New Delhi, Oct 7 Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha on Wednesday said that Punjab and Haryana are guilty of criminal negligence on the matter of air pollution and have not taken any serious comprehensive steps to stop stubble burning.
Chadha spoke about the Centre's launch of the ambitious National Clean Air Plan (NCAP), and how Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a budget of Rs 4,400 crore for the NCAP. Chadha said, "I want to ask the central government where is this money? The Aam Aadmi Party wants to know why the central government has not given this money to the farmers. We also want to know why the central government can't come up with a suitable plan to stop stubble burning."
"Today I want to tell you that this year the stubble burning started one month before October 15. In the first week of October in Punjab, the stubble burning has increased nine-fold and in Haryana three-fold. In the first week of October, 606 cases of stubble burning were reported from Punjab and 137 cases in Haryana. We want to request the Supreme Court-appointed watchdog to take note of the matter and to take stern action against these states. The estimation is that nearly 35 million tonnes of stubble will be burnt this year combining Punjab and Haryana," Chadha said.
The AAP leader said that the Delhi government is also trying and working on developing a parallel method to avoid stubble burning and CM has also launched a plan to combat the city's air pollution.
The air quality of the region dipped to the 'very poor' category on Wednesday. This marks the beginning of the highly-polluted season that goes on to last for about three months.
With stubble burning, the air pollution reaches a crescendo in Delhi-NCR every winter, when pollutants combine with the suspended water droplets in the lower atmosphere to form a thick blanket of noxious smog, thus creating health hazards for the residents.
According to the data of the Central Pollution Control Board, out of 35 pollution monitoring stations, the air quality index in as many as 22 stations, including R.K. Puram, Rohini, was in the poor category. Twelve stations, including at IGI airport and JNU, recorded the index in the moderate category, while one station logged the 'very poor' category.
The overall air quality near Mundka in West Delhi stood at 308 micrograms per cubic in the very poor category, followed by 290 at Delhi Technical University (DTU) area. Very poor air quality causes respiratory illness on prolonged exposure, warned CPCB.
( With inputs from IANS )
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