BJP leaders on Wednesday demanded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation over his alleged failure to control pollution in Delhi and claimed the city’s air quality improved after Diwali.
BJP MP and former Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari said the city’s air quality index (AQI) levels were worse before Diwali. The AQI had improved after the festival, showing that Diwali is not to be blamed for pollution in Delhi, he said.
“Before Diwali, the AQI was 330 and after Diwali this morning (Wednesday) it is 306. (This is) the benefits of bursting green crackers. So those who were blaming Diwali should now worry that if the pollution gets worse from now on then don’t blame it on Diwali,” Tiwari said in a tweet in Hindi on Wednesday.
Delhi’s air quality improved on Wednesday morning due to favourable wind speed but it remained in the ‘poor’ category. The AQI stood at 255 at 10.10 am, improving from 303 at 4 pm on Tuesday. It was recorded at 312 at 4 pm on Monday, the day of Diwali.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
The BJP’s West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh, on the other hand, demanded Kejriwal’s resignation for his failure to control pollution. “Arvind ji, if your paid news is over on pollution, then also say something on it. Why are you telling so many lies everyday? If you do not have a solution to pollution, then leave the post of the CM,” Singh tweeted in Hindi.
Singh’s tweet was in response to pollution-related pictures posted on social media that claimed Delhi’s AQI had hit the ‘very poor’ category.
Reacting to the same pictures, party spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga said Diwali and crackers were not responsible for Delhi’s deteriorating air quality. “No one was burning crackers yesterday (Tuesday). Once again proved Diwali is not responsible for Pollution in Delhi. Kejriwal failed to provide any solution in Delhi and just to save his image he was blaming Hindus and crackers. Kejriwal Model is Fraud, Kejriwal is Fraud,” Bagga tweeted.
The air quality in the neighbouring cities of Ghaziabad (262), Noida (246), Greater Noida (196), Gurugram (242) and Faridabad (243) were in the ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ category.
In the last two years, Delhi and its neighbouring areas witnessed severe air quality post Diwali, usually celebrated in November, with intense smog enveloping the region for days as stubble burning peaks during the month while low temperatures and calm winds trap pollutants.
Meanwhile, Environment Minister Gopal Rai will on Wednesday chair a high-level meeting to review the progress of the anti-dust campaign in the capital. Rai is expected to share data on the number of sites complying with the guidelines to manage dust pollution and infractions of government directions, an official said.
User agencies of construction and demolition projects larger than 500 square metres are required to register them on the construction and demolition (C&D) portal launched in October last year in a bid to control dust pollution in the capital.
The project proponents have to self-audit their compliance with dust control norms and upload a self-declaration on the portal on a fortnightly basis. In September, the Delhi government had also made it mandatory to install anti-smog guns at all construction and demolition sites larger than 500 square metres.
Action is taken against project proponents found violating this direction. Earlier, construction and demolition sites larger than 20,000 were required to install anti-smog guns to control dust pollution.
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