Delhi will soon become a gas chamber: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday flayed the Centre and the neighbouring state governments for their inaction to stop stubble burning and said that "Delhi will become a gas chamber".

"Very sad that Central, Punjab and Haryana governments did absolutely nothing for the farmers. As a result, the farmers will suffer and Delhi will become a gas chamber soon," Kejriwal tweeted.

Kejriwal's reaction came as he shared pictures of farmers burning crop in Punjab's Amritsar.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, on Thursday, had slammed the neighbouring state governments -- Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh -- for failing to provide subsidies to the farmers, which he said, ultimately led to stubble burning.

Sisodia had also appealed to the Centre and the Union Environment Ministry to "immediately intervene and put an end to crop residue burning".

To keep a check on air pollution, the Delhi government, on Thursday had formed a six-member inspection team which would carry out surprise inspections across Delhi to check "ground level steps" being taken by various municipal and local bodies for prevention, control and mitigation of air pollution.

The National Capital Region saw a "very-poor" air quality on Thursday, which experts believe may further deteriorate within the next two days due to weather conditions, stubble burning and festival season.

The stubble burning increased in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, with environment activists asserting that farmers have intensified burning the crop residue protesting the lack of official support.

--IANS

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