Delhi: BJP, Congress junk artificial rain plan to check pollution

Artificial rain one of many steps mulled under Winter Action Plan: AAP; BJP pins blame on Punjab farm fires; Cong. demands L-G’s intervention

Published - September 01, 2024 01:09 am IST - New Delhi 

The BJP on Saturday junked as “ineffective” the Delhi government’s artificial rain plan to curb air pollution in winter months and said it should instead take up the issue of stubble burning with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-ruled Punjab to combat the problem.

The Congress also rejected the idea and sought Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena’s intervention to find a lasting solution to the problem.

However, Delhi’s ruling AAP said the suggestion of artificial rain is only one of the 14 steps mentioned in the Winter Action Plan being prepared by its government. “For this, the government requires specific permissions from the Centre, which can only be granted by the BJP-led Central government,” the party said in a statement.

Unfavourable meteorological conditions, combined with vehicular emissions, stubble burning, and other local pollution sources, contribute to hazardous air quality levels in Delhi-NCR during winter.

The ruling party’s fresh criticism has come two days after Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said a panel of experts had recommended artificial rain among several steps for inclusion in the Winter Action Plan. 

He also wrote to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Friday, requesting him to hold a meeting with experts of IIT Kanpur to enable artificial rain as an emergency measure to disperse pollutants around Deepavali.

‘Criminal negligence’

However, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said many environmental experts have already declared the suggestion of artificial rain “unnecessary and ineffective”.

“In the past decade, due to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s criminal negligence, winter pollution in Delhi has increased to such an extent that millions of people are now suffering from respiratory issues, and many even die due to it,” he added. 

Mr. Sachdeva said it is necessary to chalk out a plan with neighbouring States. “But it is unfortunate that Gopal Rai wants to wash his hands of the responsibility by only sending letters to the Centre,” he added. 

Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav said even after remaining in power for a decade now, AAP “has no clue about the core reasons for Delhi’s air pollution”. Their Ministers are only looking for excuses to cover up their failures”.

He said the Delhi government’s vehicle rationing scheme had also proved “useless”. 

However, AAP said its government has taken “unprecedented steps” to tackle the problem. “We have been continuously working on long and short-term measures,” it said. 

“To reduce incidents of stubble burning, the Centre provides funds to Haryana. Despite that, the BJP-ruled State did not take substantial measures. In contrast, Punjab, which doesn’t receive funds from the Centre, saw a 50-67% dip in stubble burning incidents last year,” it added.

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