Madhya Pradesh minister invites Delhiites to visit his state to celebrate Diwali following firecrackers ban in capital

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhupendra Singh on Tuesday invited Delhiites to come down to the state to celebrate Diwali, a day after the Supreme Court banned the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR till 1 November. “If the people of Delhi contact us over phone or through letters, we will make arrangements for them to celebrate (burst crackers) our important festival Diwali in Bhopal,” he told reporters. [caption id=“attachment_1766773” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “Indore is the cleanest city and Bhopal the second cleanest in the country,” Singh said, while highlighting the achievements of the Madhya Pradesh on the environmental front. Asked about the growing concern over noise pollution in the country and his invitation to Delhiites to burst crackers in the state, the BJP leader said the environment of Madhya Pradesh, under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was very good and described the state as an island of peace, where the safety and security aspects were “superb”. Bursting crackers one day would not cause damage to the state’s environment, he added. Stating that Diwali was linked to religion and culture, the home minister said, “We talk and dream of Ram Raj. What point will it make if we are not able to celebrate Diwali, the celebrations that mark the homecoming of Lord Rama from a 14-year exile.” Asked to comment on the apex court’s ban on the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, he said it was imposed keeping in view the environmental scenario of that region. “The Delhi government should work hard to improve the environment which has primarily been polluted by vehicles,” Singh said. Asked if the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government had failed on the environmental front, he said the pollution levels of the national capital suggested so.