New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality plunged to the season’s worst Sunday, but the Arvind Kejriwal administration has been busy blaming the public emergency on others, all but washing its own hands of responsibility.
On Friday, for example, Chief Minister Kejriwal posted a before-after pair of photos in a bid to depict the onset of smog, which coincides with Diwali and stubble-burning season.
Pic 1 -26 Sep -clear blue beautiful Del sky
Pic 2 – Del sky today full of smoke from adjoining states
Del ppl making huge sacrifices. Its time Captain and Khattar govts gave specific timelines and milestones by when will they stop crop burning
Why shud Delhi suffer? pic.twitter.com/AQP64jGjIv
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 1, 2019
Since then, he has repeatedly tweeted that the central government should take immediate steps to provide relief, and that Delhi was suffering for no fault of its own.
Pollution has rched unbearable levels across N India. Del govt taken many steps. Delhiites hv made many sacrifices. Del suffering for no fault of theirs. Punjab CM also expressd concern. Centre shud take immediate steps 2 provide relief. V will support Centre in all initiatives https://t.co/Vx85xYlDId
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 3, 2019
In a letter to Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, he said air pollution during this time of the year was not a Delhi problem, but something the whole of north India was grappling with.
Other AAP politicians also sought to place the blame for Delhi’s sorry condition on other political parties, or console the capital’s citizens by suggesting other cities were much worse off.
AAP’s Atishi shared a graphic that purportedly showed almost half of India covered in smog. In her tweet, she questioned Javadekar on steps he had taken over the last six months to prevent the smog, which has become an annual feature on north India’s winter calendar.
Satellite images show almost half of India is reeling under a poisonous smog. It is time that @PrakashJavdekar tells all of us:
1. What are the steps you have taken in last 6 months to prevent this?
2. What are the steps you are going to take to ensure this never happens again? pic.twitter.com/YP65iqe0BQ— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) November 3, 2019
She also alleged that “in the past 3 months (Javadekar) has not found time to have a single meeting with environment ministers of north Indian states…” on air pollution.
“Three meetings were called, and each time meetings (sic) was cancelled,” she added.
How is it that @PrakashJavdekar finds time to tweet and do PCs on this pollution issue, but in the past 3 months has not found time to have a single meeting with Environment Ministers of north Indian states? 3 meetings were called, and each time meetings was cancelled (1/n) pic.twitter.com/uLcW0QjxLv
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) November 2, 2019
While stubble burning is known to play a huge role in Delhi’s smog crisis, the capital has a low air quality through the year owing to a heavy vehicular population, which is estimated to account for up to 40 per cent of the capital’s pollution.
‘Varanasi more polluted’
The capital’s health minister Satyendar Jain remained silent on the pollution and only weighed in with a bunch of advice on the dos and don’ts of the smog season.
In wake of Severe pollution in Delhi NCR, Health advisory issued by Delhi Govt. Pl follow it. Avoid outdoor activities and take care of elderly and children. pic.twitter.com/uZYYALuF7x
— Satyendar Jain (@SatyendarJain) November 3, 2019
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia also took jibe on Javadekar, asking if the minister had completely lost faith in PM Narendra Modi and was looking at Kejriwal to run the country.
In his post, he attached an edited clip of Javadekar referring to Delhi spending “Rs 1,500 crore on buying machines for Punjab, Haryana farmers” that will prevent stubble burning, but the exact context can’t be made out.
ऐसा लगता है कि प्रकाश जावडेकर जी का मोदी जी पर से पूरी तरह से विश्वास उठ गया है और वे देश चलाने के लिए केजरीवाल जी से अपील कर रहे हैं। pic.twitter.com/DvZWFGa4W2
— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) November 3, 2019
The AAP’s official handle shared party spokesperson Raghav Chaddha’s comments on how Varanasi — which is the PM’s Lok Sabha constituency — was more polluted than Delhi.
"CPCB द्वारा दिए आंकड़ों से स्पष्ट है कि वाराणसी भारत का सबसे प्रदूषित शहर है और वाराणसी प्रधान मंत्री जी का निर्वाचन क्षेत्र है। CPCB के अनुसार, भारत के शीर्ष 10 सबसे प्रदूषित शहरों में से छह UP और चार हरियाणा से हैं, लेकिन दिल्ली उस शीर्ष 10 की सूची में नहीं है"- @raghav_chadha pic.twitter.com/UpQW5x3Rv0
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) November 3, 2019
He said six cities in Punjab and four in Haryana were among the top 10 most polluted after Varanasi, but not Delhi.
Delhi environment and transport minister Kailash Gahlot has been constantly tweeting about arrangements surrounding the odd-even scheme, which kicks in Monday and is aimed at reducing vehicular pollution.
Meanwhile, AAP social media strategist Ankit Lal retweeted any comments in support of the party narrative of Delhi being an innocent victim of the activities of other states.
BJP has come up with a solution for #DelhiAirEmergency
Even an IIT-IAN like @ArvindKejriwal couldn't have come up with this pic.twitter.com/O6Exv1K7eE
— Siddharth Setia (@ethicalsid) November 3, 2019
The pollution crisis in Delhi comes right ahead of assembly polls for the union territory, and the smog is likely to weigh heavy on voters’ minds when they cast their vote. For the AAP, it is an especially important election since it has failed to make a mark in other states since its stunning performance in the 2015 Delhi polls, when it won 67 of 70 seats.
Also read: Delhi’s air pollution masks a class war that nobody is willing to talk about
How insensitive could these politicians get; Kejriwal won’t budge up until the centre has handed him full statehood. BJP won’t bite since AAP is in power in Delhi. And, with eyes swollen,. the public are coughing it out in on the streets.
And we’re headed to the superpower club!
Till these jokers resolve the issue, buy ‘snake plant’, also called ‘mother-in-law’s tongue’ to be kept inside the house. Spider plant is another good alternative. Both low maintenance.