At the time when the national Capital and neighbouring States are shrouded in a toxic grey blanket, the environmental emergency and a public health crisis has turned into a political battle.
In the ongoing battle of political one-upmanship, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal has now shot off a letter to his Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal castigating the latter for his “inability to rise above short term electoral interests” to resolve the problem of smog.
In a scathing letter, Manohar lal while responding to Kejriwal’s allegation that the main reason for air pollution in the national Capital is the stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, said,”I believe that no single person, organisation or Government can improve the quality of air. Collective action is required. Your reference to the helplessness of farmers in Punjab and Haryana in stubble burning betrays an inability to rise above short term electoral interests.”
Kejriwal, who is leading Aam Aadmi Party’s Government in the national Capital had on November 8 sent a letter to Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana, urging them to work jointly to resolve the problem of air pollution.
Quoting Rabindranath Tagore’s words, “Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls, Where words came out from the depth of truth” in his letter, Manohar lal targeted Delhi Chief Minister saying that you letter contains no hint of such a mindset.
“Your assertion that the neighbouring Governments have failed to provide farmers economically viable solutions gives away subconscious awareness of your Government’s inaction in this regard,” stated Khattar while continuing his tirade against Kejriwal.
Pointing out that there are some 40,000 families who cultivate around 40,000 hectares in Delhi, Haryana Chief Minister asked Kejriwal, “What steps have been taken to stop them from stubble burningIJ”
In his strongly-worded letter, Manohar lal did not even spare his Punjab counterpart Capt Amarinder Singh. “The Union Agriculture Minister has informed that Haryana had used Rs 39 crore out of the Rs 45 crore sanctioned by the Centre for crop residue management while Punjab has not spent even a paisa out of its allocation of Rs 97.58 crore,” said Khattar while talking a dig at the Punjab Government.
The publically available satellite imagery data clearly shows the substantial reduction in the number of stubble burning cases and fires from 2014 onwards in Haryana, said he.
Indulging in ‘self-praise’, Khattar then went on to say that our experience in making Haryana, the only kerosene free State in India as well as an open defecation free State in quick time makes me confident that this problem (air pollution) too can be solved.
In his letter, Manohar lal also told Kejriwal that he will likely to be in Delhi on November 13 and 14 and the Delhi CM may feel free to call him to fine tune a mutually convenient date, time and venue for the meeting.
However, the much-awaited meeting on the serious issue of smog could not take place on Monday due to the busy schedule of Khattar, who had landed in Delhi in the evening.
Taking to Twitter, Kejriwal said his office was desperately trying to reach Khattar and later in the evening, he tweeted that Khattar said he is busy and will meet him in Chandigarh on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Khattar had shared on his Twitter handle the letter he had written to Kejriwal on November 10 in which he had expressed his willingness to meet the Delhi CM.
Even as the residents of Delhi and neighbouring States, continued to suffer due to air pollution over the past few days, the two Chief Ministers have continued their blame game and have publicly voiced their displeasure over each other’s Government policies to tackle the problem of pollution.
While the air quality has plunged to severe category in various parts of Haryana, Khattar in his letter, apparently seemed more focused questioning Kejriwal’s policies to deal with stubble burning in Delhi.
In Haryana, the respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) and PM 2.5 have exceeded the permissible limits at few locations monitored by Central Pollution Control Board. Haryana’s 13 districts in the national Capital region are worst affected due to the high pollution levels.
The air quality index of 301-500 which is considered as very poor and severe category has been recorded in Faridabad, Gurugram, Rohtak in the past few days, as per CPCC data.
The Punjab and Haryana Governments had also drawn flak from the National Green Tribunal for failing to enforce the ban on stubble burning.
After the onset of harvesting season, more than 1,000 farmers have been identified for burning stubble across Haryana. While Haryana Government had imposed a ban on burning of paddy residue, the farmers have continued with the practice, leading to health risks and causing damage to environment.
like previous years, the smog has caused fatal accidents at some places in Haryana and nearby areas this year as well.
Notably, a public health emergency was declared by doctors in Delhi last week as the air quality in the national capital had plunged to severe category. The national Capital’s toxic air was linked to allergies, respiratory conditions, birth malformations among other health problems.