Kejriwal govt did not act on major causes of pollution in its five years: Vijay Goel

BJP leader Vijay Goel on Thursday said that the Kejriwal government has not dealt with major causes of pollution in its five-year term and has implemented the odd-even rule as a 'drama'.

"The Kejriwal government did not act on the major factors causing pollution in its term of five years. In its last year of governance, Kejriwal enacted the odd-even rule which is just a drama. I am not against the rule as such but I oppose the lax way of implementation of the rule by the Delhi government," Goel told ANI.

"Pollution is majorly caused by road dust, construction dust and burning of garbage. Kejriwal government did not act on these factors and imposed the odd-even rule as a populist measure," he added.

On Thursday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) docked at 472 with particulate matter (PM) 2.5 levels at 322 and PM 10 levels at 487 at 8:30 in the morning, said System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'. An AQI above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category.

As air pollution levels are nearing 'severe plus category', schools in Noida, Ghaziabad and Delhi have been shut for two days, hours after the apex court-mandated anti-pollution authority EPCA yesterday they should be closed as pollution in the region hovered close to 'emergency' levels.