NEW DELHI: Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Tuesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab of misrepresenting data on stubble burning in the state, alleging that FIRs are being registered against farmers despite the party claiming no farm fire incidents this year.
Sirsa claimed that the Punjab government had spent Rs 20-25 crore on advertisements to project that there was no stubble burning in the state this year. He alleged that 271 FIRs have been filed against farmers in different districts of Punjab for stubble burning.
“There are more than 1,000 stubble-burning cases that we know of and 271 FIRs filed,” Sirsa said, alleging a contradiction between AAP’s public claims and the action being taken against farmers.
Accusing the party of misleading people over the contribution of stubble burning in Punjab to Delhi’s pollution, he said AAP leaders were claiming that the two were unrelated while FIRs were being filed against farmers.
He claimed that the average AQI in Delhi was around 10 per cent lower than the corresponding levels in previous years. He also accused AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of taking “revenge on Delhi”, alleging that the party was uncomfortable with the improvements in the capital’s air quality under the BJP government.
