After Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that Stubble burning in Punjab is solely responsible for rising air pollution in Delhi, today Punjab CM Amarinder Singh termed the claim as “nonsense”.
On November 1, Arvind Kejriwal had claimed that stubble burning in neighbouring states is the sole reason for air pollution in Delhi, and as proof of his claim, he displayed satellite images showing crop residue being burnt in Punjab and Haryana. He had also rejected the claim that Delhi’s traffic and industries are responsible for the pollution in the city.
“This is a satellite image… You can see the red spots which indicates stubble burning in several parts of Punjab including Bathinda and Amritsar… There cannot be a more scientific (proof) than this,” Kejriwal had said while addressing media. He had said that most stubble burning takes place in Punjab, and there is no sudden rise in the number of vehicles or industries in Delhi to cause a rise in pollution.
Responding to these claims today, Punjab CM said that it is “nonsense”, and he wondered whether Arvind Kejriwal can “really” be an IIT graduate. He said that the logic of Kejriwal showing satellite images as proof is “preposterous”, saying even a school kid would not make such claims.
“Can he really be an IIT graduate,” asked Captain Amarinder Singh.
To refute the allegations of Kejriwal, Singh presented some figures about Delhi pollution. He said that the Air Quality Index of Delhi remains more than 300 even during December and January, when no stubble burning takes place in the neighbouring states. This clearly indicates that Delhi’s air quality is impacted by its own sources, which are mainly vehicular emission, construction activities, industrial activities, power plants, burning of municipal solid waste and sweeping activities, Singh said.
The Punjab CM said that Kejriwal’s comments are just another attempt to divert public attention from his government’s abysmal failure on all counts. “Having failed to deliver on governance to the people of the national capital, the chief minister was, as usual, trying to take refuge in falsehoods and fabrications,” Singh added.
Singh also said that according to data of Meteorological Department, winds over Delhi-NCR has changed from north-westerly to easterly, so there should not much influence of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana. Moreover, the amount of PM2.5 due to stubble burning is comparatively less than PM10, but in Delhi PM2.5 levels increase more during the winter months, he added.
