AAP counters LG Saxena on Kejriwal Govt's steps to curb air pollution in Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) Hours after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena slammed the Delhi Government over air pollution, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that the Arvind Kejriwal Government has taken a slew of measures over the past several years which led to a significant improvement in the air quality. 

The AAP in a statement said that the Kejriwal-led Delhi Government has taken a slew of measures over the past several years which had led to a significant improvement in the air quality as was appreciated in the economic survey 2022-2023 tabled in the Parliament.

The party said that in its one-and-a-half-year tenure in Punjab, a string of ex-situ and in-situ measures have been implemented which has resulted in a near 50 per cent decrease in farm fires.

"Further reduction can be achieved if the Central government accedes to the demand of subsidy, which was also observed by the Supreme Court in its order on November 7 that there is no reason why the Central government cannot grant this subsidy.

"The ‘Red light on, Gaddi off’ campaign and the ‘odd-even vehicle’ scheme are emergency measures which have had significant impact in reducing vehicular pollution.

“The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has also acknowledged the reduction in particulate matter concentration levels during the period when the ‘odd-even vehicle’ scheme was implemented previously vide un-starred question No. 4340 answered on December 13, 2019,” the AAP said.

"It is imperative on the governments in the NCR, more particularly Haryana to control farm fires in the NCR region and enable the industries working in the NCR region to switch to clean fuel and provide 24/7 electricity and take similar measures like the Delhi Government to protect the environment. We can lend specialists to Haryana since the Haryana Government has miserably failed on all counts," it added.

The remarks from the AAP came after Saxena on Thursday afternoon said that blaming others should not be an alibi for gross inaction over the years and publicity around props like smog towers means little.

He added that “politics of propaganda that involve over-hyped events like 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off' and 'odd-even' cannot hold the life of people of the city to ransom.”

He alleged that nothing concrete after the implementation of CNG in Delhi and construction of a maze of flyovers since then, has been attempted and Delhi needs action, not mere posturing.

The air quality across Delhi remained in the 'severe' category with the AQI hitting the alarming levels at several places on Thursday morning.

The Anand Vihar Station was in the 'severe' category with PM 2.5 at 500 and PM 10 at 459.

--IANS

aks/rad