The Capital of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh, may not have been affected by air pollution as such but the smog and pollution in Delhi has taken political overtones with the ruling and the Opposition parties accusing each other for pollution and steps taken in burning of crop residue.
Hitting back at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for blaming Haryana for national Capital’s smog, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal on Monday said that stubble burning in the State cannot be fully blamed for the problem of air pollution.
Talking to mediapersons after presiding over a meeting on the issue, the Chief Minister said that it is not at all right to say that the entire problem of smog has been caused because of crop-residue.
Such kind of environment is usually witnessed every year but this year, the problem of pollution has aggravated due to several reasons including smoke, burning of agricultural residue, construction activities, fire crackers during Diwali, lack of atmospheric circulation and rain, he said.
This has also resulted in collision of vehicles at some places in the state in which a few people have also lost their lives, he said.
The Chief Minister said that Delhi and NCR areas are the most affected with the smog. This being a common problem, he called for undertaking collective measures by the people of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi to control it.
Asserting that the Haryana Government had taken several steps to stop the practice of stubble burning, the Chief Minister said, “Action has been taken against 1,424 erring farmers and Rs 13.50 lakh have been collected. We have also appealed to farmers to shun the practice.”
The Chief Minster said that straw-baler would be set up at each block in the next financial year to deal with the problem of burning of agricultural residue in the fields.
He also urged the people to minimize travel and keep spraying water in front of their houses to keep a check on air pollution.
Meanwhile, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has a habit of putting blame on others for his own shortcomings and failures.
lashing out at Kejriwal for blaming Haryana for Delhi’s smog, Vij said that Kejriwal should search for the reason behind air pollution in Delhi itself.
"If Kejriwal is blaming Haryana then where are the dark clouds (thick smog) over our state... The skies are clear and there is no such pollution in the state. Kejriwal is spreading political pollution. Everywhere he does the same thing," Vij alleged.
On the other hand, while expressing concern over increasing pollution, Haryana Forests Minister Rao Narbir Singh has appealed to the people to minimise the use of paper and adopt paperless media such as mobile phones and e-mail for sending invitations for weddings and other such occasions to help in promoting conservation of environment.
The Minister said that every person should contribute towards conserving the environment, and even the smallest initiatives taken by them would together help in considerably reducing the level of pollution.
Notably, Haryana and Punjab governments have imposed a ban on crop-residue burning and erring farmers can be prosecuted by the authorities.
Haryana government had recently also directed district-level committees, constituted to check the practice, to monitor the incidents through satellite images and submit a daily report to the headquarters.
Besides, the committees have been directed to ensure strict compliance with the provisions of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and register cases against violators at special environment courts backed by photographic and videographic evidence.