Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday demanded that the central government provide a compensation package or make arrangements to purchase the stubble as the blame game between neighboring governments of Haryana and Punjab over worsening air pollution continues.
The SAD leader also slammed the previous Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government “for doing nothing” on the stubble burning issue.
“The government should provide compensation or make arrangements to purchase the stubble. Sardar Parkash Singh Badal (late Chief Minister of Punjab) built 12 to 13 power plants which used to function with stubble but later Captain Amarinder Singh (Government) came and they did nothing…The central government should provide compensation package,” Badal said against ANI.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bram Shanker Sharma said on Friday that the number of stubble burning cases has fallen by 50 percent this year.
Bram Shanker Sharma told ANI: “Haryana is closest to Delhi. Punjab comes next. Firstly, pollution from Haryana will reach Delhi first. Secondly, we have data showing that the number of stubble burning cases has fallen by 50 percent this year. that the Punjab government has brought this under control by 50 percent.”
The Haryana government on Friday released images they claim are from NASA, showing that fire incidents in Punjab are more than double compared to Haryana on October 25 and 26.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akal Dal has targeted the CM Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in Punjab.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia told ANI, “It is Arvind Kejriwal’s politics, it is his failure. Only a very small percentage is due to farmers, the rest is due to construction, industrial and vehicular pollution .They are cheating the farmers of Punjab.”
Jawahar Yadav, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s OSD (Officer on Special Duty) has attacked Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab over the stubble burning issue.
“There is data from NASA from October 25 and 26, which clearly shows where there are stubble burnings in Punjab and in Haryana. In Punjab, there have been more than double stubble burnings compared to Haryana. The Haryana government has taken this down. The silence by Arvind Kejriwal on NASA data is raising suspicions. He has alleged that Indian agencies are not providing pollution data. Why does he need it now? The Punjab government has failed and Arvind Kejriwal’s face has been exposed to the public.” Jawahar Yadav, OSD to Haryana CM said.
Daljit Singh Cheema, SAD party leader said, “We need to discuss what all state governments could and could not do to stop pollution due to stubble burning. Big pro-farmer announcements are being made, but nothing is happening. A solution to this problem can only be found if governments provide adequate machinery and financial support to farmers.”
As the overall air quality in Delhi continues to remain in the ‘poor’ category, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) standing at 249 on Friday morning, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said a 15-point winter action plan is being implemented. one to combat pollution.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)