Delhi air quality crisis sparks blame game; Congress slams AAP, Centre

While the air pollution crisis in Delhi is a recurring issue, it holds additional significance this year due to upcoming Assembly elections in the union territory

The deteriorating air quality in Delhi triggered a political slugfest, with both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeting the Atishi-led Aam Aadmi Party government in the national capital. According to recent data, air quality in Delhi stood at 293 mark, a decline from the previous 24-hour average of 285.

“This is a failure of state and central governments. It is not happening for the first time, it is an annual issue..,” Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said on Friday, noting that despite the Supreme Court’s intervention on the issue, the public is suffering.

While the air pollution crisis in Delhi is a recurring issue, it holds an additional significance this year due to upcoming Assembly elections in the union territory. The term of the current Assembly in Delhi ends in February.

Delhi air pollution level on Oct 18

While the AAP government maintained that it was taking all necessary measures to curb the pollution in the city, the air quality further dipped on Friday. The data available on the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) showed multiple monitoring stations hovering near the 300 mark, which indicates ‘very poor’ air quality. Locals woke up to a layer of smog enveloping the national capital, while Delhi officials were seen sprinkling water on roads to reduce pollution levels.

Categories of Air Quality Index

0-50: Good

51-100: Satisfactory

101-200: Moderate

201-300: Poor

301-400: Very poor

401-500: Severe

[*According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research]

BJP-AAP locked in blame game

On the issue, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari criticised the AAP government for failing to reduce the pollution levels despite being in power for the last 10 years. When asked about the government’s action plan, AAP Minister Gopal Rai said that a key meeting will be held at 1 pm at Delhi Secretariat.

Blaming unfavourable weather conditions, Rai said, “The wind speed in Delhi is decreasing and the temperature is going down rapidly. As a result, the air quality has reached the poor category. He also claimed that while the Delhi government was working to reduce the pollution, the BJP government in neighbouring states of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh was ‘sleeping’.

The issue of stubble burning of residue crops during time in the states of Punjab and Haryana is a central issue to Delhi’s pollution crisis. “The Supreme Court has ordered the Delhi and Central governments to install one smog tower each. The BJP should visit the smog tower installed by itself in Anand Vihar…,” Rai responded to the BJP’s attack.