Delhi air pollution levels are now at alarming levels with the amount of toxicity comparable to toxic wildfire. The AAP and the BJP have been accusing one another of stubble burning throughout this time.
Delhi Pollution: The Bharatiya Janata Party transferred the blame to the Delhi administration and Aam Punjab a day after the Supreme Court criticized the Center and deemed the Environmental Protection Act “toothless.” The Delhi administration was accused by the BJP of using “drama” for three winter months, while the Punjab government was accused of failing to regulate stubble burning. The AAP had earlier blamed buses in Uttar Pradesh for the Pollution in Delhi.
Delhi’s air quality has dropped to alarming levels, on Thursday, the AQI rose to 336.
“Up to 1,580 cases of stubble burning have been reported in Punjab this year, whereas only 665 in Haryana,” BJP leader RP Singh stated on Thursday. However, the AAP simply engages in politics as a means of avoiding the core problems.
Vehicle pollution is the primary source of pollution all year round. Delhi needs 15,000 buses, but it currently only has 4,976—1700 of which are electric—thanks to PM Modi. Does the Delhi government ever consider how to make last-mile connection possible? Was the additional tree planting that we needed to conduct to expand the Green Belt completed? They just do drama from October 25 to January 25 and then they sleep,” Singh said
The AAP blames BJP governments for the pollution in Delhi.
AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia had previously claimed that the Punjab administration had drastically reduced stubble burning. At the ABP Impact Makers Conclave on October 22, Sisodia said: “The Centre has acknowledged that stubble-burning was down in Punjab by 50%. However, in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, stubble burning had increased by 1.5 times.” He claimed that this was an intentional attempt to disrupt the Delhi government’s pollution reduction initiatives. Sisodia had stated, “The Center needs to rise above such low-level politics.”
Additionally, he charged that just before Chhath Puja, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh purposefully dumped untreated industrial wastewater into the Yamuna. “The Centre should worry about the NCR and sit with the governments of UP and Haryana and find a solution,” he stated.
Delhi Pollution Control Measures
GRAP stage-2 limitations on October 22 were enforced by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Monday. This implies that the use of diesel generator sets, coal, and firewood will be restricted in Delhi-NCR. Mechanical sweeping and water sprinkling on selected roads in Delhi-NCR will also be carried out.
On Wednesday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced that 6,200 more workers will be sent in to implement pollution control measures and that state buses would operate more frequently to promote public transportation for commuters.