Kejriwal urges Haryana, Punjab CMs to jointly tackle air pollution

With air pollution in Delhi increasing to the severe level, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday urged his Haryana and Punjab counterparts for a meeting in order to jointly tackle the menace.

Kejriwal wrote letters to Haryana and Punjab Chief Ministers Manohar Lal Khattar and Amarinder Singh respectively and said that the governments had "failed to provide economically viable alternatives to stubble-burning", which is worsening air quality in the Delhi-National Capital Region.

He stressed the need for resolving the matter in tandem and requested them for a meeting in the near future for discussions.

"You are aware of the poor air quality in Delhi... one of the main reasons for this to happen during this part of the year is stubble-burning in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana," Kejriwal wrote in the letters.

He said farmers were "helpless" and were forced to burn crop stubble as the state governments had failed to provide them with alternatives.

The Delhi government on Wednesday announced that all schools and colleges in Delhi will be shut till Sunday due to the alarming pollution level, with 18 of the 21 active pollution monitoring stations in the national capital recording 'severe' air quality.

The dangerous PM2.5 particles (atmospheric particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres) were measured at 475 micrograms per cubic metre in the region.

--IANS

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