Delhi Paying Price Of AAP's "Ego" In Pollution Crisis: BJP

In a scathing attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president, Virendra Sachdeva said on Thursday that the people of Delhi are paying the cost of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's ego.

"Kejriwal ji, we don't wish to score any political points on the pollution issue, but as an experienced political party, we have time and again tried to extend our cooperation, but strangely, the health of the people of Delhi is paying the cost of the ego of your government," Virendra Sachdeva said in his letter to Kejriwal.

The BJP state president further said that the state governments of Delhi and Punjab headed by the AAP are "visionless" and do not know how to solve problems like stubble burning or vehicular pollution.

"It would be no exaggeration if we say that today people of Delhi and Punjab are suffering as both state governments headed by your Aam Aadmi Party are visionless on pollution issue and don't know how to solve issues like parali burning, attending to roads and helping people with pollutant vehicles adopt alternates like electric bikes," Virendra Sachdeva said.

The Delhi BJP president said that though Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai and several enviornment specialists have attributed stubble burning to be the biggest cause of air pollution in the national capital, dust pollution is the biggest local cause that is adding to the pollution level.

"There is no doubt as even your own Environment Minister Gopal Rai and enviornment specialists have said that the biggest cause of pollution in Delhi is paralli burning but dust pollution is the biggest local cause of adding to pollution level," Virendra Sachdeva said in his letter.

The BJP state president said that several two-wheelers and four-wheelers that are not subscribing to pollution norms are commuting in the city and the Delhi government has not managed to act on them.

"A very high volume of two-wheelers and four-wheelers not subscribing to pollution norms are running in the city raising pollution levels but your government has done nothing to lay them off the road too," Virendra Sachdeva said.

On the poor condition of roads in the national capital that has added to dust pollution, the BJP leader said, "The condition of roads in Delhi is pathetic as both PWD (Public Works Department) and MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) are neither working on road maintenance nor doing any noticeable work to increase plantation on the roadsides. As a result of the high volume of traffic on the withered roads huge dust pollution keeps rising with every passing day in the city."

Virendra Sachdeva said that the poor state of roads has also added to vehicular emissions, thereby contributing to pollution.

"The pathetic withered roads not only cause a rise in dust pollution but cause traffic jams too which raises the share of vehicular emission pollution too," he said.

On dumping garbage on roadsides, Virendra Sachdeva said, "During last few months due to inefficiency of Municipal Corporation of Delhi the dumping of garbage on roadsides and on open unoccupied plots too has seen rise and has become yet another cause of pollution."

Speaking about the inefficacy of smog towers in fighting air pollution, the BJP leader said, "The dreams of Smog Towers sold by your government by installing towers at Kharak Singh Marg and Anand Vihar too have proven to be a failure."

On the works done by the central government to prevent vehicular pollution, Virendra Sachdeva said, "It won't be wrong to imagine what would have been the fate of Delhi if the Centre Government had not built the Eastern and western peripherals, due to which lakhs of vehicles especially trucks not destined for Delhi now don't enter Delhi."

"Similarly, the Delhi Meerut Expressway, Dwarka Expressway, Dhaula Kaun Mahipalpur Road and the third Ring Road have all helped reduce vehicular congestion and pollution in the city," he said.

Delhi has been reeling under intense air pollution for the last few weeks with the Supreme Court stepping in to order a complete ban on stubble burning immediately to prevent air pollution.

A thick layer of smog veiled the national capital, Delhi, on Thursday morning, with air quality being recorded in 'severe' category in several parts of the city.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)