Amidst allegations of farm fires in Punjab contributing to high pollution levels in the national capital, the state’s Pollution Control Board on Monday lashed out at the Delhi authorities to check its internal source of pollution instead of pointing fingers at Punjab. “Rather than pointing Punjab for pollution in the national capital, Delhi authorities should check internal source of pollution,” said Punjab Pollution Control Board chairman Dr AS Marwaha.
Marwaha, interacting with the media, said that AQI (air quality index) is satisfactory in Punjab to moderate while in Delhi it’s very poor.
At the same time, the PPCB chairman questioned, how was it possible that a State, with better AQI, could create pollution in other states. “Cities like Panipat, Sonepat, Jind and Karnal in Haryana have poor AQI as compared to Punjab’s Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Khanna, Mandi Gobindgarh and Patiala,” he added.
Marwaha said that the contribution of stubble fire in Punjab could not be the major contributing factor in the deteriorating air quality of NCR, especially New Delhi. “Rather that it is due to the internal polluting sources of NCR and climatic conditions that develop during the month of October till March every year, which deteriorate the atmosphere in Delhi,” he said.