Urging the central government to step up its efforts to curb air pollution in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday admitted that the AAP-run Punjab government was responsible for the stubble burning in the state, saying that this was not the time to play politics over such a sensitive issue.
Addressing the press alongside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Kejriwal said, “We have governments both in Delhi and Punjab. This is not the time to point fingers or indulge in blame-games or abuse each other. Playing politics over such a sensitive issue is not going to provide any solutions….The public will not benefit by them saying Kejriwal is responsible or vice-versa. People need solutions. Stubble is being burnt in Punjab. And, we admit it.”
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Stating that the Mann government did not have enough time to act, Kejriwal said, “If stubble is being burnt in Punjab, our government is responsible for it. We take the responsibility. We have only formed the government in Punjab. Six months is too less a time. There are many problems in Punjab alone. We have controlled the mafia raj. We have also taken several steps to curb stubble burning. In the limited time we have got, we have got few successes, and many failures. However, we promise that we will implement strict steps to reduce stubble burning considerably by next year. We will work together with the farmers.”
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Saying that the farmers are not to be blamed for stubble burning, Kejriwal said, “Farmers are not responsible for this. They need solutions. The day they are provided with solutions, they will stop burning stubble. Before the smoke reaches Delhi, the farmer and his family is inhaling that smoke.”
Pointing out that air pollution was a problem for the whole region and not Punjab and Delhi alone, Kejriwal said, “This is not a problem faced by Delhi only. It is the problem of North India. The air quality has dropped to ‘severe’ category in many cities in the region including Delhi, Gurgaon, Rohtak, Jind, Manesar, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi,” said Kejriwal, naming several other cities in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana, where he said the air quality recorded was “very poor.”
Asking the Centre to act urgently, the AAP national convener said, “Neither Kejriwal or the AAP governments in Punjab and Delhi are solely responsible for this. There are may reasons – local and regional. The Union government has to come forward to tackle this in order to save the entire region from the menace of air pollution.”
Due to the worsening air quality in the national capital, CM Kejriwal announced the closure of primary schools from tomorrow.