'AAP targeting Hindu traditions of bursting crackers during Diwali': Delhi minister puts onus on stubble burning for air pollution

New Delhi: As the capital choked a day after Diwali, the BJP and AAP blamed each other. BJP minister Maninder Sirsa said that AAP was attacking Hindu traditions and deliberately asking farmers in Punjab to burn stubble.

Sirsa, the environment minister in the Delhi government, accused AAP of deliberately targeting Hindu traditions by banning fireworks and levelled allegations of “forcing” farmers in neighbouring Punjab to burn paddy stubble, releasing plumes of smoke that drift into the capital. He showed videos purportedly of stubble burning in Punjab and claimed the AQI rose only marginally (by just 11 points) after Diwali fireworks, and sought to shift the blame for the worsening air quality to agricultural fires.

AAP leaders said the BJP-led Delhi government was failing to act on pollution, accusing it of blaming poor farmers and cultural festivals instead of tackling longstanding sources of smog. The ruling BJP had petitioned the Supreme Court to slow green firecrackers.

AAP MLA Gopal Rai accused the Delhi government of making excuses. “There is a lot of pollution in Delhi. The level of pollution has increased. But the Delhi government is not doing anything. They are making excuses and blaming other states. BJP is in power everywhere in UP, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Why didn’t they talk to any other state first before Diwali,” he said.