Union min Vijay Goel protests at Jantar Mantar, slams Kejriwal government over rising pollution

The BJP Thursday sharpened its attack on the Kejriwal government, accusing it of failing to protect the people from high levels of air pollution, with Union minister Vijay Goel staging a protest at the Jantar Mantar here demanding a "Pollution Free Delhi" and the "Right to Breathe" clean air for Delhiites.

President of Delhi BJP Manoj Tiwari launched the #Mask4Life campaign and asked the media team of the party to tweet photos wearing masks and tag people.

"At present the air is really bad ,Wear the Mask. If the AAP continues to be in slumber, then sadly all of us in Delhi will have to wear a #Mask4Life. It's time we take steps on our own to fight this (sic)," he tweeted.

Goel, who wore a mask himself during the protest, said Delhi's air pollution could not be blamed on stubble burning by farmers in other states alone.

"As per TERI reports, 60 per cent of the sources of Delhi's pollution are located within the city. The real cause of the air quality crisis in Delhi is dust, vehicular pollution, thermal power plants, open waste burning and other infrastructure and industrial activities which the Arvind Kejriwal government has completely failed to tackle," he said.

He claimed that Delhi hospitals were seeing a surge of patients suffering from respiratory and breathing complications due to the pollution.

"With doctors advising people, specially the elderly and children, to stay indoors, more than 2.2 million school children in Delhi are threatened with irreversible lung damages," Goel added.