Union Minister for Environment Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday launched an attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over ‘severe’ air quality in Delhi. Yadav blamed AAP for turning the national capital into a “gas chamber”.
The scathing attack came hours after Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann lashed out at BJP-led Centre for not paying attention to his recommendations on the stubble-burning issue.
In a video address, Mann said, “Punjab solely is not responsible for the situation. Other states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh too have poor air quality index (AQI). Why isn’t the Centre raising questions on these states?”
While presenting the AQI figures of different cities, Mann said, “Why blame only Delhi and Punjab? Have other places become Switzerland?”
However, Mann was countered by Minister for Environment Bhupender Yadav in a series of tweets.
“As of today, Punjab, a state run by the AAP government, has seen an over 19% rise in farm fires over 2021. Haryana has seen a 30.6% drop. Just today, Punjab saw 3,634 fires. There is no doubt over who has turned Delhi into a gas chamber,” Yadav tweeted.
He alleged, “Scam is where AAP is. In the last 5 years, the Central Government gave Rs 1,347 crore for crop residue management machines to Punjab. The state bought 1,20,000 machines. 11,275 of those machines have gone missing. Money utilisation shows clear incompetence.”
In another tweet, Yadav said, “Last year, Rs 212 crore were left unspent. This year, the Central Govt gave Punjab Rs 280 crore for crop residue management machines. So about Rs 492 crore was available but the state govt chose to sit with the funds forcing helpless farmers to burn the crop residue.”
Targeting Bhagwant Mann, he said, “The Chief Minister of Punjab has failed to even provide relief to farmers in his own turf of Sangrur. Last year (Sept 15-Nov 2) farm fires in Sangrur stood at 1,266. This year they have shot up by 139% rising to 3,025.”
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