Stubble fires in UP & Haryana behind Delhi pollution: AAP

NEW DELHI: AAP on Wednesday alleged that Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had failed to tackle rising air pollution that was contributing heavily to Delhi's winter smog crisis.
Quoting data from Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), senior AAP functionary Jasmine Shah claimed that AAP-governed Delhi and Punjab were reducing pollution, but stubble burning had surged by 23% in Haryana and 71% in Uttar Pradesh, while Punjab had seen a decrease of 27%.
"In the last three days, the AQI in Delhi crossed 200 and entered the ‘poor' category. There are several reasons for this, but one major factor is the stubble burning in the north Indian region. In Punjab, 1,105 stubble burning incidents were reported last year between Oct 1 and 14. This year, the number reduced to 811, a 27% decrease," Shah said. He added that in Haryana, the number of incidents increased to 417 this year in comparison to 341 last year, while UP also reported 417 this year, in comparison to 244 last year.
Shah added that Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology's data shows that only one-third of the pollution in Delhi originates in the city. The remaining two-thirds come from outside, primarily from the neighbouring Haryana and UP.
Delhi BJP spokespersons Anil Gupta and Neoma Gupta said AAP functionaries were speaking as spokespersons of Punjab govt and were trying to cover up its failures. They added that former CM Arvind Kejriwal himself used to allege till 2021 that stubble burning in Punjab was responsible for turning Delhi into a gas chamber. Now, when AAP has a govt in Punjab, they have shut their eyes towards it.
"Shah and other AAP functionaries should understand the established geographical fact that wind comes in from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, which bring pollution into Delhi," the two BJP spokespersons said in a joint statement.