The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has slammed the BJP for resorting to political mudslinging instead of tackling Delhi’s pollution crisis. AAP’s Delhi State Convenor, Gopal Rai, pointed out that under the Arvind Kejriwal government, the number of clean air days in the capital rose from 109 in 2016 to 209 last year. Now that the BJP controls both Delhi and the NCR, AAP has challenged it to push this number to 309.
Gopal Rai criticized BJP ministers for behaving like opposition leaders, stating that instead of hurling abuses at Arvind Kejriwal, they should focus on banning smoke-belching diesel buses and implementing an electric fleet across NCR. The AAP pledged its cooperation but demanded concrete action over empty rhetoric.
In a rebuttal to Current Delhi Environment Minister’s claims, AAP Delhi convenor Gopal Rai stated that Delhi’s Environment Minister held his first meeting on Saturday. Following the meeting, he addressed the media and claimed that the previous government had done no work. “I would like to remind the minister that the people of Delhi elected the BJP to power to take all necessary measures to control pollution and reduce it significantly.”
Sarcastically, the former Delhi Environment Minister said that they can accept that we did nothing. “However, in 2016, 109 out of 365 days had good air quality. Due to our efforts, last year, Delhi experienced 209 good air quality days. The AAP government worked to reduce pollution, increasing the number of good air days from 109 to 209, thereby providing cleaner air to the people of Delhi,” he added.
Gopal Rai urged the current Environment Minister to focus on effective measures. While AAP improved the number of good air quality days from 109 to 209, the BJP government must increase it to 309 in the next year. “The Environment Minister needs to develop a concrete action plan to achieve this. Despite the BJP ruling at the Centre, the AAP government introduced 2,000 electric buses in Delhi. No BJP-ruled state has matched this achievement. We expect the BJP government to deploy even more electric buses than AAP has,” he asserted.
The senior AAP leader further stated that the AAP government completely shifted polluting fuel-based industries in Delhi to PNG. Meanwhile, BJP-ruled states surrounding Delhi continue to operate factories on polluting fuels. Now that the BJP governs both Delhi and the Centre, they must stop diesel buses from being sent to Delhi from BJP-ruled states and introduce electric buses there as well to further reduce pollution levels in the city.
“The AAP government ensured 24×7 electricity supply in Delhi, eliminating pollution caused by generator smoke. With BJP in power in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, all these governments must now work together to phase out diesel buses that spread pollution around Delhi. We repeatedly urged the BJP-led central government to formulate a joint action plan, but they failed to do so,” he pointed out.
Gopal Rai emphasized that only electric buses should operate across the NCR. The AAP government increased Delhi’s green belt coverage from 20% to 23.6%. “We expect the new Environment Minister to continue this mission and raise it to 25%, further reducing pollution,” said the former Environment Minister.
Gopal Rai stated that unfortunately, BJP ministers continue to speak like opposition leaders. They keep blaming Arvind Kejriwal for inaction, but the time for allegations is over. The BJP is now in power and must draft an action plan to combat Delhi’s pollution. If AAP’s cooperation is needed, we will play the role of a constructive opposition.
“We raised the number of good air quality days from 109 to 209; the BJP must now work towards achieving 309 good air quality days. Over the next year, it will become clear how much the BJP government has truly worked to reduce pollution in Delhi,” asserted the senior AAP leader.
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