BJP targeting Punjab farmers for stubble burning because of their protests: Delhi minister Gopal Rai

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai accused the BJP on Wednesday of targeting farmers in Punjab for stubble burning because of their earlier protests against three contentious farm laws of the Centre.

Rai also advised the people of Delhi to work from home and use shared transport to reduce vehicular emissions, a major contributor to air pollution in the capital.

Farmers are forced to burn stubble in Punjab because the BJP-led Centre did not support the state government's plan to provide a cash incentive to them for not burning the crop residue, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said.

"The BJP is blaming farmers for burning stubble because of their protests.... They now want FIRs to be filed against them. They should stop abusing farmers, stop seeking revenge from them," Rai told a press conference here.

"The air pollution problem cannot be resolved through politics. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has come up with a plan, which will have to be implemented in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana too -- in Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Gurugram and Bahadurgarh. According to a study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), 69 per cent of the air pollution in Delhi comes from outside," the minister said.