BJP alleges conspiracy to worsen Delhi pollution, claims Punjab farm fires were ‘deliberate’

Delhi's pollution crisis, which worsened after Diwali firecrackers on Sunday night, triggered a political slugfest on Monday, with labour minister Kapil Mishra alleging that some people deliberately caused farm fires in the adjoining state of Punjab.

Delhi Cabinet Minister Kapil Mishra alleged sharp spike in stubble burning incidents in neighboring states, in New Delhi. (PTI)Flagging a ‘conspiracy’ behind high number of farm fires in Punjab on Sunday evening, Mishra claimed that the Aam Admi Party (AAP) members from Delhi, who were allegedly in Punjab, may have been behind the conspiracy to pollute the national capital.

“A targeted campaign has been launched to defame Diwali and Sanatan. I want to urge Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann to investigate the 1,200 fires that broke out yesterday evening and file FIRs. Check the phone records of the Aam Aadmi Party members from Delhi who are in Punjab to see how they began campaigning two days ago.

They knew two days ago that the AQI would rise. And if they deliberately set fires, as appears to be the case, then they should be sent to jail,” Mishra was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Mishra was speaking at a press conference where he said that on November 7 stubble burning was recorded at 125 locations, which increased to 1200 on November 8.

Delhi's air woes worsen after DiwaliDelhi's air woes continued on Monday, a day after Diwali, with several areas recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) above the 400 mark as firecracker emissions added to the national capital's already deteriorating air quality.

The city's average AQI stood at 376 in the 'very poor' category at 7 am, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)'s Sameer app. Several parts across the capital recorded 'severe' air quality on Monday. Sonia Vihar reported the highest AQI at 449, followed by Burari Crossing at 445 and Vivek Vihar at 441, according to the HT Pollution Dashboard.

Jahangirpuri recorded an AQI of 439, while Delhi University's North Campus stood at 437 and Rohini at 435. Other areas in the 'severe' category included DTU (431), Bawana (424), Chandni Chowk and Patparganj (418 each), Mundka (413), NIH Narela and Punjabi Bagh (408 each), Commonwealth Sports Complex (404) and ITO (404).

As Delhi's toxic air set off a political slugfest, AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the Delhi government of “AQI data fraud”, alleging that pollution readings were being manipulated to bring down the city's overall AQI. Bharadwaj alleged that the government had installed 20 new monitoring stations in open areas surrounded by greenery and was sprinkling water around stations in heavily polluted localities to lower their readings.

He claimed that the measures like water being sprinkled around monitoring stations were being taken to lower Delhi's average AQI. Follow the latest breaking news, major developments and agenda-setting stories from India and around the world with the newsdesk at Hindustan Times.

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