Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Haryana counterpart Manohar lal Khattar on Wednesday resolved to put in sustained efforts to ensure that smog does not envelop the national Capital in the winter of 2018.
After a political blame game over smog in the past week, the two Chief Ministers met in an amicable environment here at Khattar’s residence for nearly 90 minutes and agreed to take steps to deal with the problem of toxic smog that has engulfed Delhi and parts of Haryana and Punjab.
While Kejriwal had earlier blamed the farmers of Punjab and Haryana for smog in Delhi, he avoided blaming anyone during the meeting. Various issues were discussed, including crop residue burning, vehicular pollution, construction of bypass and widening of roads to ease traffic congestion, automation of tax collection and introduction of CNG vehicles among others.
Kejriwal, along with Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain and Environment Department Secretary Keshav Chandra, flew to Chandigarh to call on the Haryana Chief Minister. The Delhi CM had earlier written to the Chief Ministers of Haryana and Punjab and sought a joint meeting to find a solution to the problem that has led to widespread health concerns in Delhi and NCR.
The two Chief Ministers issued a joint statement after the meeting. “We... are happy to have had a very fruitful meeting at Chandigarh. We recognise our deep and shared concern over the recent episode of heavy smog in the national Capital and the NCR.
We agreed upon the need for action on many measures aimed at preventing its re-occurrence in the winter of 2018,” a joint statement said.
“During discussions, we agreed that the serious health risk to which such episodes of smog expose one and all require concrete and quick action on a number of fronts.
“We covered crop residue burning and vehicular pollution issues. We resolve to put in sustained efforts in pursuance of the jointly identified action points in the coming days, weeks and months,” the statement added.
“We look forward to covering other sources of air and water pollution in our future discussions,” it said.
Both the Governments also listed several measures taken by them to tackle the high levels of air pollution in their jurisdiction.
“The two sides have agreed that serious health risks to which such episodes of smog expose one and all require concrete and quick action on a number of fronts. We look forward to covering other sources of air and water pollution in our future discussions,” said the Chief Ministers.
While talking to the media persons, Kejriwal said, “Today’s meeting is just a beginning and also, an indication that to deal with this serious problem, we are ready to take whatever steps are required to be taken.”
The States may be separated by territorial boundaries, but nobody has control over air and joint efforts need to be put in by all stakeholders to check pollution, said the Delhi Chief Minister while calling for collective efforts by the Centre and concerned states to find a solution to this problem.
We had a discussion on crop burning, vehicular pollution, bypasses which are being built and introduce CNG vehicles, he said.
Manohar lal said the problem of smog has been happening for the last two years and there is a genuine concern about dealing with the problem that has engulfed northern States, especially in NCR.
“This problem is not related to only one State but it is a common concern. We are taking steps in our respective states whether it is stubble burning or vehicular pollution,” Khattar said.
Under fire for his Government’s failure to keep a check on cases of stubble burning, he claimed that the number of incidents of stubble burning has dropped in Haryana. Satellite pictures show that we have controlled it to a large extent in Haryana, he said.
Khattar said Delhi is the Capital of the country and we will collectively make efforts to ensure that smog does not envelop Delhi and other parts in the future. Both the Chief Ministers did not take any question from the media.
Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder had rejected Kejriwal’s request asking him to refrain from trying to politicise the issue.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal was earlier greeted by protests by workers of the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress when he reached the Chandigarh airport. The Congress and INlD in Haryana have also criticised Khattar for agreeing to meet Kejriwal, saying the Delhi Chief Minister is attempting to defame the farmers for causing air pollution by burning stubble.