NEW DELHI: As Delhi continues to choke under a blanket of toxic air, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the national capital has been reduced to a gas chamber while those in positions of power remain unmoved, with the Prime Minister abroad in Oman and the Leader of the Opposition in Germany.
Holding both the Delhi government and the Centre responsible, the AAP Supremo said pollution cannot be reduced without active intervention by the Central government. He alleged that even official AQI readings crossing 450 were being artificially lowered by spraying water near monitoring stations.
Kejriwal said such suffocating conditions were never witnessed during the ten years of the AAP government in Delhi, when inspection teams and strict enforcement helped control pollution. He claimed that today there is neither intent nor action, only manipulation of data, even as cities such as Beijing managed to clean their air through decisive governance.
During a press conference, Kejriwal said the long-standing narrative blaming Punjab’s stubble burning for Delhi’s pollution had collapsed. “Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann recently presented data showing Air Quality Index levels between 70 and 100 across Punjab,” he said. “If there is no stubble burning or smoke in Punjab at present, then the pollution in Delhi is Delhi’s own.”