‘Delhi Pollution Increased After Oct 25, Punjab to Blame’: Kejriwal

Chandigarh: Accusing the Punjab government of failing to control stubble burning of the harvested paddy crop, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday that the pollution level had deteriorated in the national capital after October 25. “We have seen an abnormal increase in pollution level after October 25. This is nothing else but due to stubble burning in Punjab,” Kejriwal told the media here.

Kejriwal, who showed satellite images of stubble burning in Punjab, said the incidents of stubble burning were more in Punjab this year than in Haryana. “The images show stubble burning in Bathinda, Amritsar and other districts in Punjab. In Haryana, this is limited to north Haryana in the areas around Ambala district.”

He said the government and pollution control authorities in Punjab need to take the menace of stubble burning more seriously to find a lasting solution to the annual problem that was causing severe air pollution in Delhi. “Neither vehicular pollution has increased in Delhi after October 25 nor more industries have been set up and neither there has been a dust build up. The air quality has deteriorated due to stubble burning in Punjab,” he said. He said Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had earlier assured him of lesser stubble burning in Haryana this year and the satellite images showed that stubble burning was indeed less in that state this time. (IANS)

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