Chandigarh, Dec 17: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said Punjab cannot be blamed for Delhi’s severe air pollution, arguing that there are currently no farm fires in the state even as air quality levels in the national capital remain in the “severe” category.
In a video message, Mann said Delhi’s air quality index was hovering between 450 and 500 despite the absence of stubble burning in Punjab. He accused BJP leaders of routinely targeting Punjab farmers once the paddy harvest begins.
“As soon as the paddy season starts, they start blaming Punjab and its farmers,” Mann said. “But now there is no smoke coming from Punjab, and still Delhi’s AQI is 450 to 500.”
He said the wheat crop has already been sown after the paddy harvest and there are no incidents of stubble burning at present. “At least now they should agree that Punjab has no role in Delhi’s poor air quality,” he said.
Mann urged the BJP-led Delhi government and the Centre to take responsibility for addressing pollution in the capital, saying residents were unable to step outside due to toxic air. “People cannot even go for a morning walk,” he said.
He also appealed to the BJP not to drag Punjab into what he described as a political fight. “Punjab’s farmers should be appreciated, not defamed,” Mann said, calling them annadatas who feed the country.
The remarks came on the same day Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa apologised for the pollution crisis, particularly its impact on children, while blaming policies of the previous Aam Aadmi Party government in the capital.
Last month, the BJP had rejected Mann’s earlier claim that stubble burning had no role in Delhi’s pollution. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had said stubble burning remained a “major” factor behind the capital’s poor air quality.
