Delhi Chief Minister Atishi hit out at the central government Monday, accusing it of failing to act and practicing “politics on pollution” after the national capital region woke this morning choking under a thick layer of toxic smog and an air quality index of 481 – the worst this season so far.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader blamed farm fires in neighbouring states (except Punjab, where too the AAP is in power) and lack of action by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led centre left the “people unable to breathe”. “Other cities in northern India are also polluted… what is the centre doing? Only Punjab has reduced stubble burning. Why doesn’t centre act against others?” she raged.
The Chief Minister’s outburst came as the Supreme Court ripped into her administration which invoked the third stage of anti-pollution measures, or GRAP-3, last week and lurched into the fourth this morning. In an inexplicable turn of events, GRAP-3 was invoked hours after Environment Minister Gopal Rai said it would not; this was despite the AQI have crossed 400.
The top court, which hears anti-pollution and AQI control cases every winter, underlining the annual and predictable nature of this problem, posed tough questions to the ruling AAP, including asking why it had taken so long to enact GRAP-3 and how it is being implemented.
The court also told the Delhi government it could not drop below Stage 4 (i.e., GRAP-4) without its express authorisation; “… even if AQI goes below 300… this is the order,” the court said.