BJP controls police, why didn't they stop crackers: Gopal Rai on Delhi AQI

Going on the offensive against the BJP, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the party was trying to hide its mistakes

Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for Delhi's "severe" air quality, stating its leaders and functionaries were promoting the bursting of firecrackers on Diwali despite the Supreme Court's ban.

Following the widespread violation of the firecracker ban across the National Capital Region (NCR), air quality in parts of Delhi slid into the "severe" category.

Rai went on the offensive against the BJP, saying that the party was trying to hide its mistakes. He said that most BJP leaders are trying to hush up their statements in different ways.

"The BJP alleges that the AAP government in Delhi failed to curb firecracker bursting. However, it's the BJP-controlled police in Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh that failed to prevent firecracker burning during Diwali, not the Delhi government," Rai said.

"There was no festival yesterday, so why were the firecrackers bursting yesterday? Where did they come from? A BJP leader said that the AAP government failed to stop firecrackers. You have Delhi Police. SC had imposed the ban, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana Police is in your hands, then who has failed? This means you wanted crackers to be burst."

The minister stated that the smog in Delhi was because of the slow wind speed. "After firecrackers were burst yesterday as well, pollution levels have gone up today as compared to yesterday," Rai added.

He stated that the GRAP-4 will continue to be applicable in the city.

"We had decided yesterday that the rules of GRAP-4 will still be applicable. The campaign for water sprinkling will start at noon today. The dust particles must be suppressed. The ban on vehicles will continue for now," he added.

Rai also said that the Delhi government intends to strengthen its water sprinkling efforts by deploying additional water sprinklers and anti-smog guns.

BJP takes jibe at Arvind Kejriwal

Meanwhile, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and blamed Punjab for Delhi's worsening air problem.

"Today, AQI in Delhi is crossing 400 in many areas. Note: No DIWALI, no crackers burst yesterday; no crackers burst 10 days ago when AQI was 600 plus. Reason: Punjab Parali continues to burn despite SC warnings of 2611 farm fires in two days. 26000 plus farm fires in this season," Poonawalla posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.