On Wednesday (25th October), Delhi minister and AAP leader Atishi said that there was no official data available that could tell the different sources contributing to the pollution in Delhi. Notably, many times in the past, AAP leaders including Atishi and Arvind Kejriwal have blamed the stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana for the pollution in Delhi.
Now, the AAP government in Delhi is saying that it is clueless about which source contributes how much to the pollution in the national capital. Atishi cited the lack of this data as an impediment to drafting the anti-pollution policy of the Delhi government.
What did the AAP leader Atishi say?
Atishi said, “Pollution in Delhi is a serious concern in winter months. The Delhi government has been working for the last 8 years to reduce this ever-increasing pollution level. Many independent organisations have made several reports. These reports say that the pollution levels in Delhi have gone down in the past few years.”
आधिकारिक तौर पर ऐसा कोई भी आंकड़ा नहीं है जिससे पता चल सके कि दिल्ली में किन स्त्रोतों से कितना प्रदूषण होता है
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) October 25, 2023
इस समस्या के समाधान के लिए –
July, 2021 में दिल्ली सरकार ने Real Time Source Study करवाने का Milestone फैसला लिया
कि किस source से दिल्ली में कितना प्रदूषण होता है।… pic.twitter.com/ygkAhTSEFA
She added, “However, we have identified a major impediment in reducing pollution in Delhi. The problem is that there is no official data to know what are the different sources of air pollution in Delhi and how much pollution comes from which sources in Delhi. Unless the government knows exactly how much a source contributes to this pollution, the government cannot make any policy to control this pollution.”
What was the press conference about?
In October 2022, the Delhi cabinet inked an MoU with IIT-Kanpur to conduct a real-time pollution source apportionment study in the national capital. Valued at over Rs 12 crore, the project received Rs 10 crore from the Delhi government for the acquisition of necessary equipment and the establishment of a centralised data collection supersite.
However, the AAP government in Delhi is accusing DPCC Chairman Ashwani Kumar of arbitrarily halting the study by stopping the remaining payment of Rs 2 Cr. At a press conference held to blame him for the failure of the Delhi government, Atishi highlighted the lack of data on the sources contributing to Delhi’s pollution. This comes in stark contrast to her earlier citation of ICAR data three years ago, which blamed stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab for the problem.
Previously, AAP blamed stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana for the Delhi pollution
Notably, the AAP government in Delhi and many AAP leaders have blamed the stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana for the pollution in Delhi multiple times in the past. In an old post on X (formerly Twitter), Atishi said, “Data clearly shows that Delhi pollution is directly correlated with stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab. The criminal negligence of the CMs in not solving this problem has caused a public health emergency in Delhi. Strongest action should be taken against them!” This post was shared on 18th November 2020. Atishi had cited the ICAR data to back her claims.
On 17 October 2021, Delhi’s chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal said, “For the past month, I have been tweeting data of air quality in Delhi. Pollution has increased in the last 3-4 days and it is due to stubble burning in neighbouring states. Farmers in neighbouring states are compelled to burn stubble as their governments are doing nothing for them (towards stopping stubble burning).”
In 2018, Arvind Kejriwal held a press conference to show satellite pictures of Punjab and Haryana as proof of stubble burning causing pollution in Delhi. Going into the minute details of the stubble burning, Kejriwal even gave a partial clean chit to Haryana. He said, “Very little area in north Haryana had stubble fires, large parts of Punjab could be seen as affected. If you see honestly, then there are just a few places of Haryana in it. In Punjab, stubble is being burnt in the entire area, especially Bathinda and Amritsar.”
Flagging the satellite images from Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal said, “I heard a statement of Punjab Pollution Control Board chairman saying that stubble was not being burnt in the state and that the air quality index of the state was good. These pictures show stubble being burnt. Where is all this smoke going? Is it disappearing and directly going to Pakistan?”
On 24 November 2020, Atishi said, “The Air Quality Commission formed by the central government is responsible for controlling the pollution in Delhi and NCR. Today, we had a meeting with the commission, because we all know that it is difficult to breathe in Delhi in the months of October and November. Our agenda has two main points. Firstly, the commission should order the governments of Haryana and Punjab to implement the solution devised by the AAP government in Delhi to reduce the stubble-burning pollution in those states. Secondly, we have told the commission that just ordering these governments is not enough.”
She added, “The chief ministers of those states should be held responsible if any incident of stubble burning is noticed in those states. They should get strict punishment if they fail to ensure this. The commission has the power to take this action. It can file the FIR. It can send any person to jail for five years for causing pollution in Delhi and NCR. Therefore, we have urged the commission that the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana should be held liable and strict action should be taken against them.”
Atishi in her recent press conference has said that there is no official data to ascertain the proportional contribution of various factors to Delhi pollution. In a press conference held by Atishi on 15 March 2021, she quoted a report by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and said that 60 per cent of pollution in Delhi is caused by factors outside Delhi. In the same press conference, Atishi blamed the stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana for the air pollution in Delhi.
In 2022, Bhagwant Mann of Aam Aadmi Party became the chief minister of Punjab. Since then, the attacks and accusations by AAP on Punjab and Haryana over stubble burning and the pollution in Delhi have suddenly disappeared. Now, AAP leader Atishi has said that there is no official data to encertain which source of pollution contributes how much to the Delhi pollution.
AAP played with Hindu sentiments in the guise of addressing the pollution issue
AAP has government in both Delhi and Punjab. The AAP government in Delhi is saying that they cannot formulate a policy to reduce pollution because they do not have any specific data on the sources of pollution and their contribution into the problem. However, the AAP government in Punjab can take as many steps to prohibit the incidents of stubble burning and providing alternative ways of disposing the agro wastes to the farmers.
But, AAP government in Punjab is not taking concrete steps to address the stubble burning issue in a way like what Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana has done in the past few years. Instead, the AAP government in Delhi had banned firecrackers in Delhi on the occasion of Hindu festival Diwali and had played with sentiments of Hindus in Delhi.
