The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will hold a protest on Thursday outside Haryana Bhawan and Punjab Bhawan over the alleged inaction by the two States in controlling stubble burning, a major cause of pollution in Delhi.
AAP senior leader Gopal Rai claimed that both the BJP and the Congress are "playing with the lives of Delhiites" merely to portray Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in bad light.
"I appeal to people to join our Satyagraha against pollution on Thursday," he told reporters. Pollution levels continued to be in the 'severe' category on Wednesday as a blanket of smog wrapped Delhi.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the air quantity index was 416 at 11 am. About 25 per cent pollution in Delhi has been attributed to stubble burning in neighbouring States, Rai said, quoting the Government agency SAFAR.
Rai said the State Governments of Haryana and Punjab are "sleeping" and time has come to wake them up. He said the protest will also see participation from Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.
Rai statement came after the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor SAFAR on Wednesday said that the share of stubble burning in Delhi's pollution has raised to 35 percent, the season's highest, and the hazardous haze shrouding the city on Wednesday can be "purely" attributed to it.
