryana and Punjab for toxic smog enveloping Delhi
Days after Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh lashed out at his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar yesterday asked Kejriwal to “rise above short-term electoral gains” and focus on collective action to improve air quality of National Capital Region (NCR).
“Kejriwal accuses me of not meeting him to discuss the issue of air pollution. I am in Delhi on Monday and Tuesday. There is no response from Kejriwal’s office on any meeting to tackle the menace,” Khattar said, while in Delhi.
Accusing Kejriwal of “pollution politics,” Khattar said no single person, organisation or government can improve the quality of air.
“Such problems require collective action and everyone should do their bit. We have taken all possible steps in Haryana.”
Blame game
He said the state government had asked farmers burning crop residue not to do so.
“Haryana’s government has spent over Rs390 million (Dh21.88 million) out of the sanctioned Rs450 million to tackle the issue of crop burning, whereas neighbouring state Punjab has not used any fund of its allotted Rs980 million to check crop burning. Also, what steps did Kejriwal take for stubble burning over 40,000 hectares of land in Delhi,” Khattar said.
Last week, Kejriwal blamed Haryana and Punjab for the thick, toxic smog enveloping NCR. He said every year, during winter, farmers burn crop residue in these two states to clear the fields for the next sowing season.
He said he had not received any response from the CMs of Punjab and Haryana on how to deal with air pollution in Delhi, which reached alarming levels.
“Setting politics aside, the central government, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi should come together to find a solution to stubble burning which causes high pollution levels,” he said.