Tiwari attacks Kejriwal govt on pollution, says should have spent Rs 50 cr to buy stubble

Delhi BJP chief and party MP Manoj Tiwari said Delhi government should have spent Rs 50 crore to buy stubble from farmers in the National Capital Region (NCR) to help tackle deteriorating air quality but instead it has provided a budget of Rs 200 crore for advertisements.

Participating in a debate on air pollution in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Tiwari made several allegations against the Arvind Kejriwal government and said the Centre was helping the people in the fight against pollution.

He said that three landfills in Delhi will be cleaned in one-and-a-half years and it will help in the fight against pollution.

Tiwari said local bodies are eligible for funds to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore to fight pollution but "Delhi government has deliberately stopped this".

He said the fund to purchase sprinkler machine should have come from the Delhi government but it had to come from the Centre.

"We thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he provided for a separate budget of Rs 100 crore," he said.

He said that funds to deal with garbage dumps should also have come from Delhi government but they had to come to the Centre.

Tiwari said that farmers burn stubble out of economic compulsion and, therefore, a scheme should be evolved by the Delhi government to purchase it.

"The advertisements that were given on pollution, its budget was Rs 200 crore and in Rs 50 crore stubble of NCR region could have been purchased. But it was not done by the Delhi government. A direction should go from here on this," he said.

Tiwari said that pollution was a state subject and asked if something can be done if a state government was indulging in excuses, a "punishment" can be fixed and people are also told that the administration is running away from its responsibility.