 "BJP slams AAP govt over stubble burning in Punjab, tweets pictures")
BJP on Friday attacked the Aam Aadmi Party tweeting pictures of what it alleged was stubble burning in Punjab and accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of doing little to tackle the issue.
The AAP dispensation has in the past accused neighbouring states, including then-Congress ruled Punjab, of being responsible for the high levels of winter pollution in Delhi with unchecked burning of stubble taking place in these states.
With reins of Punjab now in AAP's hands, BJP has taken to attacking the Kejriwal-led party.
North East Delhi BJP MP Manoj Tiwari accused Kejriwal of having a "casual approach" towards the issue of air pollution.
"What is this @ArvindKejriwal? Delhi is suffering because of you and your casual approach towards governance! Every year it is the same story & same excuses, now you have a full fledge (sic) punjab govt under you but still delhi (sic) continues to suffer When will you start working for delhi (sic)?" Tiwari said in a tweet, sharing pictures of parali, or stubble, burning in Punjab, Amritsar.
BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma also took a dig at Kejriwal, asking him where was his plan to tackle the stubble burning that was advertised with crores of rupees.
More From This Section
It is to be seen what reason Kejriwal will not give for the rising pollution level in Delhi, Verma said.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai had recently said that AAP government in Punjab is working to control incidents of stubble burning and that they have made a plan to tackle pollution that emanates from such incidents.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann too had on Thursday said his government was making all-out efforts for the management of paddy stubble, and has sought the farmers' support.
Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana has often been cited as one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November.
As the window for Rabi crop wheat is very short after paddy harvest, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue. Punjab generates around 180 lakh tonne of paddy straw annually.
Mann said that out of the total paddy area of 75 lakh acres, no incident of stubble burning takes place over 35 lakh acres. Stubble is burnt over 40 lakh acres of area in the state.