Delhi Cong chief blames BJP govt for rise air pollution
Yadav said despite repeated warnings about rising air pollution, the government had failed to take strict measures to contain it. “Despite repeated warnings of sharply rising air pollution, the Rekha Gupta government of the BJP could not take stringent steps to control pollution in the Capital, resulting in extremely dangerous toxic atmospheric pollution recorded at all 36 Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring centres,” he said.
According to Yadav, several monitoring stations recorded severe pollution levels with AQI readings of 423 in Wazirpur, 417 in Dwarka, 410 in Bawana, 404 in Anand Vihar and 404 in Ashok Vihar. He said this reflected the government’s inability to tackle the crisis.
Yadav also alleged violations of the Supreme Court’s directive on the bursting of green crackers. “Despite the Supreme Court’s permission to burst green crackers only till 10 pm, this order was flouted with impunity, as a large quantity of banned crackers were burst across Delhi well past midnight,” he said. He added there was “absolutely no coordination between the Government and the police to check the sale of banned firecrackers in such large quantities across Delhi.”
Criticising Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Yadav said, “Chief Minister Rekha Gupta made tall promises about controlling air pollution as soon as she took office, but sadly, she has completely failed to deliver.” He stated despite spending crores on pollution control, the government had neither cleaned the Yamuna nor improved air quality.
Yadav also targeted Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, accusing him of distorting pollution data to mislead the public. “The Environment Minister could do little to prevent the AQI from reaching severe levels above 400, which clearly shows the BJP government’s failure to control pollution,” he said.
He added both the BJP and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments shared responsibility for Delhi’s toxic air. “The BJP and AAP are once again at loggerheads over pollution, indulging in shadow boxing to mislead the public, although both are responsible for Delhi’s deteriorating air quality,” Yadav said.
He said the dangerously high pollution levels posed serious health risks to children and the elderly and could also damage tourism, tarnishing India’s global image.
Delhi