With the Air Quality Index (AQI) continuing to remain 'severe' across the national capital region, the BJP-led Delhi government said it could not reduce air pollution within 10 months and blamed the previous Aam Aadmi Party government for the situation.
"It is impossible for any elected government to reduce AQI in 9-10 months. I apologise for the pollution in Delhi. We are doing better work than the dishonest AAP government, and we have reduced AQI each day," Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Tuesday.
"This disease of pollution is given to us by the Aam Aadmi Party, and we are working to fix it," he added while speaking at a press conference.
Taking a jibe at AAP leaders who staged a protest at Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday over the pollution issue, Sirsa said they had failed to take effective steps to tackle the crisis.
"They did nothing to address the issue and are now protesting over a situation they created. The AQI (air quality index) has remained at similar levels over the last 10 years," Sirsa alleged.
The minister said rising pollution posed a serious risk to children's health but asserted that the present government is taking measures to control it.
Sirsa also criticised Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for commenting on the issue now.
"Today, they are talking about wearing masks. Where were they when the AQI was around 380 on this day last year? They were silent because they were in support of the AAP at the time," he said.
Meanwhile, Sirsa announced a slew of measures to combat pollution, including denying fuel to vehicles without a valid PUCC from Thursday, allowing only BS-VI vehicles from outside Delhi to enter the capital.
He also annoucned that heavy penalties will be imposed on trucks carrying construction material, with vehicles liable to be seized.
Despite worsening conditions, Delhi’s air quality showed some improvement on Tuesday morning, with the AQI at 378 compared with 498 a day earlier, even as smog blanketed the city and temperatures dipped to 8.3 degrees Celsius, reducing visibility.
Over the past two days, Delhi recorded worse conditions, with AQI levels crossing 400 at several locations, placing air quality in the ‘severe’ category, according to Central Pollution Control Board data. On Tuesday, 11 of the city’s 40 monitoring stations still reported ‘severe’ air quality.
Earlier in the day, over 120 flights were cancelled at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport due to low visibility as several parts of the city remained shrouded in smog and fog during the early morning hours.
An AQI of 0–50 is considered ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’, and 401–500 ‘severe’.
