Sirsa blames Punjab farm fires for Delhi smog, says AAP politicising air

Addressing a press conference, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa shared videos purportedly showing stubble burning in Punjab

Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Tuesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab of compelling farmers to burn crop residue, claiming it was done to raise pollution levels in the national capital.

 

Addressing a press conference, Sirsa shared videos purportedly showing stubble burning in Punjab. “The farmers in Punjab are being forced to burn stubble in the fields by the AAP government. The highest number of parali burning incidents occurred in AAP-ruled Punjab on Diwali night,” he said.

 

He alleged that AAP leaders were blaming Delhi’s pollution on Diwali celebrations while ignoring large-scale farm fires in Punjab. “While AAP leaders condemned the Delhi CM, the BJP and Sanatan Dharm followers over celebrating Diwali and bursting crackers, the real reason behind worsening air quality was stubble burning in Punjab,” Sirsa claimed. 

 

 

The minister said Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) rose only slightly after Diwali, from 341 before the festival to 356 afterwards. “We admit with pride that our government allowed people to celebrate Diwali traditionally. Due to firecrackers, there was only an increase of 11 points in AQI after Diwali,” he said.

 

Sirsa also accused the AAP of “playing religious politics.” “Will the AAP challenge the sacrifice of goats on Eid by our Muslim community? I challenge Arvind Kejriwal to not play religious politics. You fight with us, but do not make religion a part of it,” he said.

 

Earlier in the day, Delhi woke up to a thick grey smog as air quality fell into the ‘red zone’ following widespread bursting of crackers. Out of Delhi’s 38 monitoring stations, 36 turned red, reflecting dangerously high levels of pollution.

 

Last week, the SC permitted the sale and use of green firecrackers for limited hours, from 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm, on October 19 and 20.