LG Saxena blames Kejriwal for City’s deteriorating air quality

Holding former chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal responsible for the capital’s deteriorating air quality, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has accused him of “double speak” and “gross indifference” towards the Capital’s worsening air pollution. In the 15-page letter, Saxena alleged that 11 years of “neglect and criminal inaction” by the AAP Government were to blame for the “emergency air situation” in Delhi. 

He further accused the AAP supremo of “unnecessarily bogging down” the 10-month BJP government, “which is trying to do everything possible to undo your wrongs, for petty political gains.” However, Delhi is currently governed by the BJP Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.

In his letter to Kejriwal, the Lieutenant Governor also referred to a past conversation with him on the issue, quoting Kejriwal as saying, “Sir, yeh har saal hota hai. 15-20 din media isko uthati hai, activists aur courts iska mudda banate hain, aur phir sab bhool jaate hain. Aap bhi is par zyada dhyaan mat dijiye” (“Sir, this happens every year. The media covers it for 15–20 days, activists and courts raise the issue, and then everyone forgets about it. You shouldn’t pay too much attention to it either”). Delhi LG’s letter to the former chief minister comes against the backdrop of the capital’s persistent and severe air pollution crisis.

“Have been LG for three and a half years now, know you and the governance in Delhi; you are trying to unnecessarily bog down the government of 10 months, which is trying to do everything possible to undo your wrongs, for petty political gains Saxena said in his letter to Kejriwal.

The LG alleged that Kejriwal’s approach reflected “a casual and indifferent attitude” towards a recurring public health crisis.

He alleged that during AAP’s tenure, the Government focused on blaming neighbouring states and the Centre, while failing to take concrete steps to control dust pollution, which Saxena said is a major contributor to PM10 and PM2.5 levels in the city.

Quoting a couplet in Hindi, Saxena wrote, “Jab kisi se koi gila rakhna, saamne apne aaina rakhna (When you have a complaint against someone, keep a mirror in front of you).”

The L-G said he could have conveyed these concerns personally or over the phone, but Kejriwal apparently stopped meeting him after the electoral defeat and blocked his number. Alleging negligence by the previous AAP government on all fronts, the LG said roads and footpaths were left in total disrepair for years, significantly increasing dust pollution, and accused the Kejriwal Government of stalling key public transport projects such as Delhi Metro Phase-IV and the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).

 He also claimed that e-buses funded by the Centre were delayed because AAP wanted its leaders’ pictures on them.

Referring to the Yamuna and Delhi’s drainage system, Saxena said the river and drains “suffered due to apathy” for 11 years, with sewer lines and drains not desilted for over a decade, leading to 80 to 90 per cent blockage and waterlogging across the city.

He also pointed out that despite Delhi’s dependence on neighbouring states for drinking water, 58 per cent of water was lost in transmission and the capacity of the Wazirabad reservoir was reduced by 96 per cent due to silt deposition, even as the AAP government continued to blame Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Saxena said despite a “crushing defeat” in the Delhi Assembly elections, Kejriwal and his party had refused to learn from the verdict and continued to spread “lies” on issues affecting the people of Delhi.

He said he was writing the letter so that the “false public perception” created by Kejriwal is exposed to the people, “who are the ultimate judges in our democracy.” The L-G also accused the AAP government of opposing development projects, including public transport, infrastructure and urban renewal initiatives, while claiming that several parks, heritage sites, housing projects, sports complexes and transit-oriented developments were executed by the DDA despite AAP’s resistance.

Among other allegations, Saxena claimed the Kejriwal Government failed to set up 500 new schools, counted toilets as classrooms, did not start a single new hospital in 10 years, and prioritised advertising expenditure over healthcare infrastructure.

He also alleged that the AAP government did not hold regular cabinet meetings, avoided signing files, and failed to table CAG reports in the assembly, undermining constitutional and democratic norms.

The letter also accused the previous AAP government of delaying or opposing several Centre-funded projects in Delhi, including expansion of AIIMS and IIT, metro corridors, UER, GPRA colonies and RRTS, and of refusing to pay `500 crore to the DDA for land allotted to Delhi Government universities — a payment that, Saxena said, was made by the new government in its very first budget.

The AAP accused Saxena on Tuesday of indulging in “political distraction” and “theatrics” over the issue of air pollution, while hitting out at the BJP for using “letter politics” to divert attention from what it called the city government’s failure to deal with the worsening environmental crisis. Reacting to LG’s letter to Kejriwal, the AAP said it is a deliberate attempt to shift focus from the current administration led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.

The party alleged that while Delhi continues to face severe pollution, the LG chose to write to a former chief minister instead of questioning the present government, calling it a case of “letter nautanki” aimed at staying relevant in the media.