Union Minister raps Kejriwal for 'inaction' on projects

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today flayed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for "inaction" on several projects, including decongestion plan to address increasing pollution levels in India's capital city.

"Of course, there is pollution in Delhi, but who is responsible for it? We (the central governmment) gave him (Kejriwal) a decongestion plan two years ago. He is not acting on it," Puri told reporters.

Kejriwal should find out why Delhi is facing the increasing problem of pollution, he said.

Puri said Kejriwal should do some introspection before asking the Centre to review Delhi Metro fare hike as he has been "sitting over" many other projects, including Metro Phase 4 and BRTS plans, which could reduce pollution levels in Delhi.

In a letter written to Puri yesterday, Kejriwal had alleged that the metro fare hike has changed the dynamics of travelling, which has resulted in the increase of pollution levels in Delhi.

Puri also said he had written several letters to Kejriwal in this regard, but to no avail.

He also termed Kejriwal's government as "the most inefficient" of all the state governments, claiming that even courts had rapped him on the issue.

Kejriwal wrote to Puri, seeking a review of the hike in metro fares and reiterated his offer to partially bear the cost of the proposed "claw back".

Puri, however, said neither the Centre nor the Delhi government has powers to rollback the fares fixed by the fixation committee headed by a retired judge and claimed that the ridership on three different days in October this year were higher than the last year.