AAP govt has no intention to reduce pollution, says BJP's Manoj Tiwari

Launching a scathing attack against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the worsening air quality in Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Manoj Tiwari said that the AAP government in Delhi for the last ten years does not intend to reduce pollution. He further urged the people in the national capital to support BJP in the Delhi assembly polls.

"The AAP government in Delhi for the last 10 years does not have any intention to reduce the pollution... The pollution is getting harmful again. The river and the air are polluted. The people are facing difficulties. This is just the beginning... There are elections after 4-5 months, I request the people to give the BJP a chance to make Delhi, Delhi again... The AAP government wakes up when there is a problem. The problems of Delhi would be solved the day they start waking up before the problem arises..." said Manoj Tiwari.

Reacting to the same, BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that the national capital has been becoming a poisonous gas chamber and held AAP responsible for it.

"Delhi is now fast becoming a poisonous gas chamber and AAP's polluted politics of blame game is responsible. What happened to the Punjab Parali burning which Arvind Kejriwal said was the main cause of pollution in Delhi?... What happened to the bio decomposer? The stubble burning has started already. Arvind Kejriwal and his government banned the firecrackers. You took a move against Hindus for Diwali but what about these causes of pollution which are the main causes? There is no action against Punjab's parali," said Shehzad Poonawalla.

Hitting out further, the BJP leader said that the health of Delhi citizens has been put at risk by AAP and Arvind Kejriwal.

"Vehicular pollution, industrial pollution, dust, biomass burning, what has been done about that in the last ten years? Nothing. What happened to the smoke towers? The smoke towers are shut. Rs. 25 crores were spent on Baba Kharag Singh smoke tower. It is not functioning. Now they will only play the blame game. Our citizens' health is at risk and the cause is AAP and Kejriwal..." said Poonawalla.

Meanwhile, a layer of smog engulfed the national capital on Friday as the overall Air Quality Index dropped to the 'Poor' category standing at 293 at 8 am.

AQI at Anand Vihar area of Delhi dropped to 339 at 8 am, which is categorised as 'Very Poor'.

AQI at India Gate and surrounding areas has been recorded at 270 at 8 am, marked as 'Poor'.

AQI at Dwarka, Sector-8 has been recorded at 325 at 8 am putting the area under the 'Very Poor' category.

Vivek Vihar area of the national capital has moved to the category Very Poor' with AQI standing at 324 at 8 am.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board, the AQI when marked under the 'Poor' category can cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure, whereas, when under the 'Very poor' category can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure.

PWD vehicles sprinkled water in the parts of the national capital to reduce dust pollution in compliance with GRAP-1.

Amid the rising air pollution, the Delhi Government on Tuesday announced the strict implementation of measures under the Graded Response Action Plan-1 (GRAP-1) to improve air quality in the national capital, according to a statement from the Delhi Chief Minister's Office.