AAP, BJP spar as Yamuna froths, air quality remains poor in Delhi

PTI, Oct 20, 2024, 8:25 PM IST

Froth covers Delhi's Yamuna river ahead of festive season posing health hazard (credit: PTI)

New Delhi: The “dirty politics” of the BJP is responsible for growing air and water pollution in Delhi, Chief Minister Atishi said on Sunday blaming BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for the situation.

The BJP hit back, saying the “immaturity and incompetence” of the AAP government have caused “severe” air and water pollution in Delhi.

The air quality in the national capital has started deteriorating with the onset of winter while thick layers of toxic chemical froth are covering the Yamuna River surface at various places, especially Kalindikunj.

With the BJP trying to corner AAP on the failure to check pollution, Atishi gave a clean chit to AAP-ruled Punjab and blamed ‘parali’ (paddy stubble) burning, diesel buses and brick kilns in BJP-ruled Haryana for the poor air quality in Delhi.

She also alleged that thousands of diesel buses from UP that reach the Kaushambi bus depot on the Delhi- Ghaziabad border, brick kilns in NCR and thermal plants in the region also contributed to air pollution in Delhi.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdev alleged that the AAP leaders defending their government in Punjab on stubble burning have turned into “enemies” of Delhi residents.

“Until 2021, AAP leaders including Kejriwal used to allege that stubble burning in Punjab turned Delhi into a gas chamber. Now, they are shifting the blame to Uttar Pradesh and Haryana because their party rules Punjab,” he said.

But the Delhi chief minister said the froth appearing on Yamuna in Delhi was because of untreated industrial wastewater released into the river, the BJP leader said in a statement, Haryana releases 165 million gallons per day (MGD) of industrial untreated wastewater through Badshahpur, Mungeshpur and other drains into Yamuna, while 65 MGD of such polluted water is discharged by UP through various drains into the river, she said.

“The dirty politics of the BJP is responsible for growing air and water pollution in Delhi but AAP led by Arvind Kejriwal is committed to helping people of the city,” she said.

In a press conference, Atishi claimed the central government data showed Punjab reduced farm fires from 71,300 in 2021 to 36,600 in 2023.

“Even this year, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute data show that there was a 27 per cent decrease in parali burning in Punjab between October 1 and 15, from 1105 in 2023 to 811,” she claimed.

Meanwhile, farm fires this year increased from 341 to 417 in Haryana, while in UP the number went up from 244 to 417, between October 1 and 15, as compared to the last year, she said.

“This clearly shows the dirty politics of the BJP. If the Punjab government can reduce parali burning, why can’t the BJP governments in Haryana and UP do it?” she asked.

Atishi said the use of silicone-based defoamers will start from Sunday night to subside the froth layer on Yamuna’s surface.

Sachdeva alleged that the leaders of the ruling AAP who have been inactive for 10 years are now panicking ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls because of worsening air quality and heavy pollution in Yamuna.

Clean Yamuna water enters Delhi through Haryana’s Palla village and exits via Uttar Pradesh at the southern edge of the city where it becomes polluted, Sachdeva said.

He said the AAP leaders were making “baseless” claims about industrial waste from Haryana and UP polluting the river as no drain from either state is discharged into the Delhi section of Yamuna.

Earlier, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla criticised the Aam Aadmi Party for blaming Haryana and UP for the pollution and said AAP’s “poisonous politics” was responsible for the “poison” in the air and in the river.