BJP accuses Kejriwal of stealing 'right to breathe'; AAP says can't control pollution as sources outside city

As the air quality in Delhi deteriorated to hazardous levels on Friday, enveloping the city in a dense and toxic smog, the ruling AAP government and the opposition leaders indulged in the blame game. The BJP pointed fingers at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, holding him responsible for the severe pollution, while the AAP government argued that the sources of pollution lay outside the city’s control, and couldn’t be completely controlled. Senior BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla has blamed CM Arvind Kejriwal for deteriorating air quality. “People cannot come out even for a walk without a mask in the city as pollution has reached the worst level since 2020,” he said. Accusing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of indulging in “political tourism” at a time when the city residents are facing severe air pollution, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that the “inaction and insensitivity” of the Kejriwal government has turned Delhi into a “gas chamber”. “Unfortunately, Kejriwal is busy with political tourism and there is no one to control air pollution. Delhiites are complaining of itching and breathlessness and children are falling ill. Only Kejriwal is responsible for all this,” Sachdeva said. There were 1,296 incidents of stubble-burning in Haryana in October while there were 1,921 incidents of farm fires in Punjab on November 1, he claimed. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the government cannot control the pollution in the national capital completely and that sources outside the city cause twice as the pollution as inside. “It is wrong to think that the Delhi Government can control pollution completely because the matter of pollution is not of Delhi alone. Sources outside Delhi cause twice the pollution here than the sources within Delhi," he said. Air quality in several parts of the national capital reeled under the ‘severe’ category on Friday morning with Mundka recording the highest Air Quality Index (498). Delhi’s air quality plummeted to the “severe plus” category on Friday morning, a stage at which all emergency measures, including a ban on polluting trucks, commercial four-wheelers, and all types of construction, are mandated to be initiated and enforced in the National Capital Region. The city’s AQI rose from 351 at 10 am on Thursday to 471 at 9 am on Friday. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI in the Lodhi Road area was recorded at 438, in Jahangirpuri at 491, in the RK Puram area and in IGI Airport (T3) at 486 and 473 respectively. AQI at multiple locations in the NCR region of Noida also plunged to the ‘severe’ category with Sector 62, Sector 1 and Sector 116 recording 483, 413 and 415 respectively. In the wake of the worsening air quality, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked the third stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Thursday. Stage III of the GRAP is implemented when the AQI hits Severe in the range of 401-450. As part of its response to combat pollution, the state government can impose strict restrictions on BS III petrol and BS IV diesel four-wheelers in certain areas and may suspend physical classes in schools for primary grade children up to Class 5. The Delhi government has since suspended primary school classes.